Connect
← Return to Alternatives to CPAP for sleep apnea
Discussion
Alternatives to CPAP for sleep apnea
Sleep Health | Last Active: Apr 27, 2023 | Replies (25)Comment receiving replies
Oh man, @babsellen and @johnbishop unbelievable coincidence . I'm a mouth breather too and have tried 8 different masks and now also using ResMed AirFit F20. I’m very lucky to have the VA which gives me EVERYTHING CPAP related for free. The local VA has over 50,000 Vets with a CPAP device (most don’t use them). They have all the stuff, and a big crew that knows what they’re doing via practice.
Too bad all 8 leaked for me, but that mask works the best. A chin/head strap works maybe half the time for my mouth breathing which is a pretty poor percentage, but this is the first and only mask where I slept through a night at all. My apnea events per hour is crazy low, between .4 and .7 even with the leaks. My sleep doctor loves that!
I'm very interested to see what comes up on this thread. Thanks folks!
Replies to "Oh man, @babsellen and @johnbishop unbelievable coincidence . I'm a mouth breather too and have tried..."
Connect
Hi Tim @timbrownfl, My mask leaks a lot also but what I've found out the past few years is that leaks are really not a big deal as long as you are able to reach your AHI target. Mine is an AHI of 4 or less and I usually a lot lower or under 4 per hour. The cloth comfort cover I use probably causes some of the leakage but I also don't tighten my mask too much because it hurts the bridge of my nose.
I also didn't have much luck with the chin strap when I was testing the under the nose masks and I had seen a YouTube video where a sleep therapist suggested wearing a soft neck collar that is used for neck injuries. I bought one on Amazon that was fairly cheap and it did the job of preventing the jaw from lowering to open the mouth. I only used it for a couple of nights because it wasn't comfortable when I sleep on my side, which is about 90% of the night.