+- Apnea Board Forum - CPAP | Sleep Apnea (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums)
+-- Forum: Public Area (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Forum-Public-Area)
+--- Forum: Main Apnea Board Forum (https://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Forum-Main-Apnea-Board-Forum)
+--- Thread: Hyoid suspension to treat sleep apnea (/Thread-Hyoid-suspension-to-treat-sleep-apnea)
Hyoid suspension to treat sleep apnea - chandlertj53 - 03-16-2022
Is anyone familiar with the minimally invasive procedure to "suspend" the hyoid bone and reposition the tongue to open the airway? It involves a device that puts a "stitch" around the hyoid bone to lift it, and a similar procedure to lift the tongue. It looks like there is a small incision made under the chin for the tongue procedure. I can post a website with information, but I do not think it is allowed to do that here. The "model", which is being used more frequently, is that you search for a doctor trained to perform the procedure. It looks like over 400 doctors in the US are trained and it is stated the procedure is reimbursed by most private pay insurance companies. The company has been around since 2016, so I am surprised I have not seen any discussion on this topic. Thanks.
RE: Hyoid suspension to treat sleep apnea - 2SleepBetta - 03-16-2022
I can't help with finding and selecting an MD to do the procedure.
The long paper I link to has about a half dozen hits on "hyoid", mentioning how lifting it and caudal traction helps. In Windows 10, click the 3 dots in upper right of your browser screen and select "Find on page". Then enter "hyoid", if you don't want to scan the whole interesting paper. There is one related footnote.
The info there might be some help for selection of an MD. Good luck.
Mechanical Properties of the Upper Airway (nih.gov)