Best Chin Strap????

ErnieH · Post by **ErnieH** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:07 pm

Anyone have an opinion on chin straps???? Which would you suggest and why.

Thanks,
Ernie

cpapernewbie · Post by **cpapernewbie** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:31 pm

I have tried 3

Best so far is Tiara - its is soft. However during this warm season - it will be wet with perspiration

I also bought the CPAP.com and the Respironics chinstraps. Both are waste of money for me.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:46 pm

if you are going to use one of those things, it has to remain vertical, you do NOT want the type that cups your chin and the ball of the scalp, that will pull the mandible back into the TMJ joint closing off the airspace at the back of the throat making apnea worse.

This is the complete opposite of what a dental device does and what the MMA surgery does to reduce or eliminate OSA.

The strap must remain vertical to prevent the mandible from dropping without pulling it backwards.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:26 am

And then even if you get a chinstrap to maintain vertical force from top of head to bottom of chin, you will need to have air-tight spacing between your teeth or the air will exit through and flap your lips (unless you tape, glues, or stitch your lips together).

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:01 am

There is a new one on the market, made by forum member SleepGuy:

PAP-CAP
http://www.pur-sleep.com/content/?id=44
and
http://www.pur-sleep.com/products/produ ... category=6

My current chinstrap of choice is the Deluxe from cpap.com:
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/deluxe ... hleak.html

Pix of how I morphed it into headgear for my NAII are in my Photobucket:
s124.photobucket.com/albums/p36/BabetteLaMauvaise/CPAP/

I like the Topaz, but the neoprene irritates my skin. I'm attempting to find the time/energy to re-create it in a different material.

LOL,
Babs

Country4ever · Post by **Country4ever** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:41 am

Babette.......could you please tell me how wide that deluxe chinstrap is? Does the velcro ever catch your hair?
Does the strap ever feel like its cutting into your neck too much?

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 1:29 pm

I use the Respironics "Original Deluxe" --

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

I've tried several other chinstraps that have a cup for the chin and found them very uncomfortable.

This one is 3 inches wide and slightly stretchy. Once you have the velcro closed where you want it (on top of head), you never have to undo the velcro. You can just slip it on and off without ever undoing it. Which is a good thing since ripping the velcro open repeatedly would wear the closure out too soon.

I don't have to use the optional forehead and back of head straps that come with it. Stays put fine for me as is.

It's not necessary to wear a chin strap so tight that your teeth are clamped together. The idea behind chin straps is to simply keep the jaw from dropping down to the extent that there's so much room in the mouth that the tongue also drops away from maintaining an airtight seal inside the mouth.

The position of the tongue is the whole key (imho) to whether a person will have mouth air leaks or not. If the relaxed tongue stays in a position to block air (from either direction...from breathing in or from cpap air detouring and gushing out) then it doesn't matter if the mouth is open somewhat.

If keeping the lower jaw from dropping at all still allows mouth leaks, there probably isn't a chin strap out there that can stop it. That's when many of us turn to tape or polident strips, or a DYI mouthguard to keep the tongue in a sealing position:

LINKS to: Mouth leaks - Air Leaks - Tape - DIY Guard
viewtopic.php?t=8011

For over 3 years on "cpap" I had to tape my lips securely shut every night (except for occasional nights when I'd use a DIY mouthguard successfully.) From time to time during those three years, I'd try various chinstraps to see if I could get by without taping... massive leaks.

Finally, "suddenly last summer" I halfheartedly again tried one of the chin straps I had stuck away in a drawer back when it hadn't done any good before. Bingo! This time it worked and has consistently continued preventing most mouth leaks for almost a year now.

The years of using tape apparently kept my jaw up enough that my tongue finally formed a habit of staying in a "sealing position" inside the mouth.

Thanks to blarg (another member of cpaptalk and a former "taper") for mentioning his eventual success in switching to a chinstrap. That's what made me give the old discard a try again.

Since then, I've tried other chinstraps, but haven't found any that suit me as well as the Original Deluxe by Respironics. The thing is ridiculously expensive. Probably a person could visit a fabric store and get a piece of wide, slightly stretchy, thick elastic to do the same job just as comfortably.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 2:52 pm

Everyone knows I am NOT a big fan of chinstraps because what they do to making your OSA worse and I've tried them all over the years,

I used this one last night. I still want to use it a few more nights before commenting on it more, but this is the ONLY one on the market to get:

http://www.pur-sleep.com/content/?id=44

It does everything the others don't, that is keep the main strap completely vertical so it doesn't pull your mandible back into the TMJ joint which closes off the airspace at the back of the throat or causes it to narrow,

it comes with softer flexible velcro, it shows some extra velcro straps in the picture to attach to mask headgear but I didn't use any of that, just the cap and the main strap which was very comfortable under the chin and best of all it did NOT pull the mandible back.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:48 am

RG, have you tried the Knock Off version of the Deluxe chinstrap? I can't see any difference between the two in the photos online. I'm using the knock off. It's about 3-4 inches wide.

