Soreness at cheek and jaw

I am a new CPAP user using a ComfortFull II mask. On my third night I awoke in the morning with significant soreness in my right cheek, jaw, and behind ear. Has anyone else experienced this? Any thoughts or suggestions on what to do? I plan on discussing with my home equip provider and sleep doctor tomorrow. Thanks

Your pain sounds very much like TMJ. It's entirely possible even if you've never had TMJ symptoms that a change like this could cause it. I used to clench my jaw at night and I had to get a mouth guard. One of the night guards they tried for me was a soft version and it actually caused TMJ symtoms. It was very strange. The harder version didn't do that.

You might want to talk to your dentist as well as your RT. I actually went to my dentist because one of the problems I have with the CF2 is it puts pressure on my bottom teeth. Continual pressure on teeth can weaken them, and I don't want that. So, I took my mask to my dentist to talk to him about a solution.

You may well be jutting your lower jaw forward unconsciously to keep the chin area of the mask from leaking.

I don't use a ff mask, I use a nasal cushion but I ran into TMJ symptoms due to jutting my jaw forward somewhat to keep my tongue in place to prevent leaks and clenching my jaws a bit to keep from opening my mouth. Plus most of the Small nasal cushions were still just a shade too long and tended to ride a little too low beneath my nose on my upper lip and I was jutting my lower jaw forward to keep the cushion on my upper lip.

As you lay there, hopefully drifting off to sleep, you have to start paying attention to anything you might be instinctively doing to keep the ff mask in place and avoid leaks. If it is bothering the bridge of your nose at all or tends to leak in yours eyes you may be moving it lower down your nose and thus it gets too low on your chin and you are jutting your chin to keep it in place. You may need one size smaller ff mask, or a different ff mask that isn't quite so long.

When I first started therapy, I had pain in my ears, and on my face right in front of my ears, especially the right one. I also had headaches in the back of my head and neck. My skin also felt like it was burning sometimes on my chin and above my upper lip, and occasaionlly on the right check, all at places where the Hybrid mask hit. (No rash or anything, it would just burn when I put the mask on.) I was having to put mole skin or tissues in those places if I wanted to wear the mask! After a couple of weeks, the pain went away. After a month or so, the skin burning issues went away.

Pam

brucem,

When I started CPAP therapy, I quickly developed pain in my jaw muscles. For me, it was on both sides. I did not know what to think and just tried to bear it. Then I started thinking it was because I held my head at an odd angle to try to keep my nasal pillows from dislodging when sleeping on my side. I also feel I experienced a lot of anxiety and stress in trying to adjust to CPAP and sleep with it and I seemed to hold my tension in my jaws. I have read other posts here from people with sore necks, shoulders, etc. because they slept in weird positions trying to get used to CPAP.

If your problem does not resolve immediately, you have an array of things you can try, including switching masks, consulting your dentist, consulting your doctor, chiropractic (misaligned vertebrae can affect the jaw), massage, applying cold and heat, medication if you need it, developing a routine of muscle stretching, relaxation techniques, etc.

I'm not a healthcare professional so those are just some thoughts based on my experience. I hope your jaw is back to normal right away.

Janna

Thanks for feedback.

I decided thebottom strap was tight and over the jaw. The next night I lowered the strap to be below the jaw. The jaw problem did not re-occur.

I am going to experiment with some different masks