Cervical Collar & Much Higher AHI

[CPAPinCAL]

Having an issue uploading an OSCAR pic so...

1 year stats:

AHI .43
Obstructive .1
Hypop: .24
Central .1

Resmed 10, Pressure 7-13, EPR 3

Just to see if using a collar would improve my numbers, I slept with one for the first two and a half hours last night. During that time, I had 10 hypops. When I awoke and checked the numbers, I ditched the collar and had no more hypops, 2 centrals, and 1 obstructive over the next 4 hrs and 45 minutes of sleep. Is that...normal? I understand the studies show collars work with more profound apnea but I haven't seen any posts (and I searched) suggesting sometimes a cervical collar can be counterproductive.

I lurk here a lot and thanks to all of you who take the time to share your wisdom, and best of luck to all of you fighting sleep apnea!

[Julie]

Sleeping on your back, side, ???

[CPAPinCAL]

I am an idiot. Great question.

Sidesleeper now almost exclusively after training myself. (Initial study in 2016: Supine AHI, 26, Sides 1, Prone 4. Total AHI 6.1)

I know by the rare H/OA clusters if I spent any time on my back on a given night.

[Julie]

Cervical collars work for those who need them - for when their head drops down and cuts off their airway, probably more often in side sleepers, but not always. If you didn't have that problem, why did you try the collar? And if you did have it, then other adjustments may need to be made with or without the collar.

[CPAPinCAL]

I was going for a twofer.

About once every couple of weeks I awake with a stiff neck, as best as I can tell from my sidesleeping. And seeing the posts on collars helping sidesleepers, I thought "hey, if I can get my AHI even lower, great". I was not expecting the AHI numbers for the 2.5 hours though. And my neck was a little stiff too from the collar. The experiment was not, it seems, a success. Thanks for replying.

[Julie]

Maybe you could look into other reasons for your stiff neck like sports etc. on similar days...

[Bluper]

Try different height pillows. I'm a side sleeper and everything I've read says I should use a high pillow. Stiff neck, headache and low oxygen using high pillows promted me to go low. After 20 pillows( for real) I found the purple harmony low loft. No more stiff neck, headache and my oxygen status went from low 80's to high 90's. There are much cheaper low loft pillows out there.

[ChicagoGranny]

1 year stats:

AHI .43
Obstructive .1
Hypop: .24
Central .1

That combined with this -------->

Just to see if using a collar would improve my numbers

is idiocy.

[MeToo]

Cervical collars can be less comfortable for side-sleepers b/c the side of the collar pushes into your neck. This can cause you to shift to your back, thereby triggering interruptions.

As someone who needs to sleep on his side, the only collar that I found that I can use is the old Dr. Dakota style. There is a Chinese knock-off on Amazon, but they aren't tall enough for me. One might work for you, though.

[RogerSC]

Side sleeper here. Had a period of sore neck for about a year or so, and went to a chiropractor for it. Subsequently, got a thicker pillow (for side sleepers with adjustable loft), and voila, no more sore neck, no more chiropractor. Very happy to have found such a simple solution for a problem that bothered me so much.

Anyways, look for a pillow for side sleepers with more loft...adjustable loft is good, since you can make it work for you. For me, about 6" of loft works best, but it depends on your body shape and size.