Blech!: Mask/pillow discomfort->Neck/Back Pain. Help!

[MeghanRF]

Hi all,

Topic: Pillows, sleeping position and resulting neck and back pain

I tried doing a search on past topics to see if I could solve this one for myself and had trouble finding anything. Here's the deal and I would imagine others have dealt with this, and hopefully found a solution.

In order to prevent my full face mask from leaking, I position my head carefully so it hangs off the side of the pillow. I find the perfect position, and then I sleep like that not moving, because if I move, it makes the mask leak. This also means I'm sleeping in a weird/frozen position all night, and wake up with a sore neck/back. This situation has now gotten to the point where I am constantly in pain.

QUESTIONS:

What do you do to get comfortable when sleeping, and sleep in a neck/back healthy way?

Does anyone have an awesome cpap mask friendly pillows to recommend?
How do you get comfortable with a crazy alien mask strapped to your face?
How can I prevent chronic back pain?!

Any other help is more than appreciated. Thank you!

[chunkyfrog]

If you have to work too hard to maintain fit, you probably need a different mask.

[Mgsnorer]

I bought an inexpensive memory foam pillow: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/p ... eck+pillow

I removed the cover and cut out semi circles of foam on both sides to make it a similar shape as many of the dedicated cpap pillows. I agree that you should be able to move some, maybe the mask fit could be improved.

[MeghanRF]

A very good point. I suppose I gave up on thinking the masks could be comfortable, but it sounds like not everyone needs to freeze while sleeping. I suppose the next post should be how to work with medical supply companies...

Thank you for the pillow recommendation! I'm going to explore it further!

[woodworkerjunkie]

I have been a mouth breather since my teens. I started with a full face mask cause I was sure I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth closed. I Couldn't get it to stop leaking, it caused sores on the bridge of my nose and I gave up cpap for a while. Then I started back after about a year then ordered a hybrid mask and was pretty happy with that for a while. Then moved to the total face mask and couldn't get use to how warm it stayed inside the mask, so decided there was nothing to lose in trying a nasal pillow mask. Over the course of about 2 weeks I was able to force myself to keep my mouth closed and breath through my nose only. The weird thing is, if I am slightly congested and go back to the hybrid or the total face mask, I automatically start breathing through my mouth again!
Any possibility of you being able to use another type of mask? The nasal pillows will allow you to move around with a lot less problems.

[SleepWellCPAP]

Your equipment needs to accomodate you. Unfortunately it sounds like in your situation it's the other way round.

It's good that you have tried getting the pillow out of your way, but how about the tubing? Is it pulling causing a drag on the mask?

Chunkyfrog has a really good point, if you have to work so hard at preventing leaks you might need a different mask altogether. I would suggest trying the Quattro Air. I have a had a lot of patients switch to that one lately with quite a bit of success.

The other post about trying a nasal interface and seeing if you can train yourself to breathe just through your nose is also a very good suggestion. I have had people in the past who were able to do this with minimal practise keeping their tongue on the roof of their mouth.