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Hello,

I like nasal pillow masks, but I blow out my mouth. Doesn't matter what I do, chin strap, even tape, etc., nothing stops it. My cheeks fill up, then I blow out.

How about hybrid masks? Any brand recommendation, model? Is the amara view any good? others?

Thank you

Same here, I've gotten use to a full face mask, it took me a couple of weeks.

If you are blowing air out of your mouth you are losing your therapy. You need a full face mask or a hybrid mask. There are lots to choose from...personally I like the Mirage Quattro or Resmed F20.

ajack wrote:Same here, I've gotten use to a full face mask, it took me a couple of weeks.

Thank you, which full face do you use? Did the blowing out of your mouth just stop?

Any recommendations for the best current hybrids? Do they work as well as Full Face with my blowing out of my mouth problems? Thank you.

I could never get the hybrid masks to seal. I used the Amara View for over a year, and have recently switched to the Resmed F20. Prior to the F20, I could not find a mask that would seal around the bridge of my nose without being pulled very snug, and that is why I went to the Amara View. I got my first F20 from another member of the forum, and liked how it felt on my face. I was going to switch to it, but my wife decided she liked it, and I gave it to her. I found another mask on eBay, and purchased it and have been using it for almost a month. I liked it enough that I ordered another F20 along with replacement cushions from my DME last week.

zzzk wrote:

ajack wrote:Same here, I've gotten use to a full face mask, it took me a couple of weeks.

Thank you, which full face do you use? Did the blowing out of your mouth just stop?

Currently on the f20, you are better going to try them on, sizing and fit is very important. If you are buying online, make sure there is an exchange policy. you are going to need a full face anyway for when you have a cold/nasal congestion.

there are sizing guides you can download and amazon has some bargains on discontinued stock, I just bought a new Resmed Quattro Air for $50 on ebay. the quattro series all seem to have the same silicon footprint.

with the full face it doesn't matter if you mouth breathe, your mouth and nose are under the same pressure.

My everyday mask (see my profile) is the Phillips Fitlife Total Face Mask. It is usually a mask of last resort, and looks like a fireman's mask. I keep my mouth open all night. My backup mask is the Resmed F10. You can mouth breath on both masks. Masks are like shoes. They are very personal. What you like and what I like can be two different things. That makes it hard to recommend a particular mask. If you go to cpap.com, you can sort the full face masks by popularity and read up on each. I went thru about 6 or 7 masks before I could find one that was comfortable, doesn't leak, and fits my needs.

Sheriff

zzzk wrote:Hello,

I like nasal pillow masks, but I blow out my mouth. Doesn't matter what I do, chin strap, even tape, etc., nothing stops it. My cheeks fill up, then I blow out.

How about hybrid masks? Any brand recommendation, model? Is the amara view any good? others?

Thank you

Not any one mask will suit everyone but it's worth considering the ones that have the best reviews. If you're a mouth breather you either have to tape your mouth, train yourself to stop by habitually pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth, try a chin strap, or use a FF Mask or some kind of Hybrid.

You cannot lose therapy through your mouth if you're wearing a FF Mask but you may suffer from dry mouth.

I switched to the AirFit F20 a few weeks ago and it's working fine for me, a few minor issues which I've resolved. I did think about buying the Amara View, the only thing that put me off is the forward venting, not a popular thing if you have a bed partner, if their sleep is being disturbed it's likely they'll disturb your's to get you to roll over. Venting direction may be worth consideration.

zzzk wrote:Did the blowing out of your mouth just stop?

Using a full face mask doesn't prevent the air from entering the mouth from the back of the airway and causing chipmunk cheeks or blowing out your mouth.

What using a full face mask does prevent is loss of therapy air pressure going out the open mouth since with a full face mask the mouth is a covered part of the sealed circuit.

