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Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
#1
Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
Hi,

I started CPAP about 6 months ago, and as I tend to be a mouth breather, I got a full face F&P Simplus mask (which is a fine mask).

I am now trying to move to a nasal or pillows mask, as I have read that nasal breathing is much better than mouth breathing, and also mouth breathing tends to lead to OSA and snoring.

I have bought a chin strap, to wear while using my Eson mask or Resmed P10. It's preventing my bottom jaw to drop and open, but it doesn't prevent my mouth to open if I try to.

In SleepHead, I tend to have either 0 leaks or large leaks when wearing the Simplus.

However, when wearing the Eson or P10, I tend to have some ongoing small leaks (up to 3 or 4l).

Question is: how do I know if I open my mouth during the night? How much leak (in litres) would be reported by Sleepyhead if I was opening my mouth?

Thanks,
T.
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#2
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
The amount of leak will vary, look for Sleepyhead to report your Large leaks, By default it is set for ResMed.  If you are not seeing LL in your events chart you are good, unless the smaller leaks are interrupting your sleep.
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#3
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
I too am a mouth breather and I thought that a full face mask was the way to go but after trying both the one you have as well as an Air Fit, I eventually went to a Dreamware Nasal Mask. It was much more comfortable but I did experience the leakage(thru my mouth) and, after doing some research, I began to tape my mouth at night. Its not as bad as one may think- it actually does work- my numbers have been consistently in the 1-2.0 range and I can live with that- the trade off in comfort vs. having to tape has been well worth it!

Good luck!
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#4
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
I've been using a chinstrap for several years to prevent mouth breathing and often recommended them here.   The chinstrap wasn't always successful.  I have tried taping and it worked but proved to be a problem if I needed to cough.   I just tried a soft cervical collar to see if it would prevent me from tucking my chin towards my chest.  To my surprise, it worked better than a chinstrap on keeping my mouth closed.  Now, I'm just wearing the collar in lieu of the chinstrap and having great success with eliminating mouth breathing and leaks.

Edit: As a side note, I just happened to look at pricing of chinstraps and collars. The cervical collar is less expensive.
Crimson Nape
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#5
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
Thanks.

I guess I don't really know if I open my mouth during the night or not, and therefore if the chin strap is effective.

Sleepyhead is not reporting large leaks, but only small leaks of 4 to 6L, throughout the night.

If I was to open my mouth wide, would it register as a large leak in SH?
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#6
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
(06-05-2017, 12:39 PM)tedgreen Wrote: If I was to open my mouth wide, would it register as a large leak in SH?

Only if the airway was open  (tongue not on roof of mouth)

Fred
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#7
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
Start to "train" your tongue to live on the roof of your mouth.

Put the tip up against the back of your teeth, arch the back, and apply gentle suction to "lock" it in place.
It takes some time to train so you do it automatically while sleeping.

This provides benefits both in the effectiveness of your therapy and comfort, but also helps to keep your teeth healthy and breath fresh.
Allowing your teeth to dry out promotes bacterial growth that leads to tooth and gum disease.
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#8
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
(06-05-2017, 12:27 AM)tedgreen Wrote: mouth breathing tends to lead to OSA and snoring
You have the causation backwards.  Sleep disordered breathing tends to lead to mouth breathing and snoring.
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#9
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
(06-05-2017, 12:27 AM)tedgreen Wrote: I started CPAP about 6 months ago, and as I tend to be a mouth breather, I got a full face F&P Simplus mask (which is a fine mask).

I am now trying to move to a nasal or pillows mask, as I have read that nasal breathing is much better than mouth breathing, and also mouth breathing tends to lead to OSA and snoring.

I don't agree with those premises. If you're used to the full face mask, why risk the mouth-leaking that can happen with a nasal mask? Mouth-leaking, often confused with mouth-breathing by the way, can render your therapy ineffective and ruin your night's sleep.

To me, mouth-breathing is something we do when our nasal passages get blocked. Mouth-leaking, on the other hand, is something we do when the pressurized CPAP air enters through the nasal passages and escapes out of our mouth.

Even if your premises are correct, I don't see how your scheme will work. Yes, a nasal mask pressurizes our nasal passages and can clear what otherwise might be a blockage, but here's the thing, the pressure in our nasal passages will be the same when we wear a full face mask. So if you're mouth-breather with a full face mask on, you'll still be a mouth-breather with a nasal mask on. But mouth-breathing while wearing a nasal mask means you'll also be mouth-leaking.

Nasal masks are better tolerated than full face masks. But you already tolerate the full face mask, so there's no advantage that I can see to switching to a nasal mask.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#10
RE: Trying to move to nasal/pillow mask. Leaks?
My therapy is fine with the full face mask. I tolerate the mask well, get very few large leaks and very low AHIs. I started with mild OSA anyway.

However, I read that mouth breathing is bad overall (regardless of OSA, and not just during the night) as it makes the mouth dry, makes the nose stuffy (as more mucus is generated), air is not filtered the same way as through the nose (so more illness), less oxygen is extracted etc.

From what I have read:

* mouth breathing is promoting OSA
* mouth breathing is promoting getting stuffy nose, as more mucus is generated by the nose (which then in turn forces to sleep with a FFM)

Therefore, I think continuing to use a FF mask during the night is promoting mouth breathing the whole day, and therefore I am trying to move to nasal masks.

Also, wearing a FF mask is forcing me more to sleep on my back (so making OSA worse), while a pillows mask makes sleeping on the side easier.
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