My Dr. can reduce nasal congestion with a simple procedure.

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
SleepyGuy
Posts: 193
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 6:06 pm

My Dr. can reduce nasal congestion with a simple procedure.

Post by SleepyGuy » Wed Jan 12, 2005 7:53 pm

I just back from the doctor and I feel very good. I told him I couldn't sleep more than three hours per night with my CPAP machine because my nose simply closes off, and I don't like wearing a full face mask.

He's seen this before and there's a treatment! There are tissues within the nose that swell up during the night whether you are wearing a CPAP mask or not.

Using radio waves he can shrink the tissues in the nose. It takes a few minutes in his office using a local anesthetic. It helps most people breathe more freely through their nose.

If that's not enough, he can correct my deviated septum, but that's a bigger deal.

I feel good about this! Even with only three hours on the machine every night, I'm feeling better than I did before. I've felt that if my nose wouldn't close off, I would be able to use the CPAP the entire night.

I located two studies on the Internet about this procedure:

http://www.ncxo.com/ent/study1a.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/quer ... s=15054369

After all these years, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

User avatar
wading thru the muck!
Posts: 2799
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 11:42 am

Post by wading thru the muck! » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:14 pm

SleepyGuy,

That's great news! I can hear the enthusiasm in your words. Glad to hear such a positive Doc visit story.
Sincerely,
wading thru the muck of the sleep study/DME/Insurance money pit!

SleepyGuy
Posts: 193
Joined: Thu Oct 21, 2004 6:06 pm

Post by SleepyGuy » Thu Jan 13, 2005 2:05 pm

Now there's even more news. I have some big back problems. I'm going to physical therapy. Last night I started taking the drug Topamax for my back. Last night I found that my nose didn't get congested. I slept longer with my mask on than I have before. We'll see if this effect lasts. If it does, I'll see if this is something I can keep taking.