New Treatment Helps Ease Sleep Apnea, Snoring
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Snoring is loud, disruptive and can make your partner miserable and it can also be a sign of sleep apnea, a serious breathing disorder that affects millions.
But a new treatment is offering relief and silencing the noise.
Ron Tucker and his wife Andy have a loving relationship. But something was getting in the way of their romance.
Every night before getting into bed, Ron had to strap on a special device called a CPAP.
"Medieval torture… Not sexy. Totally a nightmare," Ron said, referring to .
"It was scary," his wife added.
Wearing the CPAP was the only way Ron could get sleep, because of sleep apnea, which causing people to stop breathing for instances multiple times while they sleep.
To make matters worse, Ron is also a snorer, which affects him and Andy.
"It was loud. It was deafening. It's light a train wreck. It sounds like a storm," Andy said.
"It was either my snoring had to go or she was going to go," Ron said.
But now there is a new, much smaller hope called Provent for snoring and sleep apnea.
"It works as a one-way valve," said Dr. Roy Artal or Tower Sleep Medicine.
Dr. Artal said that Provent is another alternative to treat sleep apnea. Other options include everything surgery to mouth pieces.
"People are excited about Provent, because it offers them an alternative form of treatment," Dr. Artal said.
Now before Ron goes to bed, he puts two small patches over his nostrils. Each patch has a valve, like a flap, that creates just enough pressure to keep his airway open while he sleeps.
"It's just like when you blow air into a balloon and the balloon inflates. That's what Provent is doing to the throat. It's creating that little bit of back pressures that prevents the throat from collapsing and helps to prevent these recurrent pauses in breathing that take place throughout the night," Dr. Artal explained.
Provent works differently than the CPAP machine, but has a similar result.
Dr. Artal said that it is FDA approved to treat sleep apnea, but it is also shown in studies to decrease snoring.
But there are still limitations.
"In contrast to CPAP, which is virtually 100-percent effective, Provent reduces the breathing pauses or the apneas by about 50 percent," Dr. Artal said.
Although some say that number is much higher.
"It works for me 99 percent of the time," Ron said.
"I don't hear a thing," Andy added.
Ron says it works so well for him that he has tucked away his CPAP machine. He is breathing better and his snoring is completely gone.
"No more snoring at all actually," Andy said with a smile
"It has created such as easier lifestyle for me and for my wife. It has been a new beginning for us," Ron said.
"Un, I like him a little better," Andy said jokingly.
