33 yr old Manoj thought that if you are too tired snoring is not an issue. However his family did not agree with him. At the age of 33, Manoj weighs 120 kgs and also complained that even after sleeping for a number of hours, he didn’t feel fresh when he woke up. He constantly complained of weakness, fatigue and mood swings due to untimed sleeping patterns and disturbed sleep.
“There were days when I felt like sleeping in my office. I changed by pillow, mattress and even the direction of my bed, but nothing helped me. The persistent tired feeling was hampering my personal and professional life. Most importantly due to my snoring, I had become the butt of family jokes. I realised that I should seek a professional medical opinion for my condition,” shares Manoj.
The Hero Honda employee decided to consult Dr. Radhamadhab Sahu, Consultant ENT at Paras Gurgaon. Dr.Radhamadhab Sahu is an internationally renowned ENT and Skull Base Surgeon who specializes in all basic ENT surgeries and advanced complex endoscopic skull base surgeries.
Basic diagnosis and few tests revealed that Manoj was suffering from Chronic Obstructive Sleep Apnea – a disorder usually not taken seriously by majority of the Indians, however if left untreated can result in multiple co morbidities.
According to Dr. Sahu, “Obstructive sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder. It causes breathing to repeatedly stop and start during sleep. This type of apnea occurs when your throat muscles intermittently relax and block your airway during sleep. A noticeable sign of obstructive sleep apnea is snoring. The risk factors of Sleep Apnea includes being overweight, male and having a short neck. Having large tonsils or tongue can also lead to obstructions and cause Sleep Apnea. In Manoj’s case his weight was his biggest issue. We also realised that his neck and tongue size was also obstructing his airway adversely. Hence his situation was chronic and to treat the same number of surgeries was recommended.”
To set his breathing pattern correct, Dr. Sahu and the team of surgeons decided to perform the following surgeries – FESS, Septoplasty, Turbinoplasty, Tonsillectomy & Zeta Palato Pharyngoplasty. Zeta Palato Pharyngoplasty(ZPP) is a new technique for palate surgery to improve airway in morbidly obese patient with promising results.
“These combinations of surgeries are done for nasal septum connection, turbinate size reduction and for new palate formation to improve nasopharyngeal airway. The multi level surgeries we conducted to ensure that during sleep his breathing is not obstructed. His situation was chronic due to childhood obesity and also since he kept on ignoring the signs and symptoms,” shares Dr. Sahu.
He adds, “ If Obstructive sleep apnea is not treated timely, it can cause a number of other health issues that can affect you adversely – hypertension, heart disease , diabetes, stroke, depression and headaches. People end up popping a number of over the counter pills for treatment and end up ignoring the glaring issues of Obstructive sleep apnea. If anyone is overweight and is experiencing trouble sleeping, fatigue and tiredness, it is best to consult a specialist immediately.”
Manoj shares, “ I didn’t know that snoring can be such a major complication. Thanks to Dr. Sahu and the entire team at Paras, I can today not just breathe freely but have also understood the exceptional side effects of obesity.”