When you use any mask and inhale through the nose the pressurized air goes up the nose and down the airway hopefully to the place the airway tissues are trying to collapse.
This area of collapse is usually behind and below the mouth/oral cavity but the air will sometimes try to enter the oral cavity and when it does and the lips are closed the air inflates the cheeks....hence chipmunk cheeks and usually the air ends up forcing the lips open and air blows out the mouth.
This can happen no matter if a person uses a nasal pillow mask or a full face mask.
Full face masks don't necessarily prevent chipmunk cheeks.

What people need to do is figure out how to keep the air pressure from entering the mouth via the back door. Usually we can say use the tongue to keep the doorway closed and it works well while awake but when we go to sleep the tongue drops down and opens that door.
Easier said than done.

So using a full face mask doesn't prevent or fix chipmunk cheeks...it just means that you won't lose air therapy pressure out the mouth if you do it with a full face mask.

Oh....just because you have a couple of times with chipmunk cheeks or your lips blow open doesn't necessarily mean you are mouth breathing to the extent to impact therapy with loss of pressure. It all depends on how often this happens and how prolonged it is and do you actually revert to real mouth breathing vs a 5 second blowing out of the mouth and then the mouth returns to the closed position.
You really need to evaluate the leak graph itself and decided if you are doing it enough to impact therapy itself or not.
Because going to a full face mask won't stop what you are complaining about...it just stops the loss of air pressure therapy IF there is enough of it to be a problem.

The fix for the problem is learning to keep the back door closed...and we can learn. I started with tongue placement and trying to keep it in place during the day so that it would sort of make a habit of staying in position to keep the door close and hoped it would stay there when I was asleep.

You need to practice sealing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. It's a bit difficult for me to describe. kinda like sucking your tongue into the indentation in the soft palate, or the preparation for clicking your tongue without the click part. Practicing the tongue seal during the day will reinforce using it while you sleep.

tongue click video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StFw_ivAYtc

rohdej wrote:You need to practice sealing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. It's a bit difficult for me to describe. kinda like sucking your tongue into the indentation in the soft palate, or the preparation for clicking your tongue without the click part. Practicing the tongue seal during the day will reinforce using it while you sleep.

tongue click video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StFw_ivAYtc

Hello, thank you for your advice. However, I'm confused, one guy before this post says I need to do what you say, the other say to "stop putting your tongue on the roof of your mouth" Which is is? Did you have my problem? Did this fix yours?

FYI, if I try to seal my tongue with the roof of my mouth while awake, then blow air, it easily goes around the sides of my tongue to my cheeks...

Apparently, a FF mask will not stop this blowing out of my mouth. It happens all the time, so it's a huge issue.

Thank you to everyone for their answers...

Pugsy wrote:

zzzk wrote:Did the blowing out of your mouth just stop?

Using a full face mask doesn't prevent the air from entering the mouth from the back of the airway and causing chipmunk cheeks or blowing out your mouth.

What using a full face mask does prevent is loss of therapy air pressure going out the open mouth since with a full face mask the mouth is a covered part of the sealed circuit.

When you use any mask and inhale through the nose the pressurized air goes up the nose and down the airway hopefully to the place the airway tissues are trying to collapse.
This area of collapse is usually behind and below the mouth/oral cavity but the air will sometimes try to enter the oral cavity and when it does and the lips are closed the air inflates the cheeks....hence chipmunk cheeks and usually the air ends up forcing the lips open and air blows out the mouth.
This can happen no matter if a person uses a nasal pillow mask or a full face mask.
Full face masks don't necessarily prevent chipmunk cheeks.

What people need to do is figure out how to keep the air pressure from entering the mouth via the back door. Usually we can say use the tongue to keep the doorway closed and it works well while awake but when we go to sleep the tongue drops down and opens that door.
Easier said than done.

So using a full face mask doesn't prevent or fix chipmunk cheeks...it just means that you won't lose air therapy pressure out the mouth if you do it with a full face mask.

