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[CPAP] AirTouch F20 troubles - nose pillows better? but I snore..chinstrap? - Printable Version

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AirTouch F20 troubles - nose pillows better? but I snore..chinstrap? - Lilaq88 - 07-26-2022

Hi all - 
I'm new to this board and to CPAP in general.  I am hoping someone can answer my questions because the CPAP place I go to is fully booked for another week and I'm going nuts!

I was diagnosed with moderate apnea and was issued a CPAP machine and a mask about two weeks ago.  The mask is an AirTouch F20 which was given to me because I'm a "mouth breather" and I sleep on my side.  The first two nights, I was fine--I think I was so tired from the apnea, I was just happy to have air.  Then the mask started leaking, especially when I rolled on my side. Ever since then, it's been a battle between mask leaks and tightening the straps, and then it's too tight and I feel claustraphobic.  The past 4 nights I've woken myself up when I rip the mask off.  Last night, in anticipating of the battle, I couldn't get to sleep so I just took the mask off and went to sleep.  About 2:00 a.m. I woke up and grudgingly put my mask back on, only to rip it off/wake up a couple hours later.   I can't do this anymore!!!  crygreen  The mask makes me feel angry and confined and like I'm being punished just because I snore.  Sad

So, when I can finally get in to see the CPAP person, I want to just switch to the most minimal mask possible which I think is the nose pillows (?).  Does anyone know if the nose pillows will stop my snoring OR if I use the nose pillows with a chin strap, will that help the apnea and stop my snoring?

Any recommendations on a comfortable chinstrap I could order on Amazon?

Thank you!  I'm at my wit's end with limited sleep, red mask marks on my face and frustration with my CPAP supplier place being unhelpful.


RE: AirTouch F20 troubles - nose pillows better? but I snore..chinstrap? - Crimson Nape - 07-26-2022

Hi Lilaq88! - Welcome

I'm guessing you are using the same pillow that you had prior to starting CPAP therapy. Since a pillow is normally designed to compress under your head, the area outside of it doesn't. This will push on your mask, causing it to leak. You might consider changing it to either a buckwheat or CPAP pillow. Another trick is to slightly push (tension) the mask toward the pillow as you lay your head down on it. The pillow's back pressure will then move it back to center. At least this works for me. Big Grin

The snoring is from not enough pressure and not the mask type.

- Red


RE: AirTouch F20 troubles - nose pillows better? but I snore..chinstrap? - Lilaq88 - 07-26-2022

Hi Crimson - 
Thanks for the reply!  When you say the snoring is from not enough pressure, you mean from the CPAP machine, correct?  My husband reports that when I'm wearing my mask (as best as possible), I don't snore at all.  So you're saying if I switched to the nose pillows, because of the CPAP machine's pressure, that should correct my snoring even if I still mouth-breathe?

Thanks for the pillow tip.  You are correct--I'm not using a CPAP pillow.  We just got new TemurPedic pillows (before I was diagnosed with apnea) and I really don't want to switch to another pillow.  I'll try your suggestion of smooshing the mask into the pillow first as I lay my head down and maybe that'll be enough for the memory foam. Smile


RE: AirTouch F20 troubles - nose pillows better? but I snore..chinstrap? - Crimson Nape - 07-26-2022

Regardless of mask type, pressure is pressure. The purpose of the CPAP is to use enough air pressure to provide a stent to your airway. When we sleep, we relax, and that includes the muscles surrounding your airway. Relaxation, combined with gravity, causes your airway to become occluded, causing the snore. If you are still snoring while using the CPAP, then it means you are not at an optimum pressure to maintain a clear airway.

As far as masks are concerned, the pressure in the airway is the same regardless of mask type. A nasal pillow or hybrid mask does not cover the nose itself. Using a mask that doesn't fully encase the nose provides the perception that the air pressure is greater. This is due to the fact that the inside nose pressure is greater than the nose's outside pressure, as opposed to a mask that totally encases the nose. If you suffer from nasal passage restrictions, then a nasal pillow style mask will provide added therapy (relief) at the same pressure as opposed to a full coverage style mask.

- Red


RE: AirTouch F20 troubles - nose pillows better? but I snore..chinstrap? - Lilaq88 - 07-26-2022

Great - thank you for the information!!! I feel very encouraged now (and why didn't my dang CPAP therapist person tell me that??  rhetorical question).


RE: AirTouch F20 troubles - nose pillows better? but I snore..chinstrap? - Crimson Nape - 07-26-2022

Even though it is rhetorical, the answer is that most technicians don't use, or really analyze the operation of, a CPAP. They only parrot what the instruction manual they read (if they read it). Who reads instructions when you can blaze a trail? Thinking-about
- Red