It always makes me smile when some “new” revelation pops up in the news that is actually very old news, but a journalist just discovered it and now it’s suddenly new.
A good example is the recent “news” about the single injection that stops snoring. This is being reported by Fox News and the Daily Mail, among others. A single injection, dirt cheap, takes a minute, doesn’t hurt, you stop snoring.
The problem is, this news is not exactly new. The original studies were done and reported by Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC eight years ago, in 20o1. They developed a method called Injection Snoreplasty which supposedly hardens that palate at the top of the mouth and can stop snoring for several months.
There are pros and cons with the injection method. On the plus side, it’s fast and cheap, and it promises to be quite effective. On the downside, it apparently hurts like heck (it’s in the top of the mouth) and the effects can wear off after as little as a month to up to two years.
So, if it gets to the point where you get offered a chance to have such an injection, please be fully aware of these issues. That having been said, if you’re a snorer, ANYTHING is worth a try, but please remember that snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea, a serious condition for which you should immediately get checked before you do anything else.
