RE: Soft Cervical Collar for mouth breathing
(03-08-2022, 10:55 PM)Deborah K. Wrote: I wore a neck collar for some time. It helped with my AHI but did not help with mouth leaks. I now tape my mouth every night. It works much better and is way more comfortable for me than the neck collar was. I got a special pillow that I was able to sew something to that takes care of the chin drop issue. So now, with my special pillow and the Medvance mouth tape, I am quite happy. 
I would love to know more about your special pillow and addition instead of the collar. I love my cervical collar but it might be causing some skin irritation issues and I have been trying to figure out an alternative for quite awhile now. Came up with nothing so far.
RE: Soft Cervical Collar for mouth breathing
I had to comment here. If the collar is causing "tingling" in your hands I would get rid of the collar immediately. There is risk/reward to just about everything. The collar could be putting too much pressure on some vertebrae in your neck and irritating it enough to cause the tingling in your hands. The nerves for the hands originate around neck level. Hopefully you can find a safer solution.
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RE: Soft Cervical Collar for mouth breathing
PurpleOx - Jay51's post above has me wondering just how tight are you are setting the SSC? It is not supposed to be at its normal therapeutic tension.
If uncertain, please read this Wiki article about their fit and use:
http://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.php...it_and_Use
03-10-2022, 09:26 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-10-2022, 09:42 PM by PurpleOx.)
RE: Soft Cervical Collar for mouth breathing
Thanks for the concern, Jay51 and Red.
The cervical collar is quite small (2.5 inches) and I put it very loose around my neck. When I'm sitting up, it dangles pretty loosely and moves around. I could fit my whole hand under there. But when I lie down, the collar stand straight up and gently pushes against my jaw without pressing against my chest. It's the pressure of the memory foam material against the back of my neck rather than around-the throat compression that is problematic. I tried wrapping a towel around the collar and using it as a neck pillow but came across the same issue. I don't think collars are the solution for me.
As a side note, I used the Releaf travel neck pillow (3.5 to 4") before this 2" collar and it was too tall when I laid down. The pain the next day was excruciating to say the least. All over body pain plus headaches.
I'm trying chin straps now (the HUGE bandage-looking ones, not the strappy kind) and it seems to be working pretty well without side effects. Hope is not lost.
