Somnology
Pharmacological treatments are used to chemically treat sleep disturbances such as insomnia or excessive daytime sleepiness. The kinds of drugs used to treat sleep disorders include: anticonvulsants, anti-narcoleptics, anti-Parkinsonian drugs, benzodiazepines, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, and opiates as well as the hormone melatonin and melatonin receptor stimulators. Anticonvulsants, opiates, and anti-Parkinsonian drugs are often used to treat restless legs syndrome. Furthermore, melatonin, benzodiazepines hypnotics, and non-benzodiazepine hypnotics may be used to treat insomnia. Finally, anti-narcoleptics help treat narcolepsy and excessive daytime sleepiness.
Somnoplasty
Somnoplasty, commonly known as Turbinate reduction surgery, (composed of the Latin root "somnus", meaning sleep, and the Greek word "plastia", meaning molding or formation) is a medical treatment approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat habitual snoring, chronic nasal obstruction, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) using radiofrequency ablation to shrink the tissues that are causing the problem. Somnoplasty is typically an outpatient procedure that takes 30-45 minutes.