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Dr. Rosner is one of the leading experts in Michigan in treating snoring and sleep apnea. He has given numerous lectures and has been interviewed about new treatments for newspaper articles as well as radio and television.
Sleep apnea with severe snoring and breath holding causes the collapse of the airway. Snoring is irregular with pauses and may be very loud. Obesity, sleepiness, morning headache, and facial hair are common in sleep apnea patients. Untreated sleep apnea makes patient feel older and tired. Patients can die at younger ages from the increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and hypertension. Falling asleep while driving is the second most common cause of fatal automobile accidents. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight sleep study (polysomnogram) performed in a sleep laboratory. In this test the number of breath holding episodes per hour, oxygen level, and sleep stage are measured.
Sleep apnea can be treated in different ways. One way is by CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure). Compressed air is delivered through a mask or nasal adaptor. This prevents collapse of the airway resulting in better rest. It must be worn every night while sleeping. Half the patients choose CPAP, while the other half are treated with surgery.
UPPP and tonsillectomy is the mainstay of surgical treatment. It removes the uvula and tonsils and tissue from the soft palate. It can be performed painlessly in the office and often allows patients to become successful CPAP wearers.
Septoplasty and Somnoplasty of the turbinates are often performed to improve nasal breathing and increase the cure rate from surgery. Breathing through the nose is important to allow CPAP to work. Somnoplasty of the turbinates is often performed as the only procedure. It can be performed painlessly in the office and often allow patients to become successful CPAP wearers.
In this procedure (Somnoplasty), radio waves are used to shrink the back of the tongue when it is enlarged. This technique is minimally painful and increases the success rate of cure by 20% when combined with UPPP.
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