IamA man who just received a uvulaplasty (removal of the little thing that hangs down in the back of your throat). Ask me anything!

why?

I've had problems with my uvula in the past. It gets stretched out from time to time, sometimes so severely that I could clutch it between my teeth. A few times when it got that bad, I developed an ulcer on it, which turned into the most unbearable, long-lasting pain I could imagine. So it was recommended I have it removed.

I also have sleep apnea. The doctors said that in addition to my uvula, I had a rather large soft palate, and they said they could remove part of it as well, which could help my sleep apnea. So, in summary:

Shitty uvula Sleep apnea Big soft palate Removed uvula and part of soft palate

Oh god, the image of having your uvula between your teeth...

Yeah, it was like a cartoon or something.

Pics of this?

Unfortunately no pics of the before.

>unfortunately

:(

Did you used to get uvulitis? I get that shit from time to time and it sucks. It seems an evening of hard drinking usually precedes my uvulitis. I also got two extremely painful cases of tonsilitis a few years ago that resulted in hospitalization because I couldn't swallow. ENT doctor said I should consider a tonsillectomy, but I hear it's extremely painful in adults and has a long recovery time. Do you still have your tonsils?

I believe I had uvulitis once about 11 or 12 years ago. I also had my tonsils out while I was young child, but they did tell me that with this procedure they would take out the tonsils if they were still there, and that it is apparently painful as shit. This already hurts enough, but I have good meds.

Did you snore before? Do you snore after? Do you sleep better now or do you still have apnea? What was it like having sleep apnea?

I did snore before. I'm not sure about after, as I had the surgery about 24 hours ago.

Sleep apnea kind of sucks. You never get a full night's sleep.

I had mine removed 10 years ago, as part of a fix for snoring. I also had soft tissue removed from my palate and had my nasal cavities widened. I had the most colourful and cathartic bogies for two weeks afterwards.

It didn't work though and it was a horrendous amount of pain to go through. Nothing like smelling your own flesh being burned!

A few years later I was given a CPAP. I always recommend people go the CPAP route first if they're suffering from apnea and/or snoring. So much easier.

I also had my nasal cavity cleared out back in July. One of the best things I ever did.

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Sure. I had a deviated septum, and they straightened it, thinned it out, and shaved down my turbinates inside my nasal cavity and cleaned all that up.

I have a deviated septum as well. My brother is going to have his surgery next week. I snore terribly and am pretty sure I have sleep apnea. I want to get it sorted out, but would like to hear from how your procedure went.

Fixing my septum and nasal cavity was one of the best decisions I ever made. 10/10, would do again.

Did you stretch it, or was it always like that?

I guess it was always like that. I certainly didn't do anything on purpose to stretch it out.

Don't feel bad brother, I have an extra! On average, you and I, we're still normal people!

Shit, that is actually fascinating. You should do an AMA.

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Yeah dude, I did the same thing. It was unbearable.

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Yeah. I can't impress upon people enough just how awful it was. And it stuck around for like 2 weeks.

It is good that you did not get this surgery before thanksgiving.

I am glad you got a pesky uvula removed but don't expect a significant difference in obstructive sleep apnea symptoms.

What was your AHI? Uvulaplasty and soft palate surgery for obstructive sleep apnea is usually only good for reducing AHI about 10 - 15 points. Unfortunately I become aware of this post -op.

I know because I had uvulaplasty, septoplasty, turbinate reduction, tonsilectomy , anoidectomy and base of tongue radio ablation to treat sleep apnea.

It reduced my AHI 12 points -

I then had maximal mandibular advancement (Cutting upper and lower jawbones off and moving them forward then bolting them back together) which actually cured my sleep apnea. I just went to the surgeon yesterday for 1 year post op appointment, and the stuck a camera through my nose and done my throat to check the airway. The surgeon showed me where the soft palate surgery actually negatively impacts the airway.

I'm not sure what my AHI is off the top of my head, but they're going to give me another sleep study in a few months to see if it helped. I've now, at some point in my life, had the first five of your seven total procedures.

Shit, how awful was the jaw thing?

