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Some of those drivers – probably more than a few of them – are not going to actually correct why they might be classified as a “bad driver” by their insurance company. They simply won’t know why they’re bad drivers, and hence, some of them will likely remain a “bad driver”, and face higher insurance premiums next year – but this time after a few more accidents or tickets.
As you can easily see,
real cause of so-called “bad driving” isn’t solved when each person is given a nice gift of $500 with which to pay his or her increased insurance premium. And since problem isn’t really solved, bad driving can crop up again, and cause financial problems and even worse, it can endanger health and safety.
So when people readily turn to trachea tissue-cutting surgery to cure their snoring, they may quite easily be overlooking real root cause of snoring; something that may be related to diet, sleep position, jaw or tongue dysfunction, lifestyle, genetics, or be an indication of an even more serious health problem; an indication that could be dangerously suppressed (temporarily, at least), after a seemingly successful surgery.
Going to surgery as an easy, off-the cuff solution for snoring, is like giving these bad drivers $500 in cash. It may seem to solve their problem, but for many, it will just be a temporary fix; masking even deeper problems that can lead to severe consequences down road, including Sleep apnea.
Again, we return to unfortunately familiar theme that surgery has become an easy first option for many physicians who, for a variety of reasons (including, sometimes, financial ones) find themselves recommending surgery as an almost off cuff solution to a serious snoring problem. Sometimes, what is lost in this snoring surgical-obsession are some very basic and established risks. For those who are not immediately familiar with such risks, they include:
·post-operative medical conditions, including aesthetic and cosmetic concerns
·infection from hospitals (including emerging antibiotic-resistant “superbugs”
·scarring of tissues that can lead to painful inflammation ·expensive follow-up to surgery
·time consuming follow-up which may cause extended periods of leave from work (potentially adding to overall cost of salary in lost wages/salary)
·expensive medications to control swelling
·possible damage to speech, including changing voice
·possible problems with swallowing
·possible hemorrhaging
·possible uncomfortable and distracting dry mouth
·possible intense ear pain
It’s necessary and well-worth repeating (sorry, but it is…) that, overall, surgery is often a truly wondrous means of solving, or at least alleviating, some serious health problems. Nobody wants to return to a pre-surgical world, where procedures that are swiftly addressed today would otherwise render a sufferer in agony for years; or perhaps even hasten an early death.
So it should not be surmised that view is that surgery is inherently bad; because it’s not. But surgery is simply a tool, and one that should be used only when necessary (not unlike any other tool). The problem is that some people rely on surgery as an automatic fix. What’s that old saying: if all you have is a hammer in your hand, then everything looks like a nail? For some people, this is regrettably true when it comes to surgery; every health ailment that they see is worthy of surgery.
Yet these same people would probably seriously reconsider their views when faced with substantiated evidence that surgery is not often working for snorers (and their loved ones).
Overall, then, while snoring surgery can be useful and effective for some sufferers (and their families, roommates, neighbors, heck, even their pets!), it’s clear that surgery has not proven to a panacea, offering risk-free cures for this dangerous, and potentially life-affecting condition.
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Emanuele Allenti is owner of stop snoring website. You can freely republish this article on your website, newsletter etc. given you don't modify it and leave this resource box untouched.
