Adventures in mouth taping...

[surfingwoman]

I read the great instructions here the other day on mouth taping, and decided to try it out last night. I taped my mouth with medical tape, and despite the moisturizers I put in, the tape held really well. In the middle of the night, I woke up and my mouth was filled with air. I felt like a balloon that was about to explode. My cheeks were puffed out so much I could feel my nostrils expanding. I tore off the tape and exhaled, but it made me wonder if anyone else has experienced this. I had figured based on earlier comments that if I had too much air in my mouth, I'd just swallow it. That's not the case in my case.

Has anyone else experienced the exploding head sensation with mouth taping? The problem I'm trying to solve is dry mouth from my cpap machine.

[oldgearhead]

Hello Surfin.
I refer to what you experienced as 'The Blowfish'. Yes, mouth tapers and users of a certain type of full-face masks, often experience 'The 'Blowfish'.

To eliminate the problem, you need to train your tongue to stay parked either just behind the upper cleft of your mouth, or some of us have better luck putting the tip of the tongue behind the lower-front gum line and try to use the tongue to keep the lower jaw forward a bit.

Do not attempt to clear 'The Blowfish' by swallowing . You will encounter other problems...

[sleepyintucson]

[quote="surfingwoman"]I read the great instructions here the other day on mouth taping, and decided to try it out last night. I taped my mouth with medical tape, and despite the moisturizers I put in, the tape held really well. In the middle of the night, I woke up and my mouth was filled with air. I felt like a balloon that was about to explode. My cheeks were puffed out so much I could feel my nostrils expanding. I tore off the tape and exhaled, but it made me wonder if anyone else has experienced this. I had figured based on earlier comments that if I had too much air in my mouth, I'd just swallow it. That's not the case in my case.

Has anyone else experienced the exploding head sensation with mouth taping? The problem I'm trying to solve is dry mouth from my cpap machine.

[Guest]

That's why I also use a chin strap! The "Deluxe Chin Strap" prevents my cheeks from expanding with air when my mouth is taped. Mouth leaks and aerophagia controlled!

[Linda3032]

sleepyintucson,

Which nosebreathe device do you use and was it difficult to adjust to?

[rested gal]

Linda, I think a poster named Ellen ordered both types and found that the simpler one...the one with only a top piece worked better.

surfingwoman, as oldgearhead said, don't swallow the air that collects in your cheeks. You can easily work it back out of your cheeks by just sucking in the sides of your cheeks and then working it backward toward your throat with your tongue. Move the chipmunk-cheeked air backwards until it gets caught by the incoming nasal cpap air and gets whisked on down the way it's supposed to go. Hard to describe how to do it, but once you get the hang of it, it's easy to do. You can puff your cheeks out and practice the cheek-sucking, tongue-maneuvering technique without your cpap while you're sitting there right now. If you want to.