Snoring occurs when the soft tissues in the throat and nasal area, which relax during sleep, are vibrated by the air flow generated by breathing. As sleep deepens, the soft palate, tongue and larynx muscles relax and narrow the airway. As the airway narrows, the effort spent on breathing increases. Accordingly, tissue vibration increases and snoring becomes louder. Loud and frequent snoring can cause health problems, as well as problems in a person's relationships with their partner and environment. One third of adults snore. Snoring is not just a noisy sleep pattern that causes social discomfort, it is considered a symptom of a serious disease when accompanied by breathlessness. This disease is called sleep apnea and must be taken seriously. This pause in breathing, called apnea, may be observed in at least half of people who snore.
In most patients, snoring occurs as a result of narrowing and obstruction in the soft palate, uvula and tonsils, or in the pharynx and tongue base, or in the nasal and nasal cavity. Various combinations of problems in these areas are possible. Structural problems of some facial and jaw bones and neurological problems may also occur. In addition, in acute diseases such as cold and flu, temporary snoring may occur as nasal congestion will occur during the illness.
If children snore, it is usually related to the adenoids and tonsils. Sleep apnea may also occur in children as a result of excessive growth of these tissues. If children have sleep apnea, it is necessary to treat it without delay. In children left untreated, abnormalities in oral and facial development may occur in the long term.
Being overweight causes an increase in tissue in the throat area, causing narrowing. In addition, the intra-abdominal fat mass compresses the lungs from below and thickens the neck tissues, narrowing the air passage. People with sleep apnea are almost always overweight.
Snoring may be due to excessive alcohol consumption before sleep. Alcohol relaxes the throat muscles with its sedative effect. Likewise, sedative drugs can cause snoring through similar mechanisms.
Sometimes snoring can occur with sleep apnea. In this serious case, the airway is completely closed and breathing stops completely. In sleep apnea, heavy snoring is followed by 10 seconds or more of silence. Increasingly decreasing blood oxygen and increasing carbon dioxide tell the body to "wake up!" They give the signal and a loud snoring occurs with a strong breath. Sleep apnea can simply cause daytime sleepiness, or if left untreated, it can even lead to diabetes, hypertension and heart failure. It may cause decreased attention and hyperactivity disorder in children.
Patients whose spouses describe apnea must undergo an ENT examination. Those with signs of serious apnea disease are sent to sleep laboratories. In these laboratories, which are prepared like a hotel room, the patient is asked to stay the night and his sleep until the morning is examined and the number of apneas and some other important measurements are determined. The diagnosis is confirmed as a result of this investigation. In addition, thanks to advanced endoscopic imaging techniques, narrowed areas can be easily examined and a treatment approach can be planned.
In the treatment of snoring, if there is no apnea or the number of apneas is low, nasal congestion, obstructions or obstructions in the soft palate, uvula and tongue root can be corrected with different techniques. Depending on the cause, operations to reduce the soft palate, reduce the concha of the nose, correct any curvature, or remove the epiglottis can be performed. However, before going for these operations, it is often recommended that the patient lose weight, live a regular life, and stop smoking and drinking alcohol.
The use of radiofrequency waves has become increasingly common for soft palate and uvula reduction procedures, which were previously performed with laser. Here, radiofrequency is applied into the soft palate with a needle-like insertion after the soft palate is anesthetized with local anesthesia, thus aiming to tighten the soft palate and shrink the uvula. Depending on the severity of the disease, approximately 2-3 sessions may be required. It is usually performed in no more than 10 minutes and is often considered a simple, painless and bleeding-free operation. If the patient has tongue root or intranasal problems, general anesthesia should be preferred.
If the snoring patient's apnea count is above a certain level, it is certainly not possible for these patients to benefit from simple techniques. The treatment of patients with this condition is given in sleep clinics and the patients are made to sleep by wearing masks called CPAP. These masks are devices that deliver constant, positive pressure oxygen to the patient while he sleeps. At first, most patients do not want to use this tool, but they use it easily after a while because they see its benefits clearly. In addition, breathing can be facilitated by providing mouth and nose opening with mouth prostheses and nasal opening tapes.
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