Posted by Captin Cannuck on June 30, 2008 at 11:10:39:In Reply to: Appointment with ENT made posted by exhausted on June 29, 2008 at 18:58:58:
Dear exhausted,
My advice to you is to research a lot before signing on to any soft tissue surgeries. The idea of removing your uvula is controvercial. Often these surgeries last only a few months and then a deterioraton takes place. Some people even end up worse off.
To research that check out:
1. Posters on this board who have had UPPP and MMA.
2. Blogs on this board. See people who have had UPPP.
3. Blogs on this board for people who have had MMA but not had UPPP. See what results they have obtained. You will see that many of these folks have had surprisingly good results.
4. Go to library. Read "the Promise of Sleep". Author is William C. Dement. See his bio on wikipedia. He is the founder of the AHI scale. In his book, there is a good chapter on the current state of sleep surgery and some candid opinions of the outcomes. Nothing much has changed since he wrote his book.
5. Check out Dr. Kasey Li's opinion of UPPP in the "Ask the Expert" section on this site. Note what he says his opinion is of removing the uvula. Lee is a world wide expert and author of over 100 articles on sleep surgery.
6. Check out MMA. It offers far fare better results which last over time. It is not necessary to do UPPP before MMA. MMA opens the entire airway. If you read "the Promise of Sleep", you can see what I am talking about. See if you would qualify for MMA without UPPP. You might get a better result.The thing is, these soft tissue surgeries don't always work well for two reasons. The tissue is too maliable. It is like pasticine. Second, scar tissue can develop post-op and that can pull the area tighter, further reducing airspace. The diameter of the airway is critical. Even a few millimeters matter. MMA offers superior results because it involves moving bones. It is a bit surgery, but if you see the comments and the blogs, you are hard pressed to find an MMA vet who is not satisfied with the outcome. Almost everyone "would do it again". In comparison, if you ask UPPP/LAUP vets the same question. You will likely get an overwhelming majority "would NOT do it again".
Basically, there is no "quick fixes", but MMA would possibly offer you a good result. This depends on your anatomy. You will have to look into that. MMA is very likely to significantly lower the person's AHI. Some people are able to get off CPAP with MMA. Other people have significant reductions in AHI/RDI and go from being severe to mild. These people continue using CPAP, but with better results. About 10 percent of people do not improve after MMA. Results remain good over long haul. People reporting after 5 years with static results.
- Re: Appointment with ENT made Captin Cannuck 11:21 6/30/08 (2)
- Re: Appointment with ENT made Captin Cannuck 13:00 6/30/08 (1)
- Re: Appointment with ENT made exhausted 11:47 7/03/08 (0)