There are over 40+ operations for snoring and sleep apnoea. One of the least invasive is this procedure which can be performed under local anaesthetic in clinic.
In people who have no sleep apnoea and only have snoring coming from their palate, then a radiofrequency ablation procedure is an excellent low risk option for people.
Firstly the soft palate is injected with some lidocaine local anaesthetic. This stops you from feeling any pain afterwards. Mr Vik Veer also first sprays the back of the throat with a local anaesthetic to take the edge off the injection to make it even more comfortable.
Once the palate is completely numb, a probe is inserted into various locations around the soft palate designed to stiffen it with scar tissue. This part of the operation should be completely painless, but you will feel a pulling or dragging feeling inside.
Each application requires about 2 - 3 seconds, and so the procedure is over relatively quickly. Normally people require 6-15 applications depending on the size of the palate.
Occasionally in people with a very long uvula (dangly thing at the back of the throat), this can also be either shrunk down or removed.
Afterwards you should stay in the clinic for an hour or so until you feel completely well enough to go home. You will experience a sore throat sensation for a few days, but this settles down in about a week.
It takes a few weeks for the treatment to work as it relies on scar tissue formation to stiffen the palate. The long term results are quite good considering how minor the procedure is. In a medical paper that Mr Vik Veer wrote, he found that the long term results of using this technique improved snoring significantly. On a scale of 1-10 of snoring loudness, the long term results from around the world show that the snoring level drops on average by 4.3 points on the 1-10 scale. So a patient with a snoring level of 8 out 10 (no longer sleeping in the same room as their partner), the snoring on average comes down to 3.8 out of 10 after treatment.
Because the procedure can be done under local anaesthetic, the cost is reduced.
If you would like more information about this technique, please contact Mr Vik Veer's secretarial team - Telephone: 0207 458 4584 / Email: Secretary@Consultant-Surgeon.co.uk