Any way to "condition" myself not to mouth leak or

[ezstreet]

I do not normally breathe through my mouth, but under pressure, and evidently during sleep, I do. I had started with a Swift II nasal pillow mask and loved it. Very light and comfortable... if I could keep my mouth shut! I have now changed to a Mirage Liberty FF pillow mask. It's okay, but nothing nearly as good as the Swift II. Does anyone know if there are tricks or techniques to train yourself over time not to mouth breathe?

[BigMoose]

A chinstrap has helped me. I can currently get by cycling it. Strap on for 3 or 4 days, then i can go 4 or 5 days until I start leaking at night, or so says my data card.

[Capri]

I had no clue I was a mouth breather until after weeks of AHI readings of 30+, after 1 night with a FF mask, my AHI went to the single digits. The problem - I can't keep the mask on for more than a couple hours. I wake up and it's leaking in about 4 different places, try to adjust it in my half-awake state, then the machine starts beeping the leak alarm, then I just take off the mask, shut off the machine and go back to sleep in about 30 seconds. Very frustrating! I haven't tried a chin strap yet. Anybody else experiencing this?

[cflame1]

Convince yourself that you're not going to go back to sleep without the machine/mask... I think that would be one of the first things to do.

[DreamStalker]

I do not normally breathe through my mouth, but under pressure, and evidently during sleep, I do. I had started with a Swift II nasal pillow mask and loved it. Very light and comfortable... if I could keep my mouth shut! I have now changed to a Mirage Liberty FF pillow mask. It's okay, but nothing nearly as good as the Swift II. Does anyone know if there are tricks or techniques to train yourself over time not to mouth breathe?

Exercise and strengthen the muscles in your soft palate and/or keep your tongue lodged onto the roof of you mouth at all times.

[Hurricane]

Ezstreet,
I also use the Swift 11 as my main mask. I have trained my tongue to be able to talk to my wife , with machine air blowing and have no air escaping, but once asleep my control relaxes and my wife at times will hear me leaking air, as a motor boat sound, I have tried chin straps and didn't have any luck, to prove a point take your finger and press under your chin, you still can open your mouth no matter what kind of pressure you apply to your chin, I have tried a full face mask and leaked all night, can't get use to the tape or adhesive routine, so I'm living with a leakage rate that seems to be keeping me 100 % compliant, I have come to the conclusion, numbers are good AHI, so it is what it is for me, I gave up losing sleep trying to get the perfect leak rate. Wishing you good treatment good numbers and better yet peace of mind.
Ed

[Snoredog]

we breathe through our mouth when we can't breathe through our nose...

-keep your nose clear even during the day.
-keep your tongue planted into the roof of the hard palate, even during the day
-avoid using any OTC nasal sprays unless its contents is salt and water.

use a saline rhino rinse to flush out allergens to relieve nasal congestion, take allergy pills if needed.

[yardbird]

we breathe through our mouth when we can't breathe through our nose...

-keep your nose clear even during the day.
-keep your tongue planted into the roof of the hard palate, even during the day
-avoid using any OTC nasal sprays unless its contents is salt and water.

use a saline rhino rinse to flush out allergens to relieve nasal congestion, take allergy pills if needed.

I have no nasal congestion at all and still open my mouth at night. So while what you say is true, it's not th eonly reason for opening one's mouth.

[DreamStalker]

we breathe through our mouth when we can't breathe through our nose...

-keep your nose clear even during the day.
-keep your tongue planted into the roof of the hard palate, even during the day
-avoid using any OTC nasal sprays unless its contents is salt and water.

use a saline rhino rinse to flush out allergens to relieve nasal congestion, take allergy pills if needed.

I have no nasal congestion at all and still open my mouth at night. So while what you say is true, it's not th eonly reason for opening one's mouth.

I've heard that some people sleep with their mouth open to catch flies too

True, it depends on the PAP pressure too. When I first started, my mouth would fly open and wake me at night ... but it is possible for some to train themselves not to leak as I am one of those lucky ones.

[Snoredog]

we breathe through our mouth when we can't breathe through our nose...

