27 year old male had been noted to be snoring by his wife. He used to snore only on occasion but the snoring had become more consistent and frequent than it had been in the past. He had also gained 10 pounds during this time. He felt that he was a little tired but did not feel that his sleep was poor or that he was excessively sleepy during the day time. He often felt like his nose was blocked and hard to breathe through.

Patient saw an ENT doctor who examined him and advised him that he had a badly deviated septum, large turbinates and a floppy soft palate. This anatomy was causing his snoring. A home sleep study was done to make sure that obstructive sleep apnea was not present – the study showed that he was snoring and not getting enough deep sleep but that he did not have sleep apnea. A plan was made for the patient to start losing weight, try sleeping on his side and to use nasal sprays to try to improve the breathing in his nose.

3 months later the patient had lost some weight but was still snoring although not as bad as before. He was unable to sleep on his side and felt that the nasal sprays had made very little difference in his nasal blockage. He also had been paying more attention to his sleep patterns and found that he was not sleeping as well as he felt he should be. The ENT doctor advised nasal airway surgery (septoplasty and turbinoplasty) and the option of an oral appliance or an Elevoplasty procedure to help with the floppy palate. The patient did not want to have to put something in his mouth every night so decided to proceed with Elevoplasty.

6 months after the procedure the patient reported that he was no longer snoring and waking up feeling more rested than he had in the past. He was breathing very well from his nose and his wife was also happily getting better sleep since he stopped snoring.