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One in four adults snore every night and some go to great lengths hoping for some peace and quiet, now there may be a more effective way to treat snoring without surgery.
Seventy-year-old Michael Delborello decided to fix a problem that had been keeping his wife awake at night for the last three years.
"It's amazing how the person who is doing the snoring doesn't hear this," said Rose Delborello. "It's been so bad that I have decided to sleep upstairs, and he sleeps downstairs."
"You go to sleep and you start snoring, which, I don't hear anything. I'm relaxed. Real nice, but she's the one suffering," Michael said.
The Delborellos hoped tiny implants would make a big difference. Their doctor, Seth Oringher said snoring comes from the back of the throat where there's a narrowness. As the air flows through the area, tissues flutter or vibrate, causing the snoring sound.
"So as we age, we lose some of the support of the tissue and it becomes more relaxed and that will increase the vibration and cause worsening of the snoring," said Dr. Oringher.
Oringher said the latest procedure, the Pillar Implant, works by placing three polyester braids in the soft palate. The implants then cause scar tissue to build and stiffens the palate.
"So by stiffening the palate you lessen the flutter or vibration of the palate. And in about 80 percent of patients, it will improve their snoring," said Dr. Oringher.
Michael Karam had the same problem and tried several other remedies before finding the Pillar Implant. "Short of some things that other friends of mine have had to have, who've had sleep Apnea problems where they've had to wear a collars and things of that sort, this certainly seemed a lot simpler than that."
Now, Karam's wife said he doesn't snore as much and the Delborellos hope that in a few more months, Rose should be sleeping soundly also.
Dr. Oringher said the Pillar Implant was much easier to recover from than surgery and that it wasn't too painful since the injections are made under local anesthesia. Afterwords, patients could experience some soreness, but could eat and drink as they normally would on the same day.
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