As a general guideline, surgical procedures should be considered a ‘last resort’, not only because of the risks, expense and pain often associated with surgical procedures but also because this is in line with current medical ethical standards.

Up until the early 1980’s, the medical community often attributed the cause of most sleep disordered breathing (SDB) to be neurological in nature – but the introduction of modern diagnostic techniques showed that the vast majority of SDB cases were as a result of a physical problem, related directly to constriction of the airway.

During the 1980’s a variety of treatments were introduced to alleviate constrictions of the airway. These treatments fell into two categories, being either surgery to remove excess tissue from the airway, or devices to open the airway using air pressure.

These days, a much wider variety of treatments exist. In general terms, the treatments fall into three categories, being behaviour modification (such as weight loss), surgical procedures and non-surgical treatments.

Most medical associations promote principles and ethical guidelines which emphasise, among other things, that no surgery must be performed unless it is necessary. The American College of Surgeons and The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons express the idea most strongly in their policy statements, which state: “Unnecessary surgery is condemned”.

Dr. George Lewkovitz of the Centre for Snoring and Sleep Disorders in Sydney, Australia, supports this principle:

“Surgery should rarely be the 'first option' taken in choosing a form of treatment”. (Note: Dr Lewkovitz goes on to say "it is important to view proposed 'cures' objectively (or skeptically as required) before placing too much faith in unproven or unlikely cures and treatments.)

The key point is that, since unnecessary surgery is generally considered to be unethical, it stands to reason that every attempt must be made to alleviate an ailment first with non-surgical treatments. Only if the condition cannot be treated effectively with non-surgical treatments, or if the non-surgical treatments prove to be ineffective can the surgical options then be deemed ‘necessary’.

The StopSnor antisnoring acupressure ring, worn while sleeping on the little finger of the left hand, is a very low cost, lifelong lasting, time tested solution, that can reduce or eliminate snoring in many cases. It is definately worth cosidering before other risky, invasive and expensive options.

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