A simple shot that takes only two minutes in a doctor’s office can give the bed partners of loud snorers a restful night’s sleep. Called a “snoreplasty,” the chemical sodium tetradecyl, which is a sclerosing or scarring agent, is injected into the palate of the mouth, scarring and stiffening the soft tissue and keeping it from vibrating and causing snoring.
Once the area is anesthetized by an injection of lidocaine, the sodium tetradecyl is injected into the base of the uvula. Pain, which varies from patient to patient, can usually be controlled with an over-the-counter pain reliever and usually resolves within a week.
Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington conducted a study involving 27 patients. They reported a 92 percent success rate in controlling snoring. Nineteen months after initial treatment, 22 of the original group evaluated their snoring patterns and 95 percent said they would undergo the treatment again. Only 16 percent of patients reported a relapse.
ENT specialist Dr. Hadi Al-Jassim and his team in Liverpool, United Kingdom, has used the technique on 400 patients to help them avoid painful surgical alternatives to snoring using scalpels, lasers or radiofrequency devices, and he’s been pleased with the results.
“As everyone knows, snoring can cause major problems for patients and, in particular, their partners,” Dr. Al-Jassim told the Mail Online.
“In most cases it's the men who snore and their partners suffer sleep deprivation and at the end of the day you have to keep your partner happy—though women do snore as well.
“'It causes all sorts of problems between partners and leads to marital, social and health problems.
“I am delighted with the treatment because, until this, there has been no effective treatment other than surgery.”
“Patients can go home and eat about an hour later,” Dr. Hadi Al-Jassim said.
“Surgical treatment is very painful and takes weeks of recovery time, so many patients decide not to do it because they can't get the time off work or their health's not strong enough for surgery.”
The injection costs about $300 in the United States.
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