I had constant sinus problems for 20 years. Had 6-7 nose and nasal type surgeries. My uvula swelled up and elongated to where it interfered with swallowing and breathing. My tonsils were a problem so the ENT took out my tonsils and did a uvulaplasty. He basically cut it short. At 40 is not a great time to have your tonsils out. 10 days of pure hell. My postop appointment was with a waiting room full of kids who had the same surgery. They didn't seem to have the same post op as I did. Lucky. Taking out my uvula stopped my snoring and improved my breathing.

I feel your pain. Mine became so long it would lay on the back of my tongue and gag me. It got really painful about days 7 after the operation. I couldn't even swallow my own drool for 2 or 3 days. I tried to only swallow water and and a full, KO dose of pain pills. Comatose was the only relief. Nothing would numb it......rode it out the best I could. Good luck my friend.

On another note, when my boy was about 8 the wife took him to the Doctor for a sore throat. The wife said when the doc looked in with his light he jumped back, surprised looking and said "You don't see that every day". My son has a forked uvula. Weird as hell.

He had his taken out at 15.

Doctor got back to me and will only do a partial removal. He understood my concerns and based on the reason for the removal agreed a partial would be sufficient. Hopefully this will alleviate some of the long term side effects.

This is the first time I've heard of a doctor wanting to cut for basically an idiopathic reason. Please don't take this the wrong way but being overweight has innumerable manifestations, from sleep apnea to chronic sinusitis/bronchitis. The uvula has an important function. I would probably exhaust all options. Hopefully the doctor understands " measure twice, cut once"

quote:

Originally posted by SigSentry:
This is the first time I've heard of a doctor wanting to cut for basically an idiopathic reason. Please don't take this the wrong way but being overweight has innumerable manifestations, from sleep apnea to chronic sinusitis/bronchitis. The uvula has an important function. I would probably exhaust all options. Hopefully the doctor understands " measure twice, cut once"

To be clear, this doctor has sent me for the myriad other tests. The cutting of the uvula was my idea. He had mentioned it as an option because both him and the previous person (I think it was his PA that I saw a few times first) both had said my uvula was long. They did not think it was my issue. They thought it was acid reflux. But acid reflux was ruled out.

The timing of my symptoms is not what would be expected for reflux. My issue is better in the morning, after having slept on my back with my uvula not hanging on my tongue.

Long story short is I can't take it anymore and went to him and said, cut this damn thing because I'm out of all other options.

I'm a little overweight but not obese. 6', 200 lb.

It sounds like you have decided to get the procedure and that you found a doctor willing to do it. Throat issues can certainly be annoying. But this seems like you are grasping at straws out of desperation. It is your body and it is your choice what you do to it, but without any evidence that your uvula is the problem removing it will certainly cause issues,and likely will not solve the problem. Even in the best case it solves the one problem but possibly creates others. I hope everything works out whatever way you decide to go.

6' 200 lbs. Okay. Whatever. I think we want to see this snake thingy in back of your throat .

I am grasping at straws. But the uvula does touch my tongue. There’s not much more it could be. If I thought there was another option or another test I’d do it. But I’ve had ct scan of throat, barium swallow x rays, upper endoscopy with pH probe in my throat and found nothing else. I am not a fan of removing body parts. That’s for sure.

Do you believe this is likely an anomaly like being tongue-tied that is usually dealt with in childhood. I'm wondering if the uvula has been extended for some reason to compensate a la excessive use. Weird. Anyway, I would lean toward nonsurgical resolution is possible but that might take weeks or months of conscious effort.

quote:

Originally posted by SigSentry:
Do you believe this is likely an anomaly like being tongue-tied that is usually dealt with in childhood. I'm wondering if the uvula has been extended for some reason to compensate a la excessive use. Weird. Anyway, I would lean toward nonsurgical resolution is possible but that might take weeks or months of conscious effort.

What non surgical method. I'm sure I have months before they can schedule a surgery. They can't even schedule an office visit for months. I've lost about 30 lbs before this started. It started after I lost weight.

