I had an outpatient procedure done in the early 2000's called somnoplasty. From what I understand, it is not recommended for Sleep Apnea anymore. I was choking and waking up at night so many times that I was very sleepy and tired all day. I tried the CPAP machine during the sleep study and I did not like it since there was so much air being pumped in through the nose that my mouth would open up and my jaw felt like "flailing in the breeze". But the main reason I wanted this procedure was that even when I was awake, I was choking. The soft tissue in the back of the roof my mouth and my uvula had drooped down so much on top of my tongue that I had difficulty breathing and talking. The CPAP would have been useless for this.
The procedure was simple. At the doctor's office they would put three shots (left, right and center) of anesthesia to the roof of the mouth and then on the three locations they would put a piece of wire bent to the contour of the mouth for certain amount of time. I believe it was like a microwave antenna. That would kill the excess tissue on those locations and as the area healed, the body would absorb the dead tissue and the remaining tissue would shrink, reducing the tissue sag.
About 20 years later I am still happy I had it done. It eliminated my choking and the snoring. I immediately started sleeping better.
However, these days all my body aches are really screwing up my sleep but I still do not wake up choking in the middle of the night.
By the way, I am not a farmer.....
