mask leak

[jfung28@yahoo.com]

I've been on cpap therapy for about 6 weeks. I have tried both the Nuance Pro nasal pillows as well as the Dreamwear full face mask. Definitely have been getting much better ahi readings with the nasal pillows. Anytime I try the full face mask my ahi shoots up (readings of 15-21). Thus I've been trying to stick to the nasal pillows. However, I have found myself occasionally feeling pressure buildup in my mouth and I find myself occasionally releasing air...from reading your forum, I am learning that this is called mouth leaking. I even tried taping my lips one night but that did not help.

Not sure what I should do if the mouth leaks continue...I asked my pulmonologist about this concern she didn't seem concerned about it (or maybe not knowledgeable about it?). Any thoughts/suggestions? Should I just continue with my nasal pillow as long as the ahi remains below 5? Or keep trying the full face mask. Thanks

[Jas_williams]

It all depends how much time you spend leaking air out of your mouth. A small amount of mouth leaks won’t adversely affect your treatment. Download OSCAR and post some graphs so we can see how bad it is

[Miss Emerita]

You are experiencing "chipmunk cheeks." If you search this site on "chipmunk," you'll find a lot of threads that might help you. With Oscar, we can see whether the leaks are compromising your therapy, but even if they aren't, dealing repeatedly with chipmunk cheeks can be pretty disruptive to sleep.

The basic fix is to start training yourself to use your tongue as a seal. Try this: put the tip of your tongue just in back of your front teeth, and let it spread out from side to side. Push the middle and back of your tongue up against the roof of your mouth and either swallow or do a little sucking action.

With your tongue in that position, you will breathe entirely through your nose. The trick is to get your tongue to stay in that position while you are asleep. Practice makes perfect; do it during the day and with a little luck it'll turn into your tongue's favored position even while you are asleep.

[zonker]

I've been on cpap therapy for about 6 weeks.

welcome to the zoo! and i want to thank you for starting your own thread. i see you tagged on to someone else, but it's truly best to have your own.

you've gotten good advice so far. what miss e advised has worked well for many over the past. however, because of the high arch of the roof of my mouth, i have trouble getting my tongue to cover it, though heaven knows i've tried.

but then i read this by forum member jay aitchsee-

viewtopic/p1089718/viewtopic.php?f=1&t= ... s#p1086296

this works a treat for me! not only eliminated my mouth leaks, but dropped my ahi by 1 whole point. i have modified this somewhat over time, but it's basically as described in his post.

also, i use a firm foam cervical collar. this keeps my chin from dropping open during sleep.

good luck in whatever you may try!

[jfung28@yahoo.com]

many thanks to all of you who have offered great suggestions. cpap is new to me so I have lots to research on. I tried that tongue thing but it didn't work for me - found myself waking up often and worrying about trying to create that seal. the past three nights I tried to just go to sleep normally and though I have been waking up once during each night with a little dry mouth, I was able to go back to sleep and slept well each night...ahi actually dropped lower. I will continue with my nasal pillow for now and plan to look into that oscar thing mentioned...have no idea what that is
aloha and mahalo

[zonker]

I will continue with my nasal pillow for now and plan to look into that oscar thing mentioned...have no idea what that is
aloha and mahalo

it's voodoo, man!

i don't know that much about the ins and outs of oscar. but i know enough to do a screen grab of the charts and then post it here for those who DO know what it's about so they give me the good advice.

same same same will happen for you.

when you do figure out how to do that, please post any charts right here in this thread, will make it easier for folks to follow along with you.

and if you have any trouble with the process, just let us know and we'll get you going.