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+--- Thread: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? (/Thread-How-to-talk-even-drink-with-your-mask-on)
How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - Ailu - 06-24-2015
(06-23-2015, 02:36 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: Leak prevention comes from the contact of your tongue with the roof of your mouth. You can eventually learn to talk, drink and control the air pressure. Learning can be pretty funny, and produce noises you've not heard before.
Okay I didn't want to hijack another person's thread, so I parted Sleeprider's post here onto a new thread.
This is fascinating to me. During my titration, when I tried to talk with my nasal mask on, the only audible thing I could produce was gasps of air! I don't see how it is possible to talk at all with the machine running. And it was one of the things that concerned me... am I gonna have to take this mask off every time I need to tell hubby or the dog something?
So, how many of you have figured out how to talk & drink with your mask on? And was there anything special you figured out, that helped you be able to do this? All advice & tips greatly appreciated!
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - justMongo - 06-24-2015
Hand gestures work. I've not figured a way to drink, even through a straw with the mask on. The positive pressure just won't permit it.
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - OpalRose - 06-24-2015
I've never tried to talk once I have mask on. Can maby say one word or grunt. That's probably why my hubby asks me questions after I have my mask on, cause he knows I can't answer.
Never tried to drink anything either. Im sure I would make a mess.
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - Sleeprider - 06-24-2015
Maybe I can get some support from PeytonA in this matter since I he has said he does this too. I have been using nasal CPAP since 2008. Fairly early on I learned I needed to be able to communicate with my wife after the CPAP started. Last night a phone call came in a 1:20 AM and I even answered the phone, informing the caller "it's the middle of the night, what do you need?".
I speak on the exhale part of the cycle and have no problem preventing air from rushing out my mouth. It is an acquired skill, and all of the control comes from pressure of the tongue against the soft palate, and control of breathing effort. I can breath through my mouth and block the nasal air pressure, and I can equally breath both nasally and orally at the same time under pressure. I can open my mouth and not leak air, which to me makes the concept of using a chin strap completely invalid. I can even drink water by blocking the air, taking water into my mouth and swallowing. I can drink from a glass or a bottle. I don't know that I can describe to you how to do this, but it's easy and natural for me, in spite of IPAP pressure that goes to 18.
Practice makes perfect. Keep working on it.
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - PaytonA - 06-24-2015
I have not acquired nearly the degree of skill that Sleeprider has and my situation is a little different since I use a full face mask. If one actually practices these skills, they can be made to work.
Best Regards,
PaytonA
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - Sleeprider - 06-24-2015
I'm not sure if it is relevant, but I used to do emergency response with SCBA and PAPR (powered air) respirators. These are all full-face, but talking is required, and was never a problem.
People learn to talk using respirators. The speak on the exhale, and control the air flow past their larynx or voice box as the case may be.
Full face users should be able to talk, but of course it will be muffled and will likely cause leaks.
I'm sure most people could sit down and practice this a while and get pretty good results. Perhaps it is uncommon because most of us just sleep and either are uncertain of how to speak with pressure, or have never attempted it.
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - PsychoMike - 06-24-2015
It is possible and Sleeprider is right...far easier to do with a FFM or TFM (I do the SCBA and assorted respirators for work too).
With a nasal mask or pillows, it is possible to talk and be understood...but it isn't the easiest. Timing it helps, as does good palette control (I also scuba...being able to breathe through one orifice and not get water in the other when without a mask is an acquired skill). Still, I don't quite sound "normal" when I chat when hosed up
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - Starrbelie - 06-24-2015
Even only after a week on CPAP, I have learned to block off my upper airway and talk fairly well. I sound like I have a really bad cold, tho. I haven't been brave enough yet to try to drink anything.
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - Homerec130 - 06-24-2015
I can talk with my FFM all the time. I learned how to do this when flying for Uncle Sam on the those occasions when I had to be on the hose. Granted, I had a mic in the mask, but the principle was still the same. Really a challenge when we were pressure breathing. Those pressures were significantly greater than what you would have on a machine.
Still have my old helmet and mask in the closet.
Homer
RE: How to talk & even drink, with your mask on? - Mosquitobait - 06-24-2015
(06-24-2015, 08:43 AM)Ailu Wrote:(06-23-2015, 02:36 PM)Sleeprider Wrote: Leak prevention comes from the contact of your tongue with the roof of your mouth. You can eventually learn to talk, drink and control the air pressure. Learning can be pretty funny, and produce noises you've not heard before.
Okay I didn't want to hijack another person's thread, so I parted Sleeprider's post here onto a new thread.
This is fascinating to me. During my titration, when I tried to talk with my nasal mask on, the only audible thing I could produce was gasps of air! I don't see how it is possible to talk at all with the machine running. And it was one of the things that concerned me... am I gonna have to take this mask off every time I need to tell hubby or the dog something?
So, how many of you have figured out how to talk & drink with your mask on? And was there anything special you figured out, that helped you be able to do this? All advice & tips greatly appreciated!
I talk on the exhale, but very little. I'm in bed for sleeping at that point and talking just keeps me awake. I usually only get a drink if I get up to use the bathroom, and I take my mask off for that. I think it all depends on the mask you use. I use the P10 or the Wisp and they come off and go on pretty easily.