You mentioned stress. See a clinical psychologist for evaluation. See what they think. I would think that the recent onset might suggest a stress component.

Whatever you did to lose 30 lbs. Keep doing it. 30 lbs of fat, perhaps another 35 fat loss and 5 lbs muscle gain. These journeys often have physical symptoms along the way towards improved health. Of course if it is obviously causing difficulty in breathing swallowing etc., then that's what western medicine is best at but I would hope it's transitory as the overall inflammation subsidies.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

Only thing found since the beginning is "You're uvula is a fairly long."

Why do people have to boast about everything?

I had a cleaning hygienist observed that my uvula was pretty short. I protested, "But I just ate a pint of ice cream. It was the ice cream, I tell you!"

quote:

Originally posted by SigSentry:
Whatever you did to lose 30 lbs. Keep doing it. 30 lbs of fat, perhaps another 35 fat loss and 5 lbs muscle gain. These journeys often have physical symptoms along the way towards improved health. Of course if it is obviously causing difficulty in breathing swallowing etc., then that's what western medicine is best at but I would hope it's transitory as the overall inflammation subsidies.

If I was 165 lb I'd look anorexic.

quote:

Originally posted by Rey HRH:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:

Only thing found since the beginning is "You're uvula is a fairly long."

Why do people have to boast about everything?

I had a cleaning hygienist observed that my uvula was pretty short. I protested, "But I just ate a pint of ice cream. It was the ice cream, I tell you!"

If I go in the pool will I have uvula shrinkage!?! LOL, I have a pool, it hasn't helped.

A BMI of 22-25 probably looks anorexic compared to everyone else around you. Yeah, bmi isn't perfect if you're totally jacked, but it's a good general measure.

quote:

Originally posted by SigSentry:
A BMI of 22-25 probably looks anorexic compared to everyone else around you. Yeah, bmi isn't perfect if you're totally jacked, but it's a good general measure.

Alrighty then. I'm gonna hit the diet hard core again. I was sort of in a "maintenance" phase here, but I can easily get back on track and lose some weight fast. Along with getting out of my stressful job, we can see if I have any improvement over the next month or so and cancel surgery if I do.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
If I was 165 lb I'd look anorexic.

Maybe compared to the average American male, these days, you would, but, you would not actually be anorexic.

You're to be congratulated on losing the thirty pounds. Well done! But, unless you're very heavily-muscled, ripped, essentially, at six feet of height you're still overweight at 200 lbs.

Hell, I'm 6'4" tall and, at 194 lbs. I had 23% body fat. I had a beer belly, moobs, and poor-to-non-existent muscle definition.

I'm now down to ±180 lbs and around 16% body fat. I do not look the least bit anorexic. Moobs are essentially gone. I have muscle definition most everywhere.

I still have some belly fat I'm working to eliminate.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
Alrighty then. I'm gonna hit the diet hard core again.

Hit the gym. Lift some weights. Or at least work out on machines. (I prefer compound movements with free weights as they more-closely mimic real-life demands.)

If you're over 40, read The Barbell Prescription: Strength Training for Life After 40. It will be quite an eye-opener.

I Google "long uvula" . Some of those pics look like it's the least of their issues. Here's hoping it becomes a non-issue after a couple weeks carnivore-ish, non snacking. It's amazing what a doctor would make just tying off the tip, and cauterizing. Probably not a DIY. Ha.

quote:

Originally posted by SigSentry:
I Google "long uvula" . Some of those pics look like it's the least of their issues. Here's hoping it becomes a non-issue after a couple weeks carnivore-ish, non snacking. It's amazing what a doctor would make just tying off the tip, and cauterizing. Probably not a DIY. Ha.

You know, I was watching Clarkson’s farm and saw how they castrated the sheep or lambs or something. Just wrapping elastic around them they fell off. I was thinking I could wrap and elastic around my uvula and save some money.