The jaw thing is better than what you just had. It hurt less. Recovery was longer - jaw wired shut for a month. so you defiantly can loose weight if you stay away from to many milkshakes.

Hmmmm, not a bad reason to have surgery. Fix sleep apnea and drop 20 pounds!

40 lbs in 1 month and have kept it off for more than a year!

Good work!

as someone who constantly develops mouth ulcers i can only imaging how sore an ulcer on you uvula must be! yikes..

It was excruciating, no lie.

Do you have problems with speech? Like, could you produce a French R or pronounce "loch" the proper Scottish way?

I just had surgery yesterday so I'll have to let you know in a few months.

Have any of the people you've talked to about this procedure confused uvula and vulva and been very confused?

A few people have, actually. "Wait, uvula? Ohhhhhh.....UVULA."

Mulva?

This post is waaaaaaay underrated.

Did it hurt? Was it expensive? I have a rather long uvula, although I certainly can't clench it in my teeth.

An acquaintance of mine had his uvula removed, he said it was fairly painless, but I'm not sure the procedure he had was the complete one. He was a medical corpsman in the Navy, while at sea the entire medical staff removed each other's uvulas out of boredom. Naturally, drugs were necessary during the procedure and recovery...

I was under general anesthesia for the surgery, so the procedure itself didn't hurt, but I'm in a fair bit of pain now. Just lying here it feels like a very sore throat. When swallowing it feels like I'm trying to swallow nails or glass shards.

I have full health coverage at the VA due to being an Iraq vet (5 years of coverage) plus my disability rating, so it's absolutely free.

I don't think the uvula itself is that bad, but removing part of the soft palate makes it worse. Also, the doctor informed me that they would usually remove the tonsils with this surgery, but luckily I had mine out as a child, because when added in it supposedly makes the recovery just unbearable for about two whole weeks.

It leaves a very, very sore throat for about two to three weeks. I didn't want to take the two Vicodin that were prescribed and only took one. It didn't help. Definitely recommend taking the full prescribed dose.

I found that ibuprofen helped better but my doctor was very unhappy when he found out I took that due to the blood thinning properties.

Overall, it's not quite as bad as I was prepared for. Definitely not as bad as /u/mute1 described.

Thanks for your service!:)

Thank YOU!

Sorry .. 7 hours and I seem to be the first person commenting on they removed each others uvulas???? Seriously? "Hey Ralph, I'm bored, open up." "OK Sam but only if you do the same for me."

Man, people do some weird shit on deployment. Once watched a guy eat a dead lizard in Iraq for $48.

How dead? Like freshly dead, or 5 days and festering dead?

Not festering, but definitely dead.

Dry aged and cured, then?

Oh yeah, lizard jerky.

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I don't think they're sure what its purpose is. It does affect some speech patterns, but my understanding is that it most affects French speakers. As an English speaker, the uvulaplasty shouldn't affect me too much, but the partial removal of my soft palate does have the potential to make my voice more nasally. However, I called my grandmother after the surgery and she said I sounded pretty much normal, so that's good, as I actually have a pretty good voice.

As /u/levb1 mentioned, you might have problems with choking on food and drink if if you are not careful or don't learn to swallow differently. My dad had a similar surgery about 10 years ago and he finds himself coughing and choking on things much more often than before. Maybe consider seeing a speech pathologist/therapist that has experience with swallowing therapy (har har, I know...) if you find this to be an issue. Good luck and get well!

Thanks for the heads up!

It can also have an effect on your sinuses, so watch out for that!

Negative effects?

Yes, I have a ton of drainage. It's not unbearable but it is worst in the morning because I've been laying down and it has all gone down my throat.

Hopefully I'll have better luck.

If you ever have any of those problems you can message me sometime and I'll tell you if that is something I've had too!

Awesome, thanks a lot!

It took about 3 weeks for me to talk comfortably again after my UPPP. Everyone told me I sounded the same but it seemed to me that it changed the pitch of my voice within my own head.

I used to be an avid singer. I don't have the same vocal range as I used to. It hurts to hit the higher notes now.

