Is Surgery for Snoring Worth It?
If you’ve tried everything to stop this annoying night-time tendency but nothing’s worked, then surgery for snoring may sound like an appealing quick-fix for you. Beware the cost, however.
Snoring is often associated with sleep apnea (a potentially serious medical condition), treatment of which may be covered by insurance.
But because snoring is not necessarily symptomatic of sleep apnea, and often viewed as merely an annoyance, treatment of the symptom alone is looked upon as cosmetic – and therefore may not covered by insurance.
The following are surgical procedures used to treat snoring, and which may or may not break the bank, depending on how your insurance company looks at it.
Laser-assisted Uvulopalatoplasty
Also known as LAUP, this involves the cutting away of the uvula, which hangs down at the back of the mouth, and is frequently blamed for causing snoring in some people. It is highly invasive, but may be seen as treatment for sleep apnea.
Somnoplasty
Specifically radio frequency ablation, this is used to shrink the uvula. It is a relatively new type of surgery for snoring. It is similar to LAUP and less invasive, but less well-known.
Repose
A tongue suspension procedure, it is designed to keep the tongue from falling back into the throat, thus blocking the airways. It involves the insertion of a screw into the jaw. Respiratory constriction by the tongue is a common symptom of sleep apnea.
Nasal surgery
Potentially suspiciously close to rhinoplasty, or getting a nose job, in the eyes of insurance companies, this procedure seeks to correct the functioning of the respiratory system by altering the nasal passageway.
Time and money consuming as all of these procedures may be, undergoing any of them may increase your chances of beating snoring once and for all. However, surgery for snoring is by no means a small or necessarily cheap operation.
In some cases, it may make more sense just to put up with the small annoyance of snoring instead of forking over the big bucks to pay for surgery for snoring.
