Mouth Taping Procedure 6/2/06

[Darth Vader Look]

I can not stress enough that using tape over your mouth is EXTREMELY dangerous! If you ever became sick or had acid reflux with your mouth taped you will most likely inhale and drown in your own vomit, before you could remove the tape. If you have a respiratory condition such as asthma you could die from obstructing your airway. Thats' if you even awoke enough to know what has happened.

At first I thought this was not a good idea either but after reading and following rooster's procedure, I had no problem with it. I have never puked in my sleep and the only people I have heard do that were ones too drunk or drugged out to wake up.

It is funny though that you would say taping is dangerous yet you have no problem selling a chin strap to keep your jaw closed. I would think that you would consider this to be just as dangerous if not more.

[linda b]

Or try the Poligrip Strips. I cut one strip into two pieces, hold the corner of one with tweezers, dip in water, place on left side of bottom lip. Repeat with other half strip for right side of bottom lip. Then close lips, pursing together for about 10 seconds. My lips are now sealed!! HOWEVER, there is a gap in the middle big enough to get a straw into if I need to get a drink, AND if I really need to, I can simply pop open my mouth by opening up wide, such as when my husband asks a question that simply has to be answered!! Then I can usually reseal just by licking my upper lip and pursing together again.

In the morning, I simply open my mouth and roll off the strips. They are a little gummy and usually roll into a little ball. Almost no sticky stuff is left on my lips, but washes off very easily with a wet washcloth if there is any.

This is so easy and works so well that I cannot understand why anyone wouldn't prefer this to putting tape on their lips and skin.[/u]

[rested gal]

Rested Gal,
You ought to give that Hybrid mask a try.

viewtopic.php?t=10387

Oh, I fully (no pun intended! ) intend to. Looks like my kinda' mask.

It will have a hard act to follow... to match the sheer comfort of the Headrest (Aura) and the ComfortLite 2 in allowing me to put the side of my face absolutely flat against the pillow when side-sleeping.

When the piggybank gets a little heavier, I'll be trying the Hybrid, most certainly.

[Guest]

ROTFL DVL!

Love the visual aid!

To further clarify, if you're a person who does this:


while you're doing this:



then don't do this:

[Darth Vader Look]

Now Guest, that is what I call emoticon heaven A smiley is worth a thousand words any day. Thank you.

[Guest]

[quote="automanRT"]I am a autocpap user, and a respiratory therapist. I have 15 years experience with setting up cpap's in patients' homes. I am telling you this so you can see that I am qualified in this field.
I can not stress enough that using tape over your mouth is EXTREMELY dangerous! If you ever became sick or had acid reflux with your mouth taped you will most likely inhale and drown in your own vomit, before you could remove the tape. If you have a respiratory condition such as asthma you could die from obstructing your airway. Thats' if you even awoke enough to know what has happened.
You would be better off using a full face mask to correct the problem. Please explore other options instead of attempting such a dangerous practice.
Good luck and god bless.[/b]

[Dennis in RI]

People can vomit in their sleep and die because they don't tape their mouths shut.

I had a 60-year old friend who died in his sleep last summer from asphyxiation due to vomiting. He had been suffering from Multiple System Atrophy for about four years. Six years before he developed MSA, he was diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea. He was unable to tolerate the full-face mask that was prescribed and stopped the therapy after a few months.

So he suffered with sosa for a number of years and then developed MSA. I have a strong suspicion that if he could have successfully treated the sosa, he would have avoided MSA.

Continuing on with the argument, if the sleep doctor had prescribed nasal pillows and mouth taping, maybe my friend would have been successful in treating sosa and then avoided MSA and avoided death by asphyxiation from vomiting!

I have been taping for three years and have no qualms about continuing.

[Guest]

Now Guest, that is what I call emoticon heaven A smiley is worth a thousand words any day. Thank you.

My pleasure! I did an old post filled with them... now if only I could find it....

[bdp522]

As for removing the sticky residue from tape...You can buy adhesive remover in bottles or towelettes, some contain mostly alcohol, some contain mostly mineral oil. You can use plain mineral oil (under$2 at most drug stores) and get the same result. I work in a doctors office and we use mineral oil because it is gentle on the skin and works great!

[roster]

As for removing the sticky residue from tape...You can buy adhesive remover in bottles or towelettes, some contain mostly alcohol, some contain mostly mineral oil. You can use plain mineral oil (under$2 at most drug stores) and get the same result. I work in a doctors office and we use mineral oil because it is gentle on the skin and works great!

Thanks. I will try the mineral oil soon.

[New to CPAP]

Great post rooster. No one at my dme or sleep lab mentioned taping but it really made things better for me. The chinstrap was very cumbersome and I still leaked air out of my mouth. Taping seems to be a long term solution for me. Thanks.

[bigguysez]

Hi all. Nice to know I'm not alone. I'm new with cpap (less than 2 months)
and just found this board and saw the mouth taping topic. What is it all about? I'm perplexed. I have other questions and some peeves (ok, rantings) but I'll start with mouth taping. My mask covers only my nose and see no reason to tape my mouth. There are those that wish I would tape it during waking hours but that's another story.

Bigguy

[wahooker]

If you have a problem with opening your mouth during sleep, (and thereby letting air escape) It can make the cpap almost useless for you.

Mouthtaping, chinstraps and full face masks are all techniques used to try and prevent that problem.

[bigguysez]

Guess I'm lucky then because keeping my mouth shut (at least while I'm using cpap) hasn't been a problem. Thankfully too because I've had a full beard and 'stache for the past 30 years. Maybe velcro instead of tape then?

Bigguysez

[DaveMunson]

I use 2" duct tape.