By employing the latest innovations in medicine, our team provides lasting relief for everything from sleep apnea to chronic sinus infections. So no matter how severe your condition is, we can help you breathe easier and sleep soundly.

Clearing obstructions for better sleep

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea have irregular breathing at night, leading to daytime sleepiness, fatigue, and higher risk for heart attacks and stroke. Sleep apnea occurs when the airway muscles fail to stabilize during sleep. Standard treatment requires patients to wear a mask at night, but many patients cannot tolerate Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP), despite the dedicated care of sleep medicine specialists.

Stanford Health Care offers a number of tailored treatments for sleep apnea sufferers, including jaw surgery and upper airway stimulation using a minimally-invasive device.

Maxillomandibular Advancement (MMA), a procedure performed for obstructive sleep apnea that was pioneered at Stanford, repositions the jaw complex to stabilize an excessively collapsible airway. Surgeons rely on 3D virtual surgical planning to design the movements of the jaw complex accurately, balancing delicate elements of the bite, breathing, and facial balance.

A recent promising therapy is upper airway stimulation. This minimally-invasive approach involves implanting a device just under the skin. When turned on at night via remote control, it detects when obstruction happens, and stimulates the hypoglossal nerve by increasing muscle tone to the tongue and upper airway muscles. This maintains the openness of the airway.