cervical collar

[1speechpick]

Has anyone found if a soft cervical collar provides enough chin support to keep the chin in place?

[ChicagoGranny]

Has anyone found if a soft cervical collar provides enough chin support to keep the chin in place?

A properly sized, firm, foam cervical collar keeps the neck in the best position for airway patency and can help prevent jaw drop. It does not seal the lips against airflow. It cannot be made so tight as to prevent the jaw from opening.

[1speechpick]

Has anyone found if a soft cervical collar provides enough chin support to keep the chin in place?

A properly sized, firm, foam cervical collar keeps the neck in the best position for airway patency and can help prevent jaw drop. It does not seal the lips against airflow. It cannot be made so tight as to prevent the jaw from opening.

Thanks for your response. It's greatly appreciated! I'm in need of finding a full face mask that will work due to nasal congestion during allergy season. I find that when I try a full face mask my AHI index increases greatly (like last night AHI was 33, when it had been from .5 - 2.5 on previous nights). I suspect the reason for this... is severe chin drop resulting in tongue base retraction, which decreases airway patency. My hope is that a cervical collar would keep the chin more neutral, reducing tongue retraction ultimately improving airway patency?

[ChicagoGranny]

I find that when I try a full face mask my AHI index increases greatly (like last night AHI was 33, when it had been from .5 - 2.5 on previous nights).

That's highly unusual.

[1speechpick]

I find that when I try a full face mask my AHI index increases greatly (like last night AHI was 33, when it had been from .5 - 2.5 on previous nights).

That's highly unusual.

I agree, however, I can't think of any other reasoning that this would happen. It has happened on multiple nights. Any thoughts?

[ChicagoGranny]

last night AHI was 33

What was the breakdown?

[1speechpick]

last night AHI was 33

What was the breakdown?

I attached a screen shot of last night. It has been a pattern of a higher AHI with full face mask. It is a problem I need to solve because of having allergies and nasal congestion this time of year. I do note that I forget to change the machine setting from "nasal" to "full face mask". 6 is my normal pressure and I tried to Airtouch full face mask last night.

[1speechpick]

last night AHI was 33

What was the breakdown?

As a comparison, here's a screenshot from 2 nights ago when I wore the nasal mask (Resmed N20). The AHI is much less, but I have trouble wearing the nasal mask during allergy season even with meds.

I'm hypothesizing the increase in AHI last night (on my other posted screenshot, in this thread) is due to severe chin drop/mouth opening during the night reducing airway patency. Do you have any other ideas?

[ChicagoGranny]

You have a nice APAP. Why are you using it in CPAP mode? (It's hard to follow your history because you have started so many threads.)

[1speechpick]

You have a nice APAP. Why are you using it in CPAP mode? (It's hard to follow your history because you have started so many threads.)

Doctor's recommendation. Newbie here...thought we were supposed to start a new thread with new topic.

[Okie bipap]

Newbie here...thought we were supposed to start a new thread with new topic.

With new users, we recommend they keep everything in one thread to make it easier on the people trying to help. It is easier to make recommendations when we have all of the information and know what has happened in the recent past.

[1speechpick]

last night AHI was 33

What was the breakdown?

I attached a screen shot of last night. It has been a pattern of a higher AHI with full face mask. It is a problem I need to solve because of having allergies and nasal congestion this time of year. I do note that I forget to change the machine setting from "nasal" to "full face mask". 6 is my normal pressure and I tried to Airtouch full face mask last night.

Does anyone have recommendations on settings to improve the AHI in my chart listed above?

[ILoveFlowers]

Can allergies also cause the throat to swell so that the airway closes more easily?

[Jlfinkels]

Has anyone found if a soft cervical collar provides enough chin support to keep the chin in place?

It helps a lot with me. Not perfect, but I find tape uncomfortable and chinstraps just don't work well for me without strapping them on tight to the point of being painful.

I've been using the Caldera releaf and Coreline collars for about a week. Both work for me and show a drop in large leaks from ~10% to ~< 1% when using nasal pillows.

[Julie]

To ILF -If allergies are closing your throat you have bigger problems (anaphylaxis) than OSA!