Headgear is changing my skull???

[chunkyfrog]

Vanity kills. To stop cpap for fear of strap marks is a stupid way to die.

[Goofproof]

I'm 72, and I'm only worrying about tomorrow, lines on my skull aren't among my worries. Jim

[Andrew4549]

For all the nay-sayers on this thread, my doctor at Colo. Sleep Institute just verified that, indeed, my CPAP straps are putting indentations in my skull, and he also made the comparison with foot binding. He suggested maybe trying to put a padding of sheepskin or something similar under the straps to distribute the pressure.

[chunkyfrog]

You must be very young, because the skull is formed when we are very young.
The barbaric (batshit) practices of binding heads and feet were done in infancy, because it is ineffective later.
Your sleep doctor IS NOT AN ORTHOPEDIST, and probably agreed with you to get you to leave his office.

[LSAT]

Mask is TOO TIGHT if it's making indentations. Find a different mask or go to padacheek.com for strap pads.

[chunkyfrog]

Dents/grooves on an adult head occur in SOFT tissue, like fat.
Get rid of the fat, and the dent is gone.
Or get a different mask/pad the strap, since fat is quite tenacious.

[palerider]

You must be very young, because the skull is formed when we are very young.
The barbaric (batshit) practices of binding heads and feet were done in infancy, because it is ineffective later.
Your sleep doctor IS NOT AN ORTHOPEDIST, and probably agreed with you to get you to leave his office.

yup, I call bullshit, let's see some xrays

[Pugsy]

yup, I call bullshit, let's see some xrays

Yep. Bullshit. In normal healthy adults the bone mass of the skull cannot be altered just from wearing a strap on the head.
Even if it was ungodly tight and someone was wearing it 24/7 which of course we don't wear these things 24/7.
Now what might seem like "permanent" soft tissue dents...maybe.... depending on the soft tissue and the persons own ability to have the soft tissue to bounce back from the indentations.

[bill-e]

I have indents from my glasses. These are definately just where my fat head has been compressed.

As for my headgear, I use an Eson nasal mask and because of its design all my straps are quite loose and do not cause any indents. If you're wearing headgear which needs to be tight enough that it caused indents then I would try something else. I can say after using the Eson for over 3 or more years that this mask actually seals better with a loose fit.

[Goofproof]

yup, I call bullshit, let's see some xrays

Yep. Bullshit. In normal healthy adults the bone mass of the skull cannot be altered just from wearing a strap on the head.
Even if it was ungodly tight and someone was wearing it 24/7 which of course we don't wear these things 24/7.
Now what might seem like "permanent" soft tissue dents...maybe.... depending on the soft tissue and the persons own ability to have the soft tissue to bounce back from the indentations.

If the X-Ray shows a zipper along the line, I don't think it would be wise to unzip it, the marbles might fall out. Jim

[chunkyfrog]

Jim, I cannot top that!

[biguglygremlin]

Yes this is an old thread but it is a subject that is not commonly raised and IMO has not been dealt with effectively in this forum.

It is also a subject that I have been wondering about for some time now because yes I too have a deep trench across my head in exactly the same position as the mask strap that I have worn for 15,000 hours and although it does not concern me it does raise some legitimate questions and surely warrants a fair hearing.

BTW I do have CT scans that show it clearly although that is not the reason they were requested. No I will not post them because they are irrelevant to my comments.

Yesterday when I was young so many happy songs ........ Oops I digress.

The following points will seem disjointed because, IMO, they are disjointed.

It seems to me that when we are younger the flesh on our skulls is thicker and more resilient. Dents are easily formed in the flesh and just as easily fade.

None of us had any particular need to map the topographical features of our skulls and that thicker layer of youth-full flesh covered most of the hills and gullies.

As we age the flesh becomes thinner and less resilient and the tracks of our mask straps become almost permanent.

But that should be largely negated by the decrease in depth due to thinner scalps.

It also does not explain the dents in the actual skull.

Yes my skull has a clear and present gully across the top exactly where the strap goes and I was not aware of it for the first 50 years of my life but, as the hair thinned and the scalp also thinned that gully, which is probably not uncommon amongst adults, became clearly defined and obvious to both sight and touch.

So my theory is that any "abnormal" skull shape is co-incidental and was always there but a combination of factors related to ageing have conspired to bring it to our attention and imply a connection to the mask straps.

It's just a theory in an endless search for more information.

[izharhaque]

I've been using the Respironics ComfortLite 2 for over a year now. After a while, I started noticing that my skill had indentations where the headgear and straps touch my head, especially where most of the energy is dispersed. This is troubling and hope that it's not causing damage in some way. If I switch to another system, will my skull return to its original shape? Have others experienced this?

Sam

Yes you are right. After 8 years of use the there was considerable skull indentation and now extreme itch - I am now under dermatologist care and advised to sleep on my side without the CPAP.
They are trying to figure out what to do . Extremely itch skull.
Izhar

[DislikeCpap]

I've been using cpap full face mask with memory foam cushion type seal for 2 years off and on, which does seal well and is much more comfortable, but I, too, have noticed skull depressions where the straps are, so I stopped using the cpap for a while, and the skull indentations began to disappear. But, the problem is I really should use the cpap. I am now searching for an alternative to cpap. If I stay on my side, I don't have apnea problems as much. So, I will keep searching. I have heard of an oral device that a Dentist will make, and an electronic device that installs in your throat, but that bothers me in that it seems to be in there for good.

[Lifeisabeach]

I've been using cpap full face mask with memory foam cushion type seal for 2 years off and on, which does seal well and is much more comfortable, but I, too, have noticed skull depressions where the straps are, so I stopped using the cpap for a while, and the skull indentations began to disappear. But, the problem is I really should use the cpap. I am now searching for an alternative to cpap. If I stay on my side, I don't have apnea problems as much. So, I will keep searching. I have heard of an oral device that a Dentist will make, and an electronic device that installs in your throat, but that bothers me in that it seems to be in there for good.

Rather than a full face mask, you could consider a nasal pillow style of mask. The way the straps are routed around the head for this style helps avoid strap marks in my personal experience, at least as far as the ones I've used.

As for oral appliances, those are very heavily hyped as an alternative but they really are only a good alternative for people with very mild cases of sleep apnea. My wife used to be on a CPAP but her case was very mild. When her dentist recommended it, she discussed with the pulmonologist and he agreed she was a candidate, and even admitted it was probably a better alternative for her. She's been using one since and does just fine.