Alaxo nasal stent

[Canadaguy]

Using Alaxo nasal stents(short ones) took a couple weeks to get used to them. Kinda like contacts.  Sleeping way better getting really used to them. Way easier than cpap cheaper as well. Good for sports as well. Any one else try them? Any Doctors?

[Sleeprider]

How did you overcome discomfort and gag reflex? We don't have any or many users on Apnea Board, but it might be a good solution for those with a difficult airway that doesn't respond to CPAP. They apparently don't appeal to everyone based on this other thread http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-alaxo-stent

This is the manufacturer information and is an allowed link. http://www.alaxo.com/alaxostent_eng.html

[Canadaguy]

I never had the reflex. Was a different feel at first but I would wear them during the day for a while and that helped.  Can’t do cpap so nonchoice for me. I know two other people that use them and they like it better than anything else. Available in my city. Edmonton.alberta.

[ardenum]

why stent and not surgery?

[Sleeprider]

why stent and not surgery?

Thinking about this, surgery attempts to tighten tissues and open the upper airway by excision or ablation among other things.  It's outcome is generally not assured, and nearly always is inferior to CPAP.  The stent offers an assured airway that might offer a solution to problems that don't have good surgical solutions.  The case of member Terriergal comes to mind, where apnea is caused by expiratory flow limitation from palate prolapse which severely complicates CPAP use.  In addition, once the user adapts to using the stent there are few complications, or long term degradation of efficacy as with surgery.  Most important, surgery is painful, has a long recovery , risks of infection or complications, and no clear assured outcome.

I kind of see it like using soft contacts, where the user must learn to apply and withdraw the device from the cornea.  As unpleasant as it is to touch your eye, you do usually get over it and it becomes routine.  I'm sure inserting and withdrawing the stent is much the same.

[Fats Drywaller]

Can’t do cpap so nonchoice for me.

Why can't you do CPAP, and what have you tried along that route?

[ardenum]

why stent and not surgery?

Thinking about this, surgery attempts to tighten tissues and open the upper airway by excision or ablation among other things.  It's outcome is generally not assured, and nearly always is inferior to CPAP.  The stent offers an assured airway that might offer a solution to problems that don't have good surgical solutions.  The case of member Terriergal comes to mind, where apnea is caused by expiratory flow limitation from palate prolapse which severely complicates CPAP use.  In addition, once the user adapts to using the stent there are few complications, or long term degradation of efficacy as with surgery.  Most important, surgery is painful, has a long recovery , risks of infection or complications, and no clear assured outcome.

I kind of see it like using soft contacts, where the user must learn to apply and withdraw the device from the cornea.  As unpleasant as it is to touch your eye, you do usually get over it and it becomes routine.  I'm sure inserting and withdrawing the stent is much the same.

In theory it sounds appealing, but constantly putting a tube into the soft tissues of the nose, in and out, seem to me like this will cause bruising and bleeding. If I have a runny nose, after a few days of wiping my nose it becomes sore, yet its the outside skin which is tougher then whats in the nose. A permanent stent like they put into lungs I could understand but something you 'wear' each day I can't. I also keep forgetting that the avarage cpap user is over 60 where surgery isnt the perfect choice, I'm 30 and I'd do another UPPP if I had to anytime of the day. 

If I remember just palate remodelling isnt that hard to heal since soft tissues usually heal fast.

[Canadaguy]

Did not like the cpap uncomfortable hard to sleep for me. Best alternative was the stents

[Fats Drywaller]

Did not like the cpap uncomfortable hard to sleep for me.

If that's all it is, that's probably trivial (yes, really) and relatively easy to overcome by tuning the machine's settings and finding the right mask. Just about everyone here has had to go through that during the first few weeks.

In addition to the proactive tuning steps (possibly guided by feedback from Sleepyhead charts), everyone also gets used to it over some number of days or weeks so that the discomfort fades out. I don't mean getting used to it in the sense of having it stay the same (equally uncomfortable) and learning to put up with it, but more like the breaking-in process with new shoes that start out being painful and blister-causing. After a while there's no more pain or blisters, and you wouldn't have considered not wearing the shoes. It's just necessary to persevere and "break on through to the other side", that's all.

Best alternative was the stents

It sounds nasty to me, compared to CPAP, which is benign. But different strokes for different folks, and all that.

[terriergal]

why stent and not surgery?

Thinking about this, surgery attempts to tighten tissues and open the upper airway by excision or ablation among other things.  It's outcome is generally not assured, and nearly always is inferior to CPAP.  The stent offers an assured airway that might offer a solution to problems that don't have good surgical solutions.  The case of member Terriergal comes to mind, where apnea is caused by expiratory flow limitation from palate prolapse which severely complicates CPAP use.  In addition, once the user adapts to using the stent there are few complications, or long term degradation of efficacy as with surgery.  Most important, surgery is painful, has a long recovery , risks of infection or complications, and no clear assured outcome.

I kind of see it like using soft contacts, where the user must learn to apply and withdraw the device from the cornea.  As unpleasant as it is to touch your eye, you do usually get over it and it becomes routine.  I'm sure inserting and withdrawing the stent is much the same.

Heck i'd be willing to try anyway!!  Anything to get rid of the machine! lol

one ENT did say he would be willing to do a turbinate reduction and it would be covered by insurance.