Sleep & Snoring

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Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Ask Dr Kenny Pang about:

  • When is snoring a serious problem?
  • Can snoring have long term effects on health?
  • Can surgery help with snoring?
  • Is surgery for snoring safe?
  • Treatment options for snoring and their costs

Questions 7

How to treat snoring and blocked nose in a 7 year old child?

This sounds like your son might have allergic rhinitis and likely swollen sinus turbinates and adenoids. He is snoring because of his blocked nasal passages and narrow airway. He is likely a mouth breather that would aggravate the situation and narrow the airway further. This can lead to obstructive sleep apnea and lack of oxygen at night, which in turn can lead to poor quality sleep, disruptive sleep and daytime tiredness, poor concentration and poorer school results. He would need an ENT consult and assessment soon.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Is snoring in an 8 year old child a sign of any sleep disorder?

Hello, Thanks for the D2D. Yes. It is likely that he might have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. He seems like he has stoppages in breathing at night and he might have nose congestion which explains his mouth opening during sleep. Because of the stoppages in breathing at night, his brain does not get enough oxygen at night, hence this affects his daytime concentration, he has a short attention span and poorer memory with poorer academic performance. In children, because of the sympathetic overdrive, they are hyperactive during the day and cannot focus on any task.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Could high blood pressure and loud snoring in a 40 year old man be due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea?

Hello, Thanks for the D2D. Absolutely. You are a fairly young gentleman to have high blood pressure (hypertension). This could be also be due to a strong family history of hypertension, a high salt diet and certainly aggravated by Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Scientific studies have shown that a young gentleman (below 50 years of age) who snores badly and has hypertension, would likely have a 80% chance of having Obstructive Sleep Apnea. It might be wise to see a Sleep specialist.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

How effective is CPAP as compared to surgery for snoring?

Hello, Thanks for the D2D. This is very discerning of you. Yes. There are a lot of scientific evidence that CPAP is not useful in a real life setting. CPAP is only effective as long as you keep the mask on your face. There are many issues and problems with CPAP, like compliance , mask air leak, inadequate pressures, or even too high pressures. Scientific studies show that CPAP may not be as efficacious as surgery. Weaver et al (2004) compared 18,000 CPAP users and 2,000 OSA patients who had surgery done and followed up for 6 years.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Will a Chin Strap device help with my snoring issues and sinus?

Thanks for the D2D. The reason why you might “automatically” open your mouth at night is because your nose is blocked, hence it’s a survival instinct to open your mouth to breathe. Please do not use the Chin Strap until you have seen a sleep specialist or nose doctor who will examine your nose and perhaps shrink your sinus turbinates and/or remove any obvious obstructions in the nasal passages.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

Can surgery cure snoring?

Thanks for the D2D. Yes. Snoring is due to an anatomical floppiness of the soft tissue and vibration in the upper airway. Studies have shown that most snoring originates from the vibration of the soft palate, other areas include the side walls of the mouth, the tongue base and / or epiglottis. Snoring can be aggravated by a blocked nose, as this results in mouth breathing and mouth breathing worsens snoring. You would need a sleep specialist to examine your upper airway with a flexible Nasoendoscope.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

What causes snoring?

Thanks for the D2D. Snoring is due to the excessive soft tissues in the airway, including swollen sinus turbinates, deviated nose septum, swollen adenoids, a thick long floppy palate or uvula, thick side walls of the mouth, and/or a big bulky tongue. A blocked nose will cause the patient to open the mouth to breathe (survival instinct) and this would cause the tongue to fall back further with resultant blockage of the airway. Snoring is the “alarm” for a possible sleep disorder called Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

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Answered By

Dr Kenny Pang

ENT Doctor

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