Opting for Surgery

[Snoredog]

OSA for most people is the tongue falling into the back of the throat and blocking off the airway.

Removing tissue via UPPP simply makes a bigger hole for the tongue to land in to. It is WHY this surgery fails so miserbly for most patients, the tongue issue is NOT addressed with UPPP.

The device or procedure that moves the mandible forward where the tongue is attached are the most effective. Those that say OSA is caused your airway collapsing like a flat water hose are just blowing smoke up your butt, and I'd run from them and get a real doctor.

Ask your ENT about the tongue falling into the back of the throat and see what he says. It is easy to see on a MRI.

[bluesky]

Correct. I do not sell CPAPs - Not even in the medical field.

[Darth Vader Look]

I think the question you should be asking is how many people who have had the surgery and now know the outcome would go ahead and do it all over again based on what they know and experience now. I would bet that not many would. BillinSeattle is a wealth of information on this topic and so are a few others he mentions or knows. Remember that once it is done you are stuck with all the side effects and will still have to use that CPAP you seem to detest so much. A young fellow going by the profile name "swords" also seems to know quite a bit a bout this. He plans on having the MMA surgery just as BillinSeattle has. PM him if you doubt us. We are just trying to help.

If you do go ahead with this surgery I hope that you will post again stating your honest opinion on your outcome. A sleep test will verify if any good has come as a result of the operation. I hope it does work for you. You will end up being one of those 5%ers who it does do something for even if it does only last for a few years.

[Bert A]

Dear All,
I had the nasal and UPPP surgery several years ago. My age, according to my doctor, meant that I had a high chance of it working. It was the biggest mistake of my life. It didn't work and far worse than that, I now have chronic pain from systemic nerve damage, paralysis of the muscles in the front of my neck, and the cpap is no longer as effective in treating the apnea. Additionally, my voice and speech patterns are been negatively effective and I see a voice / speech therapist which helps to mitigate the lack of control and strength in my voice, another result of the surgery. I know that the original surgery was 6 years ago for you, but I hope this comment prevents additional UPPP surgeries for anyone who reads it.
Much of my life and health is in ruins because of this surgery. Avoid it altogether!
Bert

[NightSky]

Before going for surgery, it might be worth it to look into "Oral Appliance Therapy". My father had surgery that did not work for him, but then he went the OAT route and that did work for him. It seems like less hassle than CPAP but it does cost more. (I am trying to make CPAP work first just because I am not currently employed and it costs less.)

[avi123]

Why not let the expert Dr Steven Park do it:

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/steven-park/B/BB9/91B

[Goofproof]

Do yourself a big favor, send me the money. I guarantee no pain, no contact with me or others, no mutilated body parts. You will be nore worse off than you are now. Many who have had surgery would think it a better deal. Jim

[Tipiford]

The Pillar Procedure is minor surgery that I learned about from my "ResMed" coach, that and tongue exercises. My coach said that his sister had this surgery and got off CPAP. He had major surgery, and did not (I don't recall the type surgery he had, apologies).

Here are a few links you may want to look at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkVO7NTHCwM

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19234106

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19234106

This last link is really about circular breathing as an exercise and is only for musicians. Playing the didgeridoo is said to be the best exercise, and the bagpipe practice chanter (I'm an old laddie who has picked 'em back up for this reason, having been a pipe major in a Shriner's Pipes and Drum unit) comes in somewhere behind that.

I am planning to have the Pillar Procedure, provided the sleep study I will eventually have, indicates positive OSA.


I wish you the best of luck if you persist in the UPPP surgery--nay, best of luck to you period.

[Goofproof]

About 50% of those diagnosed with sleep apnea, get off xpap, they quit and pay the price later. Jim

In the end, how your end comes is your choice! At least that's how it's supposed to be.

[archangle]

The Pillar Procedure is minor surgery that I learned about from my "ResMed" coach, that and tongue exercises. My coach said that his sister had this surgery and got off CPAP. He had major surgery, and did not (I don't recall the type surgery he had, apologies).

My impression is that they found out the Pillar procedure really didn't work very well after they tried it for a few years on large numbers of people. The results just weren't that good, but the side effects aren't nearly as bad as the other surgeries. It's also more reversible.

It also only affects the soft palate, and not every ones apnea happens from the soft palate.

[DreamStalker]

Surgery is good if it is reversible ... in case it does not work out well for you or you change your mind.

I had a lobotomy done once and fortunately the doc was able to reverse the procedure. It just didn't work out well for me. I lost all sense of awareness around me and I got lost in the American Dream of endless consumption without regard as to whether it was even sustainable (it is not let me tell you). Bankers and creditors ripping me off right and left, political and corporate propaganda was so realistic that I couldn't tell fact from fraud ... a terrible experience. So I had my doc reverse the surgery and now everything is back to normal ... except I lost all my friends and now find myself all alone.

[Tipiford]

I had a lobotomy done once and fortunately the doc was able to reverse the procedure. It just didn't work out well for me. I lost all sense of awareness around me and I got lost in the American Dream of endless consumption without regard as to whether it was even sustainable...

DreamStalker, you're a mess. Glad to see folks like you that can lighten such serious loads. Hey, grateful for your input.

[avi123]

Most of the posters in this thread are not registered. See first page. You can't P. M. any of them and ask details. It all started with the OP. Why should a person, like the OP, who is really interested in UPPP do it, unless it's just trolling or having an axe to grind?

[Tipiford]

Most of the posters in this thread are not registered. See first page. You can't P. M. any of them and ask details. It all started with the OP. Why should a person who is really interested in UPPP do it, unless it's just trolling or having an axe to grind?

Interesting. Most forums (of the very few I've been on) require registration for posting.

[DreamStalker]

I had a lobotomy done once and fortunately the doc was able to reverse the procedure. It just didn't work out well for me. I lost all sense of awareness around me and I got lost in the American Dream of endless consumption without regard as to whether it was even sustainable...

DreamStalker, you're a mess. Glad to see folks like you that can lighten such serious loads. Hey, grateful for your input.

Nahh ... I'm just the forum lunatic. A side-effect of very successful CPAP therapy.

In memory of Snoredog ...