Well, I'm not much of a singer, but I do have a fairly deep and smooth voice, so I'm hoping that it's not affected.

My low end was unaffected. My palate was stiffened with a laser and I assume yours was as well?

I'm actually not sure. I didn't really have many questions about the procedure, and they didn't specify whether they used a laser or some type of cutting tool like a scalpel.

most affects French speakers

Does it make it harder or easier to surrender?? Reddit needs to know! Come on, OP!!

I'm no cheese-eating surrender monkey!

Dentist here. The uvula is used to help close off the opening to the nose from the throat side - the nasopharynx - during swallowing and chewing. It also helps with some phonation, mostly for some hard consonants, but there should be minimal speech pattern effect with a minor procedure like this. In cases of cleft lip and palate, hypernasal speech occurs because the uvula cannot contact the throat to create proper sound and prevent air escape through the nose. This is called velopharyngeal insufficiency.

In OP's case I'm betting the uvula was elongated from a long history of apnic events and possibly genetic predisposition.

Good luck on your recovery, OP!

Thanks, Doc!

Was it chewy? I imagine it being quite chewy.

Sort of like a medium soft grape.

Fun fact: "uvula" comes from the word Latin word for grape, "uva"

Shit, that is a pretty fun fact.

Reading this made me cringe so hard

Are you eating grapes?

You do realize that you need that little hangy thing in the back of your throat to get into heaven? Doh!

I think you have to believe in god, too, which rules me out.

Guess you kind of have to leave that one at the door once you've served in a war.

That's certainly part of it.

Did you get any photos of the uvula pre-surgery? Or post? Did you keep it? Was it always this large or was it a gradual thing?

Unfortunately, no. No pics pre or post. The doctor said she tossed it, but she did tell me my uvula was very long. I guess it was always larger than normal.

Can you deep throat?

I have no idea. Besides, I just had the surgery yesterday.

That's not a no.

Fair point.

You seem to have had a few fairly extreme things going on with your uvula. Were they reluctant to do the surgery and did they point out any risks to you?

What will be different once you've healed up?

They weren't reluctant at all. In fact, every doctor I spoke to said I was an excellent candidate for a uvulaplasty. They absolutely pointed out all potential risks/negative side effects to me.

It should help my sleep apnea, and I'll no longer have to worry about having a shitty uvula!

Did they take the entire thing or just part of it?

The whole uvula and part of my soft palate.

What're you going to do if you ever get a part in a movie and they want to do one of those shots where you're screaming and the camera zooms in on your face and then mouth and then seems to go down your throat so they can go to black and transition to the next scene?

From now on, I guess I'm just SOL on the movie parts.

can you pronounce [q] anymore?

Yeah, sounds normal.

Are you pronouncing the english letter <q> or the voiceless uvular stop /q/? I'd imagine directly after having your uvula removed, pronouncing a uvular stop would be...not so easy. It's the reason you mentioned French speakers having difficulties further up in the thread, since they have the uvular trill /ʀ/.

Shit man, I have no idea. "Q".....how did that sound?

Do you miss it? I would miss mine, he's my best friend.

Honestly, I wasn't sad to see the old son of a bitch go.

Has it affected your gag reflex?

The uvula itself? It's possible. I don't have the strongest gag reflex (I gag when I brush my tongue while brushing my teeth), so maybe the removal will help.

Please report back on this, I need to know for umm science.

"It helps with fellatio." -The chick from Pulp Fiction with all the shit in her face

That looks so incredibly painful. I assuming you can't eat? Did they say how long it would take to heal?

They said a good 2, maybe 3 weeks to heal up. I was able to eat some applesauce, but luckily I have a good juicer, and they recommended a liquid diet for the next 2 weeks. At home drinking some mean green juice as we speak.

when I got my tonsils out, yogurt helped a lot. I lived off of that.

Not a huge yogurt guy. Just juicing it up.

If you've had it completely removed wouldn't it be a uvulaectomy?

The term on my paper work is uvulopatatopharyngoplasty.

So, you no longer have your courage hangyball... is the world frightening?

Terrifying.