Oh....just because you have a couple of times with chipmunk cheeks or your lips blow open doesn't necessarily mean you are mouth breathing to the extent to impact therapy with loss of pressure. It all depends on how often this happens and how prolonged it is and do you actually revert to real mouth breathing vs a 5 second blowing out of the mouth and then the mouth returns to the closed position.
You really need to evaluate the leak graph itself and decided if you are doing it enough to impact therapy itself or not.
Because going to a full face mask won't stop what you are complaining about...it just stops the loss of air pressure therapy IF there is enough of it to be a problem.

The fix for the problem is learning to keep the back door closed...and we can learn. I started with tongue placement and trying to keep it in place during the day so that it would sort of make a habit of staying in position to keep the door close and hoped it would stay there when I was asleep.

Hello, thank you for the info. Could you please be more specific how you try to keep your tongue in place. Ex. roof of mouth? Suck tongue on top as some say? When I try while awake, the air still easily passes. I wake up often due to this "chipmunk cheeks" problem, so it's serious.

Pugsy wrote:

zzzk wrote:Did the blowing out of your mouth just stop?

Using a full face mask doesn't prevent the air from entering the mouth from the back of the airway and causing chipmunk cheeks or blowing out your mouth.

What using a full face mask does prevent is loss of therapy air pressure going out the open mouth since with a full face mask the mouth is a covered part of the sealed circuit.

When you use any mask and inhale through the nose the pressurized air goes up the nose and down the airway hopefully to the place the airway tissues are trying to collapse.
This area of collapse is usually behind and below the mouth/oral cavity but the air will sometimes try to enter the oral cavity and when it does and the lips are closed the air inflates the cheeks....hence chipmunk cheeks and usually the air ends up forcing the lips open and air blows out the mouth.
This can happen no matter if a person uses a nasal pillow mask or a full face mask.
Full face masks don't necessarily prevent chipmunk cheeks.

What people need to do is figure out how to keep the air pressure from entering the mouth via the back door. Usually we can say use the tongue to keep the doorway closed and it works well while awake but when we go to sleep the tongue drops down and opens that door.
Easier said than done.

So using a full face mask doesn't prevent or fix chipmunk cheeks...it just means that you won't lose air therapy pressure out the mouth if you do it with a full face mask.

Oh....just because you have a couple of times with chipmunk cheeks or your lips blow open doesn't necessarily mean you are mouth breathing to the extent to impact therapy with loss of pressure. It all depends on how often this happens and how prolonged it is and do you actually revert to real mouth breathing vs a 5 second blowing out of the mouth and then the mouth returns to the closed position.
You really need to evaluate the leak graph itself and decided if you are doing it enough to impact therapy itself or not.
Because going to a full face mask won't stop what you are complaining about...it just stops the loss of air pressure therapy IF there is enough of it to be a problem.

The fix for the problem is learning to keep the back door closed...and we can learn. I started with tongue placement and trying to keep it in place during the day so that it would sort of make a habit of staying in position to keep the door close and hoped it would stay there when I was asleep.

Hello, thank you for the info. Could you please be more specific how you try to keep your tongue in place. Ex. roof of mouth? Suck tongue on top as some say? When I try while awake, the air still easily passes. I wake up often due to this "chipmunk cheeks" problem, so it's serious. (posted again because showed up as guest-strange)

It's hard to be specific...mainly just go around during the day with my tongue planted pretty much in the roof of my mouth behind my front teeth and I never mouth breath unless I am doing some sort of exercise.
I never did any "sucking" thing. Just made an effort to keep mouth shut at all times during the day and keep the tongue resting in the roof of the mouth.

There's also something involved that I can't explain how I do it but it's similar to blowing up a balloon...you know how you blow up a balloon but no air comes out of your nose....
I can open my mouth, stick out my tongue and even talk without air from the airway entering my mouth.
I block something but I can't tell you what it is or how I do it but I just developed doing it second nature. Where it used to be that air would enter my mouth easily and I would get chipmunk cheeks easily...not it's actually hard for me to relax and let the air enter my mouth. I have to make a concerted effort to get chipmunk cheeks now.
I wish I knew how to describe what I do but it is more of a reflex now.