Tongue Question

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:59 am

I posted this as a reply to another topic, but figured I'd get more replies if I made it it's own topic. So, what I would like to know, is how does one keep their tongue in that position once you fall asleep? I am able to keep it in place when I lay down to fall asleep, but once I'm asleep, I have no control over where my tongue decides to sit in my mouth. I ask this because I am a mouth breather, and my chinstrap doesn't work as well as it should, and when I tape, it seems to come off during the night because I drool apparently.

NyNurse33 · Post by **NyNurse33** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:18 pm

Glue it?!?? LOL J/K. I've had the same problems.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:38 pm

I have been using the Swift and when I first started, I would occasionally get blasts of air escaping through my mouth that woke me up.

What I have been doing is whenever I am awake … I consciously keep my tongue up on the roof of my mouth (like sucking on a hard mint candy) except when I am talking, eating, or drinking. After a while you will begin to keep it there unconsciously. I have noticed the only leaks I get now are minor and infrequent and always associated to pillow leaks rather than mouth leaks. So I guess my training is working.

- roberto

birdshell · Post by **birdshell** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 2:16 pm

Just a Quick Comment:

My tongue rests on the hard palate ALL the time, but I still have to tape my mouth to prevent losing air! It seems my mouth will just not stay shut, and the tongue falls open with it. I already am feeling as if I'm sucking on the hard mint.

Best of luck and any new techniques in tongue training are more than welcome.

NyNurse33 · Post by **NyNurse33** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:06 pm

I can tell Roberto, by your picture that your tongue is in the right place, unlike mine with my mouth open. I'm going to practice.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 3:09 pm

Rather than re-write my reply to your good question, Jack, here's a link to the other thread you and I posted in:

viewtopic.php?t=13483

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:11 am

Thanks everyone for you replies. I've been trying to train my tongue to keep it on the roof oy mouth, but so far I haven't been too successful. I'll just keep working at it I guess.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 7:41 am

Last night as I lay in bed with my Swift mask on, machine blowing at constant pressure … I felt the need to cough. So I did, but to my amazement I noticed that it was not a problem as it had been before and that as I lay there wondering why it was not a problem … I noticed that there was no air coming out of my mouth. The air not coming out of my mouth was not unusual as I had already mastered doing that by holding my tongue up onto the roof of my mouth. What was unusual and surprising was that my tongue was not on the roof of my mouth.

I then recalled reading a post by Chuck (Goofy UT) where he stated he could shout at his dog while hooked up to the air-blowing hose … I wondered then how that was possible and thought it must have been a typo. So after my unusual discovery last night, I too tried to talk while hooked up last might and found that I could do it … although my voice sounded rather nasal like when you have a really bad sinus cold.

I have never taken an anatomy course but we must apparently have muscles in the roof of our mouth that can open and close the connection between the nasal sinuses and the mouth. I experimented by opening and closing them … allowing the air to blow out of my mouth and then shutting it off again without the use of my tongue.

Am I some kind of freak or has anyone else ever discovered how to do this?

- roberto

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:02 am

DreamStalker wrote:Am I some kind of freak or has anyone else ever discovered how to do this?

Call me a freak too then. I know exactly what you are talking about. As I lay in bed the other night, I discovered this exact thing as well. I thought about trying this at night, but I just haven't become brave enough yet.

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:04 am

DreamStalker wrote:I have never taken an anatomy course but we must apparently have muscles in the roof of our mouth that can open and close the connection between the nasal sinuses and the mouth. I experimented by opening and closing them … allowing the air to blow out of my mouth and then shutting it off again without the use of my tongue.

I don't think the muscles are on the roof of the mouth, but rather in the back of your throat. That's where I feel movement when I close the airway.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:37 am

Another way to check and see if you can do this without being hooked up is to just open your mouth and then try to breathe deep in and out only through your nose ... you can put you hand in front of your mouth (without actually making a seal) to see if any air is moving in or out.

Amazing what you can learn about your own body even after being so intimate with it for over 46 years.

- roberto

cpapjack · Post by **cpapjack** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:42 am

DreamStalker wrote:Another way to check and see if you can do this without being hooked up is to just open your mouth and then try to breathe deep in and out only through your nose ... you can put you hand in front of your mouth (without actually making a seal) to see if any air is moving in or out.

This definitely works. The $10,000 question is, will one be able to do this all night?

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:36 am

[quote="DreamStalker"]I have been using the Swift and when I first started, I would occasionally get blasts of air escaping through my mouth that woke me up.

What I have been doing is whenever I am awake … I consciously keep my tongue up on the roof of my mouth (like sucking on a hard mint candy) except when I am talking, eating, or drinking. After a while you will begin to keep it there unconsciously. I have noticed the only leaks I get now are minor and infrequent and always associated to pillow leaks rather than mouth leaks. So I guess my training is working.

- roberto

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:38 am

cpapjack wrote:
DreamStalker wrote:Another way to check and see if you can do this without being hooked up is to just open your mouth and then try to breathe deep in and out only through your nose ... you can put you hand in front of your mouth (without actually making a seal) to see if any air is moving in or out.
This definitely works. The $10,000 question is, will one be able to do this all night?