Solea Sleep
Solea Sleep is a simple, non-surgical treatment that can reduce or eliminate snoring by using laser light to gently tighten tissue in the back of your throat. Tightening the tissue opens your airway and reduces vibrations that cause you to snore. It's a one-time, painless treatment that takes only a few minutes to administer. With this treatment, laser light shrinks collagen under your tissue and, as it shrinks, the tissue tightens. It works on the exact same principle as laser wrinkle removal, just applied to the soft palate (the area in the back of your mouth). Because the tissue will be tighter, it will not vibrate as much when air passes over it, and that is how snoring is reduced or eliminated all together. This procedure takes 3 to 5 minutes and is virtually painless for most patients, even without anesthetic. Dr. Contardo and his team will help you determine if Solea Sleep is the right treatment for you. Before you have the Solea Sleep treatment, it is recommended to record your sleep with an app like SnoreLab. |
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Does Solea Sleep work for everyone?
A: It works for virtually all palatal snorers. Nasal snorers will not benefit from treatment unless they are both palatal and nasal snorers. Significantly overweight people may not get great results because there is just too much excess tissue in their soft palate.
Q: Does it work for people with CPAP devices?
A: This is not a treatment for Sleep Apnea; however, it will reduce snoring for people who snore despite the fact that they wear a CPAP at night.
Q: Do I need a sleep test for Solea Sleep?
A: A sleep test is not always necessary. However, it is helpful in measuring the effect of the Solea Sleep treatment if you do it before and after the treatment.
Q: Do I need to see a physician?
A: Snoring is a symptom of Sleep Apnea, which is a more serious condition. If you want to rule out Sleep Apnea, you should definitely see a physician either before or after the Solea Sleep procedure is performed.
Q: Does it work every time on the first try?
A: It works with a single treatment over 90% of the time. About 1 in 10 people require a second treatment.
Q: Why would it not work on the first try?
A: Sometimes the airway is so closed that we cannot get the laser energy to the entire soft palate in the first treatment. In that case, the first treatment opens it up enough that we can get to the rest of the area in the second treatment.
Q: Why would I have to wait between treatments? Can't you just do them both in one visit?
A: Because the tissue continues to tighten for thirty days after the initial treatment, it will take a little while for another treatment to have its full effect.
Q: Does Solea Sleep work for everyone?
A: It works for virtually all palatal snorers. Nasal snorers will not benefit from treatment unless they are both palatal and nasal snorers. Significantly overweight people may not get great results because there is just too much excess tissue in their soft palate.
Q: Does it work for people with CPAP devices?
A: This is not a treatment for Sleep Apnea; however, it will reduce snoring for people who snore despite the fact that they wear a CPAP at night.
Q: Do I need a sleep test for Solea Sleep?
A: A sleep test is not always necessary. However, it is helpful in measuring the effect of the Solea Sleep treatment if you do it before and after the treatment.
Q: Do I need to see a physician?
A: Snoring is a symptom of Sleep Apnea, which is a more serious condition. If you want to rule out Sleep Apnea, you should definitely see a physician either before or after the Solea Sleep procedure is performed.
Q: Does it work every time on the first try?
A: It works with a single treatment over 90% of the time. About 1 in 10 people require a second treatment.
Q: Why would it not work on the first try?
A: Sometimes the airway is so closed that we cannot get the laser energy to the entire soft palate in the first treatment. In that case, the first treatment opens it up enough that we can get to the rest of the area in the second treatment.
Q: Why would I have to wait between treatments? Can't you just do them both in one visit?
A: Because the tissue continues to tighten for thirty days after the initial treatment, it will take a little while for another treatment to have its full effect.