Ruby chin strap

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ejbpesca
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Ruby chin strap

Post by ejbpesca » Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:04 pm

I ordered my 3rd type of chin strap and again having trouble. The Ruby model seems to be a secure comfortable strap as opposed to single stranded belt types that simply slip off my head. My trouble was that upon waking I had a very sore throat that went away after a few hours. I am not sick with a throat infection, and I am curious as to what happened during the night with this chin strap. I am a mouth breather, loud snoring person. I was hoping to keep my mouth shut and force nose breathing. Is that what a chin strap is for? Yet, even though I tightened up the actually too big strap by adjusting it seems I still mouth breathed and in such a strap caused position it did a number on my throat. Maybe my nose tissue blockage is just too much even for a chin strap to help or if over tightened does a chin strap become counter productive in what it is supposed to do?

I am a long time CPAP full face mask user yet continuously struggle with the device trying to get the best benefit of the treatment.

Any suggestions from anyone please?

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Darth Lady
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by Darth Lady » Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:39 pm

I use this chinstrap also, even though I have a FFM, because my mouth falls open when I sleep and mouth breathing leaves me dried out and miserable (before I started therapy, I used to jam my mouth shut with my fist under my chin). Not sure how the Ruby would cause throat pain. I'm assuming that's a sore throat type pain, not superficial from the strap digging in somehow? If it is a sore throat kind of pain, perhaps tinkering with your humidity setting might help. Counterintuitively, more is not always better with humidity. If I wake up with a stuffy nose, I need to turn it down, but everyone is different.

If you really have tissue blockage in your nose, no chin strap is going to help because you just don't have an airway there. No matter how tight you make it, your body is going to find a way to breathe around it. You'd need to consult an ENT to see if medication could help, or if some kind of surgery might be needed.

Good luck!

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ejbpesca
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by ejbpesca » Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:47 pm

It was not a digging issue that caused the pain it was dryness to the point of a high level of irritation and a working of my snore factor that irritated tissues. I hear you on the nasal blockage thing. 3 Docs have suggested surgery but talked me out of it at the same time due to various reasons. If I get a better fitting one I may give it another go and yes, I need to pay more attention to the humidity factor of the cpap machine. I am grateful for the invention of cpap therapy but man has it been a long row to hoe as they say down here.

I still wonder though..is the purpose of the chin strap simply to force one's mouth shut to nose breath?

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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by Darth Lady » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:13 pm

More like encourage the mouth to stay closed, I think. Oxygen is Thing One to your brain, and if you can't breathe any other way, your mouth will end up open with any of the chin straps.

Some here tape their mouths shut in various ways, but I can't see doing that. It would be too claustrophobic for me. It also doesn't seem like a good idea if you know you have blockages in your nose.

Many report that after a time their mouths "learn" to stay shut when using a chin strap. There seems to be a habit factor for some people. But if you do have physical blockage, you are probably breathing through your mouth because that's the way the air gets in. You might start with the least invasive procedure to open your nasal passages that doctors have suggested, but yeah, the whole surgery thing is a turn-off.

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poppi2
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by poppi2 » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:13 pm

ejbpesca wrote:I still wonder though..is the purpose of the chin strap simply to force one's mouth shut to nose breath?
I use a chinstrap to keep my mouth closed but also have to use tape to stop air escaping from my lips. I'm one who breathes through the nose all day. I keep my tongue to the top of my mouth all day. I.e., all the things we're told to do to train for successful nose breathing while asleep.
Well, after four years of trying, my body can't be trained. I refuse to use a FFM again, and I won't tolerate a desert-dry mouth. I get a dry mouth anytime air passes through my lips.
Maybe you will be lucky and can train yourself.

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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by poppi2 » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:29 pm

One more thing, nasal pillows and a little slightly compressed air work wonders with a partially stuffed nose. Don't give up on pillows until you've tried them. Over four years, I've only missed a couple of nights due to clogged nose.

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ejbpesca
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by ejbpesca » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:37 pm

I think I understand my situation now. Just sitting here I'm trying to breath only through the nose and it does not work. I use two nasal sprays daily but they only work for a short while and do not really open up the nasal passages. Heavily affected by air born allergies all my life I guess I better just give it up, let go the chin strap, and hope my mask keeps somewhat of a seal. That is part of the problem..mouth goes open..seal is broken.

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NateS
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by NateS » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:43 pm

ejbpesca wrote:I ordered my 3rd type of chin strap and again having trouble. The Ruby model seems to be a secure comfortable strap as opposed to single stranded belt types that simply slip off my head. My trouble was that upon waking I had a very sore throat that went away after a few hours. I am not sick with a throat infection, and I am curious as to what happened during the night with this chin strap. I am a mouth breather, loud snoring person. I was hoping to keep my mouth shut and force nose breathing. Is that what a chin strap is for? Yet, even though I tightened up the actually too big strap by adjusting it seems I still mouth breathed and in such a strap caused position it did a number on my throat. Maybe my nose tissue blockage is just too much even for a chin strap to help or if over tightened does a chin strap become counter productive in what it is supposed to do?

I am a long time CPAP full face mask user yet continuously struggle with the device trying to get the best benefit of the treatment.

Any suggestions from anyone please?
1) Are you referring to the adjustable size Ruby or the set size one?