As for finding that particular elastic...

Honey, I'm a COSTUMER and I can't find it anywhere!!! Of course, I do 18thC & 19thC costuming, so my usual sources don't carry such stuff. I picked up some wide elastic at JoAnn's the other day, but it's nothing like this stuff. I can't seem to find this vented elastic anywhere. And I'm buying it so cheap right now, I don't really CARE.

The only downside I've had so far with this chinstrap is it's like a big piece of velcro - it gets linty, and little pills develop. It looks pretty ratty. But it works fine.

I put mine in a lingerie bag and wash it with my whites every so often. I try for once a week, but I don't always make it. More like 2-3 times a month.

At this point, mouth breathing doesn't appear to be an issue for me. But I need the stability to keep my mask in place, so I continue to use it. And who knows - maybe if I quit using it I'd start mouth breathing again.

Cheers,
Babs

jdavis123 · Post by **jdavis123** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:25 am

The "premium chin strap" from Respironics is really nice - better than the regular and deluxe ones from Respironics.

jdwilson16 · Post by **jdwilson16** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 11:52 am

I have used the Pap-Cap for 3 nights now and the results are very encouraging. I have been on CPAP for about 2 months and could not control leaks from my mouth. I also could not get consistent results from CPAP and my AHI would very from 4 to 15 with most in the low teens on nights that leaks were above .3l/s. I tried the Tiara, but it would not apply enough resistance to keep the jaw closed.

Over the past 3 nights I have had leak rate of 0 and AHI all below 5. This is the best I have achieved so far. The Pap-Cap is worth looking into if you have mouth leaks and nothing else has worked for you.

goose · Post by **goose** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 1:27 pm

I'm in the PAP-Cap corner. I initially had a problem with it staying in place, but working with Bret I've got it nailed now.....SleepGuy has another winner!!!!
I'm also working on using it as headgear for my ComfortGel mask and once I decapitate one of my headrests I'll experiment with that as well.......

The PAP-Cap kind of resembles a surgeons cap in that it fits around your head (unlike straps that tend to be too big or too small, too loose or too tight). In the back it has a flap to save your hair from the velcro and two velcro straps to actually make the "one-size-fits-all" work right -- make sure the straps are below the bottom of the skull so it stays in place (one of my original issues). The chinstrap is soft and wide so that part of it comes up the chin to hold your chin in place -- you can make it as tight as you like, but not being a mouth breather I keep it "medium" pressure -- I'm looking at it more for headgear replacement than mouth closing.

The fabric is soft and airy but "rigid" enough that it won't stretch out of shape on you (it's not like T-shirt stuff but more like pillow case fabric). It's been very hot here lately (110+ yesterday and hotter today) and I don't find it uncomfortable to wear.....Hit snoredog's link to get a picture.

I've tried a couple different straps including the Topaz and the PAP-Cap is a keeper!!!!!

I also like the colors and the batik look....Plain colors are boring to me, but I'm a tie dye freak, so......

Take care....
cheers
goose

jnk · Post by **jnk** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:22 pm

I use an oral appliance that keeps the jaw forward, so all I have to worry about is "lip flutter." I think I have stopped that by buying a cheap terry-cloth stretchy headband, the kind a basketball player would use to stop sweat from getting in his eyes. I put it on beneath my headgear diagonally from the crown of my head to just below my bottom lip so that it puts a little pressure up on my bottom lip. Probably looks funny, but keeps my leak rates low.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:23 pm

Country4ever wrote:Babette.......could you please tell me how wide that deluxe chinstrap is? Does the velcro ever catch your hair?
Does the strap ever feel like its cutting into your neck too much?

A) I think it's about 3-4 inches wide

B) Yes, the velcro sometimes catches my hair. I have alot of it, and I'm used to it getting pulled a bit now and then. Doesn't bother me. It's not taking out hunks at a time.

C) Strap doesn't feel like it's cutting into my neck, ears, chin, or any other part of me. The sides are very soft. The edges tend to roll a bit with me, because I have 27 chins.

Cheers,
Babs

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:24 pm

sdanler wrote:The "premium chin strap" from Respironics is really nice - better than the regular and deluxe ones from Respironics.

I disagree. I think it works best for MALES. Being NOT MALE, I can't say I really liked it at all. I do have a male friend who is liking his alot, however.

Cheers,
B.

Best Chin Strap????

Best Chin Strap????

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