Pillar Procedure

[bilnap]

Has anyone had experience with the Pillar Procedure as promoted by Dr. Phil? If so, how have your results helped you?

The Pillar Procedure is a simple, effective treatment for sleep apnea and snoring.
The Pillar Procedure is:
Less invasive and less painful than other surgical procedures.
Completed in a single, short office visit.
FDA-cleared and clinically proven with results comparable to more aggressive surgical procedures.

[kevincoop]

Hi,
I don't have personal experience with it but have heard several lectures about it. I think the best thing to do is to ask your doctor if they can pinpoint where your obstruction is coming from. If it is coming from your soft palate then this may work. From my understanding, they simply inject small threads into your soft palate and they form scar tissue which makes the tissue not fall back and cover your airway as easily. Unfortunately, many OSA patients have other issues as well as soft palate obstructions such as their tongue falling back etc. If that is the case, the pillar procedure will probably help but not eliminate the problem. You could get the pillar procedure, UPPP, RFTA and an oral appliance and you could probably get away from CPAP.
Kevin

[turbosnore]

Some articles...
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc ... ea-surgery
http://health.nytimes.com/health/guides ... rgery.html

[Pragmatist]

Having treated patients with sleep disordered breathing for many years, this is my outlook: for patients with OSA, CPAP is definitely the most effective, and first recommended, therapy. If a patient tolerates CPAP, that is the best solution. Unfortunately, many patients simply don't tolerate CPAP. If your CPAP is in the closet, it's of no real value. For CPAP intolerant patients, treatment alternatives include surgery (UPPP, eg), minimally invasive options (Pillar, Turbinate Coblation, Laser Tonsil Ablation), and oral appliances. All of these options are imperfect. None is universally effective. The appeal of the minimally invasive options is: they're quick, safe, and convenient, require no "compliance", and often deliver significant improvement. For many patients, being able to get significant improvement (not 100% resolution, but significant improvement) is enough to justify the cost, given that the other alternatives require either very invasive surgery or compliance with a device that they can't (or won't) wear. I tell patients that the Pillar Procedure "isn't a big deal and usually helps a lot". It is not as effective as CPAP. But I have seen many patients who get, for example, a 50% reduction in their OSA, and who then are able to accomplish the weight loss that they were previously unable to achieve, further improving their health status.

[snoremaster]

Investigating Pillar got me to this point. The local doc here doing Pillar only does it for zero apnea snoring cases and orders a sleep study. Of course my study comes back that I have severe obstructed apnea.

He really did not seem positive on the procedure at all. Said it works maybe 40% of the time - even if you're a good candidate.

SM

Has anyone had experience with the Pillar Procedure as promoted by Dr. Phil? If so, how have your results helped you?

The Pillar Procedure is a simple, effective treatment for sleep apnea and snoring.
The Pillar Procedure is:
Less invasive and less painful than other surgical procedures.
Completed in a single, short office visit.
FDA-cleared and clinically proven with results comparable to more aggressive surgical procedures.