Training Mouth to Stay Closed - Looking for Advice

[delfinparis]

After several years with the full face-mask I'm trying to transition to nasal pillows. The only reason is that I'm tired of the line on the bridge of my nose when I wake up after a full night's sleep. I've tried to use the Remzzzs disposable pads to help with the lines, but they don't work all that well. I've also tried a PadaCheek. Both are good products, but I still see lines when I wake up. My pressure starts at 9 and averages around 10 throughout the night. Not sure if more pressure equals more face lines.

Anyway, the simplest way to avoid lines is to train my stupid mouth to stay closed so I can wear nasal pillows! However, apparently I'm a huge mouth breather. Within minutes of falling asleep my mouth falls open and doesn't seem to stay closed throughout the night.

I found a video online of a sleep doctor with a DIY solution to help keep your mouth closed. I took a baseball hat, cut off the brim, and put a velcro strip around my chin that is attached at the baseball hat to keep my mouth closed. Here's the YouTube videoif you want to see how to make one.

Anyway, I'd love to say that my mouth is learning how to stay closed, but it's really not. I end up falling asleep on my back, but then waking up 20 min later with my mouth falling open (even with the tight velcro). Then I switch over to the full mask just so I can sleep uninterrupted.

Has anyone successfully trained their mouth to stay closed so they could take off the full face mask? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

D.J.

[cdmeowme57]

The best way I have found to keep the air from escaping is to keep my tongue
on the roof of my mouth right behind my teeth
and I practice during the day by keeping it there anytime
I think about it and after awhile it has become second nature. It doesn't mean that
my mouth stays closed all night either, but it is much better since I started the "practice"
during the day. I do wear nasal pillows too! Hope this helps.

[avi123]

What about a chinstrap?



https://www.cpap.com/cpap-mask-parts/cp ... swodCfEJuw

Is this chinstrap similar to your:

I found a video online of a sleep doctor with a DIY solution to help keep your mouth closed. I took a baseball hat, cut off the brim, and put a velcro strip around my chin that is attached at the baseball hat to keep my mouth closed. Here's the YouTube video if you want to see how to make one.

BTW, YOUR VIDEO DOES NOT EXIST

[Bobby269]

This is what worked for me, for over 2 years. https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss ... paper+tape. It's micropore paper tape 2" wide. Using this I very seldom have an AHI over 0.5.
I also use the tongue method described above.Very possible I could do it without the tape now after retraining myself, but I don't want to mess up something that is working.

[Pugsy]

I was able to do it when I first started therapy and it took maybe 2 to 3 months.
I tried various ways (chin strap, etc) to keep my mouth shut but ended up deciding just to tape my mouth shut. I found it less annoying than the chin strap route.

Are you mouth breathing more out of habit or because of nasal congestion?
Do you normally breathe through your nose just fine or do you have chronic nasal congestion issues that make it imperative to mouth breathe to move enough air?

If you mouth breathe out of physical necessity due to nasal congestion issues that can't be resolved then you pretty much need a full face mask. If the line across the nose is your main complaint with a full face mask you might look at one of the other "hybrid" types of full face masks that don't use any over the nose mask placement.
Something like the Innomed Hybrid
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/RespCa ... -Mask.html
or the hybrid type that I found to be a better choice for me if I just had to use a full face mask the Respironics Amara View
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/respir ... -mask.html

Now if you normally breathe through your nose just fine and the mouth opening is from habit or gravity (when on your back the jaw drops down) then using a nasal interface is possible but it can be challenging because of either the habit of mouth breathing or just the fact that the jaw relaxes and the mouth pops open.
Mine was habit...probably from gasping for air when the apnea events happened...as I normally breathe through my nose just fine during the day and night.
I elected to just tape my mouth shut but some people don't want to do that and that's where the various chin straps come in. Some people even use those soft cervical collars around the neck to support the jaw and keep it from dropping down.

Now I probably still sometimes do still do a little bit of mouth breathing but it isn't very much (I look at the leak graph to see just how much large leak might be going on) and when it happens it doesn't last very long.
Most of the time I sleep right through it (if it happens) so I don't really worry about it too much.
So you might also look at your leak graph data to see just how much of an impact the mouth opening might be doing in terms of affecting your cpap therapy.
Is it short lived or lasting half the night?

After taping for 2 to 3 months I found I started getting a bit lazy and would forget to tape and not remember it until lights out and machine on and more and more would just go to sleep without the tape. To my surprise the big leaks weren't happening very often (like they did when I first started therapy) so I just decided to let a little mouth breathing leak slip past the defenses as a compromise to not having to tape anymore.
I have nights where I never have a really big leak but sometimes I get some big leaks but they appear to last maybe 10 minutes and I just don't worry about 10 minutes out of 8 hours.
So....evaluate your leak graphs first....to see if the mouth breathing is so bad that you just have to do something.
You might get lucky and find out that it really isn't that big of a negative impact to your therapy.

[PEF]

Over a year ago when I started xPAP, I was a mouth breather. I was successful training myself to breathe through my nose mainly because I simply could not take the FFM's. I need to use the nasal pillows. I still sometimes open my mouth. After trying chin straps and cervical collars, the best options for me was taping my mouth. I sometimes still do it if I start mouth breathing again.

[Okie bipap]

When I was using other full face masks, I used a piece of moleskin on my nose at night to prevent the mask from making my nose sore. You can purchase it in the foot care area of drug stores or Wal-Mart. If you decide to use it, you can buy rolls of it on line.

[droder]

This subject is near and dear to my heart. It was one of the things that I thought for sure would be the end of CPAP for me. My precious husband, in an attempt to support me through the seemingly impossible transition to CPAP, made the exact DIY chin strap that you describe after I showed him that video. He surprised me with it within an hour of seeing the video. I ultimately bought the PapCap AND taped my mouth shut with the 2" paper tape described in previous responses. My goodness those were some long and hot nights. I already have issues with claustrophobia, but I was committed to making this work and pushed through. I have slowly, over the past several months progressed to nights with no PapCap and no tape at all!! I never in a million years dreamed that I would be able to use my CPAP without those extreme measures, but I am!! I do use butterfly bandages on occasion if I seem to be slipping back into mouth breathing, but I am soooo thrilled to be free from all of that. I'm telling you that if I can get past my severe mouth breathing, you totally can. It just takes time...

[IrishPatrick]

I use the Breathewear Halo Chinstrap, which I swore I'd never use, and it works fine.

Didn't even take getting used to. Just strapped it on and, voila, my mouth stays shut.

Initially I hated the idea of something strapped around my head to hold my mouth shut. Just seemed...wrong.

But alas, I strap on my CPAP mask every night and feel like I'm ready to go scuba diving, so one more strap was just fine.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/breath ... strap.html

[Holden4th]

I've been using a collar for about 8 months now and this controls my mouth breathng very well. I also try to use the tongue suck method mentioned earlier.

Two nights ago I went out for dinner and ended up staying overnight with the good friends who organised the dinner. As usual I packed my APAP but when I went to go to bed found that I'd left my collar behind. I still got a good nights sleep and I am assuming that I now automatically practise the tongue suck method to prevent mouth breathing. While this is reassuring, I still feel more comfortable with my collar - it's probably now just a psychological prop but I'm happy to use it.

So yes, you do train yourself to stop mouth breathing.

[Janknitz]

Sleeping on your back is more conducive to mouth breathing just simply from gravity. Any chance you could sleep on your side? You might try jamming a small pillow under your chin on your side to see if it helps.

Recently I started mouth breathing for no apparent reason. I got back into training by using a single piece of vertical tape just to keep my lips from separating. I only had to do that a short while.