Surgery for snoring is a treatment of last resort and should only be considered if the simple non-surgical alternatives have been tried (and failed). Before embarking on palatal surgery you should be sure that the snoring originates from the palate as opposed to the base of the tongue. If you have nasal abnormalities these should also be addressed before contemplating palatal surgery. The aim of palatal surgery is to reduce or stop the collapsibility of the oropharyngeal segment (area around the throat). This is usually done by reducing the amount of soft palate and/or removing the tonsils. Surgery is also undertaken to remove the chief vibratory tissue (the uvula). Some surgeons advocate sleep nasendoscopy before surgery is undertaken to determine the level of obstruction. Here the patient is sedated to a state of sleep. The surgeon can then examine the upper airway through a narrow flexible endoscope to see where the collapsing is occurring. This procedure however is not widely available as it is time consuming and costly.

Please make an appointment with our specialists to discuss this treatment/review.

To learn more, please click on https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/snoring/