The doctor performs somnoplasty to treat upper-airway obstructions. The doctor uses local anesthesia and the procedure is essentially painless. Somnolasty uses controlled, low-power microwave energy to create submucosal lesions. Over a period of 6 to 8 weeks, the lesions are naturally reabsorbed, reducing tissue volume and stiffening the remaining tissue in the desired area. Somnoplasty is a safer, less invasive solution for the treatment of upper-airway disorders than traditional surgical therapies. The procedure takes less than 2 minutes per turbinate. Somnoplasty reduces surgical risks without postoperative pain and moreover is office-based. To avoid traditional surgical pain, patients with various nasal conditions resulting from enlarged turbinates often endure prolonged use of intranasal sprays and systemic medications, which have minimum long term effectiveness and moreover carry the risk ofharmful side effects. Somnoplasty is proven effective for the following conditions: obstructive sleep apnea, habitual snoring, certain causes of cough and chronic nasal obstruction. Reducing nasal obstruction in the setting of chronic CPAP use can dramatically improve comfort and tolerability by reducing the pressure settings needed.