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Not a mouth breather, but am w mask on
#1
Not a mouth breather, but am w mask on
I have never been a mouth breather - day or not.  Yet w nasal pillow mask on, my mouth opens and gets dry. Anyone know why?
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#2
RE: Not a mouth breather, but am w mask on
What usually happens is your muscles relax while you sleep and your jaw flops open. The best way to address it is with a chin strap or a soft cervical collar. Both can prevent the jaw from dropping open.
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#3
RE: Not a mouth breather, but am w mask on
Escape of air pressure will seek a path of the least resistance. In other words, the increased air pressure from your cpap machine is probably causing air to escape from your mouth. As Walla Walla said chin straps or other methods can be used to prevent mouth breathing. Good Luck!!
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#4
RE: Not a mouth breather, but am w mask on
I have this problem too. I used a chinstrap for a few years but I hated it so much so I decided to just not use the chinstrap and see what happened. That was about a year ago and now I have occasional moments sometimes minutes long where my mouth is open and the air is wooshing out. When I review my sleep data I see the leak detected but it is rarely over the 24/L mark and my AHI has not changed. Given that, I just let it happen.

I just got a new machine with Auto CPAP so I am curious to see if a reduced pressure will stop the open mouth leaks.
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#5
RE: Not a mouth breather, but am w mask on
I lowered my pressure last night and had a much better night. I now finally understand why I need a different machine... since i have no idea whats happening w this brick.
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#6
RE: Not a mouth breather, but am w mask on
(01-07-2018, 08:16 AM)silversnore Wrote: Escape of air pressure will seek a path of the least resistance.  In other words, the increased air pressure from your cpap machine is probably causing air to escape from your mouth.  As Walla Walla said chin straps or other methods can be used to prevent mouth breathing.  Good Luck!!

That is the best description I have seen for a while of what happens.
I am NOT a doctor.  I try to help, but do not take what I say as medical advice.


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