So how are you passing the time, besides reddit? Care to recommend any subs while you are here? And do you use a cpap for the apnea?

I was discharged around midday today, so now I'm just watching Ravens v Patriots, drinking juice, and taking percocet. /r/trees is always good, /r/AppalachianTrail, /r/cleavage, and /r/MURICA!

I do use a CPAP. The VA recently hooked me up with a brand new state-of-the-art machine, which was really awesome of them. It features a full face mask (covers nose and mouth), which has been great.

What is the procedure to remove your uvula? I've seen antique doctors tools which look like wire cutters and the doctors would snip your tonsils and uvula in office. Also were you in the ICU for an extended time like they do with tonsils since it's such a high risk of post-op infection?

I just had the surgery yesterday and they kept me overnight for observation. I would assume they just used a scalpel. I've seen the old-timey medical instruments you're talking about, and they are scary.

When did you realise something was wrong with your uvula?

I wanna say it was May of 2014. For about the third time I'd developed an inflamed uvula that was really tender, swollen, stretched out, etc, and I also developed an ulcer/canker sore on it. I couldn't even breathe without excruciating pain. So I went to the VA to see if they could prescribe me some Novocain spray or something. They could really do much for me, but the doctor who examined me told me a uvula wasn't really necessary and suggested I follow up with ENT and see about having it removed.

And here I am today!

How does it feel? Different. Tastes?

Well, right now it's quite painful, especially when swallowing. The taste is slightly bloody/mucousy.

Oh, okay. Hope everything goes well and that it feels better. ;D

Thanks a lot!

Does coughing, yawning, laughing, and/or sneezing hurt?

Everything hurts, but hooray for Percocet!

Do you have any pics from before the surgery? We are all dying to see your oddly-shaped uvula.

Ha, I wish I did. But when it got all stretched out, imagine a thumb hanging down in the back of your mouth.

Nursing school student here. I just did a report on sleep apnea and discovered that this is an option. I'd be interested to find out if this helps with it, since it's not 100% effective for that. Would you report back after healing?

Sure. They told me that it wasn't 100% effective, so obviously it might not fix me, but I figured that with the other problems I've had with my uvula I might as well just go through with it. If it doesn't help, then what the hell...I haven't really lost anything.

Besides your uvula

Indeed. But I view that as addition by subtraction.

Are the stitches the kind that dissolve? I couldn't imagine them pleasant to have taken out.

I had my tonsils removed this time last year and while they aren't the same surgery. I am sure some of my tips for pain/comfort will help. If you can get ice packs that wrap around your neck get them. It helps a lot with swelling. Stay hydrated! Not sure what your tolerance is but I could not handle cold foods whatsoever. I drank room temperature water only. If you are having a hard time getting any food down I suggest Boost or Ensure to at least get something in you. Also, hang in there! It can be a long frustrating road to recovery but it's worth it.

Actually, that's a good question. I would imagine they used dissolvable stitches, but who knows. And thanks for the tips! I have a juicer, so I've been able to make some of that since I've been home.

My husband had a u3p done 11 days ago, along with a septoplasty. He's still having mouth pain now, but it's the worst when he wakes up in the morning. Do you have any questions for him? I... I guess I'm not asking you anything!

How bad was his pain when he first got out? Mine is bad, but not really unbearable, so I'm hoping I'll be spared the worst of it.

how does it affect the way you talk? I'm thinking of having this done as mine stretches a bit and bugs the crap out of me when sleeping and running.

I've been told it shouldn't affect me very much, if at all. I just had it done yesterday so I've got some swelling going on. /u/RedshirtStormtrooper had one done last month and appears very eager to talk about it, so maybe he/she would be nice enough to answer your question!

Do you still have a gag reflex after this?

I don't know. I won't know until after I heal up. I'm suppose I will, though.

Could you wiggle it like you would an ear?

I've never had that much dexterity.

How can you swallow? (I thought the uvula is needed to both open stomach and close wind pipe)

I don't know, I just do, and I just did.

Do you play video games?

Every six months or so I seem to go on a Beatles: Rock Band binge. Other than that, not so much.