clenching teeth, sore jaw

[ljmcd]

I have the remstar and the breeze headgear. I am noncompliant because it makes me clench my mouth shut. I am a mouth breather and can't stand not to open my mouth. Also, I do not have a humidifier attached and wake up with the worst headaches. Tossed the machine in the closet. Husband says need to do something for snoring. Called today and they are getting me a humidifier and a machine that tracks my compliance. Should I go with a full face mask?? Will that let me open my mouth??

[Wulfman]

From the posts that I've been reading here over the past 4 or 5 months, most "mouth-breathers" either wear a full face mask, strap their chin to their headgear or tape their mouths shut.
In my personal situation, I believe I was a mouth-breather until I got the full face mask. The cool humidity keeps my nasal passages open and I have the bottom of the mask up against my lower lip so it is difficult to open my mouth. On a couple of occasions that I DID accidentally open my mouth during the night, the air rushing in woke me up. I've also been a heavy duty snorer, too. I still snore some (according to my software readouts), so this tells me that most of my snoring is a "nasal" snore rather than snoring through my mouth. There also doesn't seem to be a correlation between my snoring and my apnea/hypopnea numbers either......many of my lowest AHI numbers were when I was doing some pretty heavy Z"s. In summary, I guess the full face mask has "trained" me not to be a mouth-breather.

Den

[ITeach]

I, too am a mouth breather. I use a FF mask (the Ultra Mirage), however, I have been having jaw pain the last few weeks. I think my jaw may have been injured while an anesthesiologit was removing an appliance to keep my airway open during ankle surgery (not intubation tube) because they told me I was clenched tight and they had trouble removing it. Now, I have pain some mornings because the mask holds my jaw pretty stiff (I think). I don't know. I used the FF for 4 months prior to surgery with no complications. I like being able to relax and not think about not mouth breathing.

Good luck!
Sue

[rested gal]

ljmcd, you might want to give the ResMed Ultra Mirage FF mask a try. It's a full face mask that covers mouth and nose so you can breathe easily through your mouth. Be sure you have a heated humidifier too, as mouth-breathing the treatment air can be very drying.

That mask comes in several different sizes, AND different cushion shapes...the cushion shapes (like "Standard" and "Shallow") are not to be confused with "size" (Small, Medium, Large.) So if, say, a Small Standard leaks for you after adjusting it properly (that means with straps not too tight and some fiddling with the vertical forehead adjustment bar to get the correct angle to your face) then try a Small Shallow.

During the fitting be sure to do any mask adjusting while lying down in your usual sleeping position...preferably with a cpap machine going at your usual pressure. Straps that feel ok while sitting up will tighten considerably when you lie down...the back of the neck "thickens" when you lie down.

Good luck!