Will surgery help me?

[kteague]

... Dr. Park has his patients do a jaw thrust while lying down if I remember correctly. If they find they can breath really well, that may be a sign the dental appliance would be successful.

Interesting. So I just played around doing the jaw thrust thing and was surprised that it did indeed make a difference in how open my airway felt in the back of my throat. Wouldn't be enough for me on it's own, but I can imagine it being enough for some.

[Julie]

Just saying - some people have developed TMJ problems with dental fixes.

[49er]

Just saying - some people have developed TMJ problems with dental fixes.

Good point Julie. However, I wonder if that side effect develops with certain devices due to the design and/or the competency of the sleep medicine dentist who doesn't go through the proper steps in checking everything to make sure it is fitted correctly.

Of course, problems can occur even with the best professionals. But no matter what, people do need to realize that dental devices do have some negatives.

49er

[Sheriff Buford]

Sheriff - you were kidding, right?

Heck no... I think cpap therapy should be the last resort. Depending on what's wrong with your nose or throat, if you can fix it... DO IT! Never (ever) "wish" cpap therapy on anyone. It's the "Last resort". Sometimes posters here do not think about what they are saying...

Now, I'm just sayin'.... and I thought about it.... I think

Sheriff

[Wulfman...]

I say if a doctor (a good one...) can convince you, and is confident that surgery will eliminate sleep apnea and the need for cpap therapy, then go for the surgery. To me, cpap therapy should be the last resort.

Sheriff

Hey, Sheriff.........You been smokin' some of that confiscated evidence again?

I say, "the surgery" (whatever it may be) is the ABSOLUTE last resort. They can't put tissue back once it's been cut out.
Some MMA surgeries (breaking and restructuring the jaw) have had some success, but it sounds like major pain to me.

If you haven't already been doing CPAP therapy, give it every possible opportunity. Even with some "surgeries", CPAP use is still required as the surgeries don't necessarily fix everything.


Den

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[Nick Danger]

Recent studies have suggested correlations among obstructive sleep apnea, fibromyalgia, and TMJ pain. While I'm sure that an incompetent doctor could install an oral appliance that would cause TMJ pain, I think perfectly installed devices could cause TMJ pain for those who are susceptible.

Sheriff, I agree - I'd love to have a reliable, permanent fix to OSA that didn't include CPAP. I am just not aware of anything out there - except possibly the jaw advancement surgery and recovery from that is just too much for me. I had septoplasty, UPPP, genoglossal advancement and hyoid advancement with no success in eliminating OSA before realizing I was gonna be stuck with CPAP. On a possibly related note, my ENT has bought a new yacht.

[RicaLynn]

Hey, Sheriff.........You been smokin' some of that confiscated evidence again?

*snerk*

[library lady]

Sheriff - you were kidding, right?

Heck no... I think cpap therapy should be the last resort. Depending on what's wrong with your nose or throat, if you can fix it... DO IT! Never (ever) "wish" cpap therapy on anyone. It's the "Last resort". Sometimes posters here do not think about what they are saying...

Now, I'm just sayin'.... and I thought about it.... I think

Sheriff

Well, I did think about it. In the beginning, after my diagnosis, I did not want to do cpap, and my sleep doc told me about the options. I said I'd go home and think about it. I did a ton of research on surgery options (MMA, UPP3...) and dental devices. The surgical options did not appeal to me at all, and I thought the dental devices would change my bite, etc. I came to the conclusion that a noninvasive technique such as CPAP was the best option; that I should not dismiss it without trying it. IMO surgery should be the last choice on the list of options, and performed only as an absolute last resort in all but very mild cases of OSA.

[Sheriff Buford]

Sheriff - you were kidding, right?

Heck no... I think cpap therapy should be the last resort. Depending on what's wrong with your nose or throat, if you can fix it... DO IT! Never (ever) "wish" cpap therapy on anyone. It's the "Last resort". Sometimes posters here do not think about what they are saying...

Now, I'm just sayin'.... and I thought about it.... I think

Sheriff

Well, I did think about it. In the beginning, after my diagnosis, I did not want to do cpap, and my sleep doc told me about the options. I said I'd go home and think about it. I did a ton of research on surgery options (MMA, UPP3...) and dental devices. The surgical options did not appeal to me at all, and I thought the dental devices would change my bite, etc. I came to the conclusion that a noninvasive technique such as CPAP was the best option; that I should not dismiss it without trying it. IMO surgery should be the last choice on the list of options, and performed only as an absolute last resort in all but very mild cases of OSA.

Glad you agree with me! You were not convinced that surgery was the best option for you and I don't know what the doctor told you, but it appears that he wasn't too convinced that he could heal you. To me (maybe not to others), cpap therapy was probably the best choice.

Sheriff

[Sheriff Buford]

This tread has left a bad taste in my mouth. My intent is to give my opinion.

For me, My cpap machine is the “last resort”. If a doctor sat across the desk from me and said I was a good candidate for surgery and was convinced that the surgery would be successful, I would jump at the surgery… and drop-kick my cpap machine in the next county, and never look back.

About a year ago, I did consider such surgery and even came to this forum seeking advice. I was not convinced that the surgery would be successful and that I would be a candidate. The response on this forum was 50-50. There were half the folks saying they HAD successful surgery and half saying their surgery was unsuccessful. I could have gone either way as it pertained to the response I received on this forum. If I WAS a successful candidate, the response here would have encouraged me to get the surgery.

But make no mistake. I would prefer to drop-kick the cpap machine and encourage anybody to try all avenues before resorting to wearing the mask the rest of their life. That being said, I make no excuses, whine/complain about the cpap, and will encourage and help anybody “belly up to the bar” and whip this disease.

Gotta’ go watch the Packers whip the crap outta’ the Seahawks!

Sheriff

[Wulfman...]

OK, Sheriff. Fair enough.
Now I understand your previous comments.

Thanks,

Den

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[SleepGuy]

septoplasty definitely helped me use my cpap, but was not a cure for apnea. I had a severely deviated septum (right side was about 85 percent blocked off) and as a result had chronic sinus infections / congestion / etc. that made cpap very hard to use.... Getting cpap working changed my life--it's awesome having average AHI at 0.1. Every night.

[jnk]

CPAP is the gold standard. And it is first line, not last resort. That said, . . . I do agree with Sheriff that if someone has a specific physical deformity/growth inside the throat that can be corrected/removed surgically in a way that has a high probability of solving all sleep-breathing problems, that someone has every right, in that context, to consider surgery-first-before-CPAP a possible way to go. Heck yeah. The doc will be able to show pictures of the deformity/growth and will be able to provide a guesstimate of probable success. Permanent success, that is. That situation may not be all that common, in fact I believe it to be rare, but still I have heard ENTs speak of it and have seen slides showing the successful results.

But that isn't the same thing as cutting into functioning flesh in an attempt to make up for the common issue of a too-small airway. Nosirreebob.

In my opinion.

Park and I differ on the jaw-thrust thing, though. An awake patient learns nothing about what his airway does in REM on his back by simply thrusting his jaw forward and lying down.

Of course, he went to med school. I didn't.

[Wulfman...]

Gotta’ go watch the Packers whip the crap outta’ the Seahawks!

Sheriff

No comment........

(My wife has sons who live in both states, so I really didn't care who won.)


Den

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