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If
you're considering laser-assisted uvulaplasty, or LAUP, surgery then you are
probably one of the 25% of the population that is a habitual or chronic
snorer. Chronic snoring is more
frequently found in males and the overweight and usually gets worse as you get
older. Snoring is also not something to
dismiss or take lightly; this problem is caused when a person's air passages at
the back of the mouth and opening of the throat are cut off or when the tissue
in this area becomes very dry and vibrates loudly. A laser-assisted uvulaplasty, or LAUP surgery
can help this chronic condition in many people.
Laser-assisted
uvulaplasty or LAUP cuts away at this obstruction in the mouth by vaporizing or
removing the uvula and some area of the soft palate, the area of the roof of
the mouth in the back, behind the tongue.
This helps to keep that airway from being blocked from the uvula or from
excessive tissue that might be present in the soft palate.
The
procedure for a laser-assisted uvulaplasty or LAUP is relatively minor and
considered to be very safe. It is
usually done in a dentist's or doctor's office under local anesthesia. Using a laser, the doctor or dentist will
make small incisions along the soft palate and along the uvula, which is then
shortened.
Many
find that a laser-assisted uvulaplasty or LAUP needs to be done over the course
of several treatments, usually four or five, that are space from four to eight
weeks apart. This is so that the patient
can fully recover from the procedure and so that the doctor or dentist can
evaluate the amount of scar tissue that forms in this area after the
procedure. Usually those who undergo laser-assisted
uvulaplasty or LAUP surgery find that they have very little scar tissue over
the area of the incisions and many find that the procedure needs to be repeated
only three or four times, if even that.
Of course this depends on each individual patient.
A
laser-assisted uvulaplasty or LAUP is minor enough that most patients report
only the feeling of a minor sore throat for a week or so, and they are able to
return to their normal routine almost immediately. Some may need to follow a soft foods diet for
a day or more, but usually this procedure offers very little interference with
your diet, with talking, swallowing, or any other everyday activities.
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