2) If the set size Ruby, did you select the correct size from the sizing chart? If not, here it is:
You will require a cloth tape measurer and an assistant
Have the assistant measure1/2 head circumference, follow these 2 steps:

1. Place end of tape measurer in middle of chin -- have patient hold this end to their chin
2. Measure going toward patient's ear and continue to top middle of head.

(However I just measured all the way around and then divided by 2)

TMS-09S (Small) 10" to 11"
TMS-09M (Medium) 11" to 12"
TMS-09L (Large) 12" to 13"

ADJUSTABLE CHINSTRAPS:
TMS-09ADJ 12" to 13"
TMS-09 ADJXL 14" and above
3) How are you putting the Ruby on? When I bought my first one, I discovered that the reason it was so uncomfortable for the first 7-10 nights was that I was sticking my head through the wrong opening!

Hope one or more of these questions helps solve the problem for you - I found the Ruby to be the best of my entire collection of chinstraps, the rest of them being close to useless, and the only one that at least partly helped with the mouth breathing problem, although I am now trying to transition to a FFM because of my mouth breathing.

Best wishes, Nate

PS - I just noticed that you imply you are using the Ruby with a Full Face Mask? Is that correct? I didn't know you could do that! Do you put it under or on top of the mask? I could see how that combination could cause all sorts of otherwise unanticipated problems and discomforts, perhaps of the kind you are describing with your throat.

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Last edited by NateS on Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Darth Lady
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by Darth Lady » Thu Mar 26, 2015 8:48 pm

I hear you about the allergies - I have them too. They are about to crank up for the season right about now.

Allergists don't do surgery so are much less likely to chase you around with a knife and much more likely to do something helpful for you. You should try micro-filters on your air intake for your machine, so that at least at night you are filtering out the allergens, or most of them.

Full face masks are meant, in part, to help mouth breathers get successful therapy. However, one does have to play with them to get the good seal that is needed. You might need to try different masks, and make sure that you have the right size for your face. It shouldn't be yanked tight, because if it is, the cushion can't adapt to the changing shape of your face when your mouth opens.

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ejbpesca
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by ejbpesca » Thu Mar 26, 2015 9:08 pm

I am old hat at FFM's but experiment with chin strapping. I've been through a pile of them that simply will not work for me but my current AirFit F10 is the best I've found so far and does allow me to strap it down tighter to at least keep it in place. Sleeping is not a still thing for me. I can even yank one off in the night and find it lying there the next morning. How I got it off without release is a mystery. I may just give up on straps..keep on with Airfit..air just won't go very well through my nose with swollen tissues continuously year round irritated by airborne particles. I see now why as a young person I would hear of some people moving to Arizona to get out of our year round pollen here and never ceasing mold spores.

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Luthie2006
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by Luthie2006 » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:41 am

I just bought a Ruby chin strap online, adjustable kind. I am female, only 129 pounds, 5'4", and I must have a large head or something. The velcro in the back barely reaches. And the straps on the sides of my cheeks give has caused my cheeks to indent in!!! Everything that we go through to get a decent night's sleep, and even then, I don't. I bought felt material at Walmart last night and stuffed those in the sides of my cheeks were the straps are and I could barely get the Airfit P10 straps around my head. I think, like with anything on here, all our heads are different, our noses, mouths, airways. I would keep trying.

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Sir NoddinOff
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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by Sir NoddinOff » Fri Mar 27, 2015 12:44 pm

Luthie2006 wrote:I just bought a Ruby chin strap online, adjustable kind. I am female, only 129 pounds, 5'4", and I must have a large head or something. The velcro in the back barely reaches. And the straps on the sides of my cheeks give has caused my cheeks to indent in!!! Everything that we go through to get a decent night's sleep, and even then, I don't. I bought felt material at Walmart last night and stuffed those in the sides of my cheeks were the straps are and I could barely get the Airfit P10 straps around my head. I think, like with anything on here, all our heads are different, our noses, mouths, airways. I would keep trying.
Your experience was similar to mine with the Ruby. Just barely makes it with the velcro almost completely extended. I've since heard that they make an adjustable 'large' size now but I haven't gotten around to getting one.

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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by Hosehead4ever » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:26 pm

I only used the Ruby for two nights. My AHI went through the roof and I was still mouth breathing. I would wake up with a jaw ache because I was forcing my mouth to open. My sinuses are fine; in fact, I think xpap therapy helps keep them open and clear because of the light pressure. So, I just started taping with surgical tape. Only did it for a few nights and now I'm no longer mouth breathing. I have my fingers crossed that I never have to tape or strap again. Good luck. And don't despair if the chin strap doesn't work.

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Re: Ruby chin strap

Post by yaconsult » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:58 pm

The ruby is a bit tricky to put on correctly so they include an instruction sheet in the package. The little sewn-on tag section needs to be on the lower back of your head/neck. The part with the vertical seam sewn down the middle is where your chin goes. The thin strap with the velcro goes over the top of your head.

For me, the easiest way to put it on is to leave that top strap velcroed together. I open the velcro at the back next to the label, pull it over my face until my chin is in the chinstrap, and then attach the velcro at the back. You can't see what you're doing back there but it doesn't matter because the velcro can attach anywhere on the other side of the strap. If it's not comfortable, just pull the velcro apart and readjust until it is. It is very easy to put on in several different ways that are not correct.

Good luck with it! I don't use mine very often any more but I think that's because my minimum pressure is 13 and it's not very easy to mouth breathe at higher pressures.

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