-keep your nose clear even during the day.
-keep your tongue planted into the roof of the hard palate, even during the day
-avoid using any OTC nasal sprays unless its contents is salt and water.

use a saline rhino rinse to flush out allergens to relieve nasal congestion, take allergy pills if needed.

I have no nasal congestion at all and still open my mouth at night. So while what you say is true, it's not th eonly reason for opening one's mouth.

I've heard that some people sleep with their mouth open to catch flies too

True, it depends on the PAP pressure too. When I first started, my mouth would fly open and wake me at night ... but it is possible for some to train themselves not to leak as I am one of those lucky ones.

so would you tape your mouth using fly paper?

I've had my nose become congested from using a mask that was too small, it put just the right amount of pressure on the outside of my nose to cause congestion, I'd remove the mask, I could breathe again thru my nose, put it back on, instant congestion. I started buying Large masks where everyone fit me with Mediums, no more problem with congestion.

[CentralScrutinizer]

I don't know if it will 'train' you to keep your mouth shut... but many people use surgical 'paper tape' to tape their mouths shut at night.

My Dr thought I might have been opening my mouth I wound up taping my mouth shut for a few days, still woke up frequently so I'm pretty sure I'm not really opening my mouth... but anyway, I really like my nasal pillow system and would rather tape my mouth then have to resort to full face mask at this time... and I also found the paper tape more comfortable then the chin strap I got from the DME....

Tape is worth a try... at least I think it is.

[Guest]

I open my mouth in my sleep because I have "incompetent lips"



That means my lips don't close properly over my teeth. During the day I keep my mouth closed, I have trained myself to do so, used to be a mouth breather, but was socialised out of that.

Once asleep however, the muscles and will relax and my lips fall apart.

I am wondering whether a jaw advancing dental splint will bring my bottom lip forward enough to stop the incompetence when I sleep.

Big $$$$$$$s though

Di

[Sleepdeprived]

[quote="ezstreet"]I do not normally breathe through my mouth, but under pressure, and evidently during sleep, I do. I had started with a Swift II nasal pillow mask and loved it. Very light and comfortable... if I could keep my mouth shut! I have now changed to a Mirage Liberty FF pillow mask. It's okay, but nothing nearly as good as the Swift II. Does anyone know if there are tricks or techniques to train yourself over time not to mouth breathe?

[deerslayer]

[quote="Sleepdeprived"][/quote]

Hi

Try poligrip strips

Cut the strip in half and use the two halfs to cover your lips.

I had been using them for about 6 months.

This last week I stated going without them so far so good

Sleepdeprived

_________________
yep, same here. it seemed like after using the strips for awhile & training ones self to keep that tongue planted ,the pie hole will stay closed. chinstraps did not seem to work all that well besides being uncomfortable . like others have said relax,it will come together eventually.

[bkrabach]

I've also had problems keeping my mouth shut at night w/ a low pressure (10). My first thoughts were to get a chin strap, but I woke up very suddenly about an hour into my first night with it feeling very anxious. I went back to sleep and woke up another hour later in a full blown panic, ripping the strap from my head. To me, psychologically, I could not handle having my mouth strapped shut.

Two things I found helped that have already been mentioned - training my tongue to sit on the roof of my mouth (took a few nights, but worked wonders) and using a saline solutions w/ a neti pot to flush out my nasal passages (even though I could breathe ok through my nose, this seemed to make it even easier).

The other thing I found that I don't see mentioned above, was the position of my head in relation to my body. I had read in all of the various OSA brochures about how having your chin tucked forward would restrict your airways and therefore found that I typically laid w/ my head tilted backwards (I sleep on my side mostly, so again, this was relative to my body). I found that in that position, it also had a tendency to keep my mouth open more. The thought was something I stumbled upon when I slept on the couch one night and had no problems w/ my mouth breathing as my head was in a position that was slightly more "chin-down" than my normal sitting/standing posture. Returning to bed the next night, I tried the same thing and it made a world of difference.

I still wake up once a night or so w/ my mouth open, but it's not nearly as frequent as before. Hope the ideas help.