What is Snoring and Sleep Apnea?
Snoring is an important public health problem. Snore; It is the sound produced by the vibration of the structures in the soft palate, uvula and tongue root due to airflow. It is not the person's own problem, but actually the bedmate's problem. For the person who snores, the accompanying cessation of breathing causes distress rather than snoring. The situation called cessation of breathing during sleep (sleep apnea) is holding the breath for more than 10 seconds during sleep or taking it less, resulting in a decrease in blood oxygen level and ending this process by dividing sleep.
Sleep apnea (sleep apnea) is a health problem with very serious consequences, and snoring is often the only precursor. Attention should be paid because it paves the way for many diseases such as hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, and sudden night deaths. It can also cause daytime sleepiness and concentration disorders, causing traffic, work and home accidents, and negatively affect the work and school success of individuals. Therefore, it must be treated.
Why do we snore?
While we are awake, the maxillofacial skeletal system and soft palate muscles exert a counterforce against the 'vacuum force' created by the air passing through our mouth and nose. However, while we are resting during sleep, our muscles relax. In this process, our soft palate muscles also relax. If there is a problem such as cartilage-bone curvature and nasal flesh swelling in our nose or if there is a problem that causes obstruction such as adenoids and large tonsils in children, if we are overweight, if there is sagging of the soft palate, if our small tongue is excessively long, if there are some anatomical problems with our facial-jaw bones If our tongue root is too large, the vibration that occurs with the relaxation of the soft palate muscles while breathing during sleep can cause us to snore.
When to consult a doctor?
The most common complaints of patients with sleep apnea are waking up tired in the morning, daytime sleepiness, poor concentration and headache. If the person's sleep quality is deteriorated, if he wakes up tired in the morning and has trouble concentrating during the day, if he needs to sleep during the day and falls asleep as soon as possible, he should definitely apply to a center dealing with sleep disorders. Mostly, these patients are not aware of their snoring and apnea, their spouses or relatives complain about it. Spouses and relatives are often in a state of great anxiety, and what they witness is complete cessation of breathing for a certain period of time between severe snoring.
What is a sleep test? How is it done?
If a person who is known to snore has witnessed apnea, that is, if anyone has witnessed that the patient's breathing stops during sleep, this is very valuable. In patients with suspected apnea, the diagnosis is made with a sleep test called polysomnography.
Traditionally, sleep testing is performed in sleep laboratories by keeping the patient asleep for one night. During sleep, the patient is connected to some devices and parameters such as how many times apnea occurs during sleep, how much oxygen decreases in the blood, and jaw and leg muscle movements are measured.
How is snoring treated?
The treatment of snoring and sleep apnea is based on revealing the exact cause of the disease. Losing weight, eating healthy, doing sports, avoiding alcohol and smoking are the measures that a person can take individually in the first place. After these, intraoral apparatus, devices used while sleeping such as CPAP, BPAP, and surgical operations can help in the treatment.
What are the surgical treatment options for snoring?
Various surgical methods have been described in snoring-apnea surgery, depending on the underlying anatomical cause. If there is a cartilage-bone curvature in the nose, this is corrected by deviation surgery. If there is swelling of the nasal concha, they can be reduced by radiofrequency method or by cutting and removing some of them. If there are polyps and sinusitis in the nose, this problem can be resolved with endoscopic sinus surgery. Especially in tonsil-nasal enlargement, which is the most important cause of pediatric apnea, patients benefit greatly from the operation of removing tonsil-dental meat.
Numerous surgeries have been described for the tonsils, soft palate, uvula and root of the tongue in adults. Apart from these, very high successes have been reported in jaw advancement surgeries. If there is a problem such as vocal cord paralysis or shortness of the trachea, surgeries can be performed for the related problem.
