Ear pressure problem/new user

My husband used his CPAP last night for the first time. Among other issues, he woke with his ears feeling blocked. I tried the machine myself, which has a nasal mask, and as soon as I opened my mouth, both my ears popped. It was awful. My husband is a mouth breather, so the nasal mask seems like a poor choice. The company that provided the CPAP machine is supposed to be sending a tech out with a chin strap today, which they say will alleviate the problem. It seems to me that a full mouth/nose mask would make more sense. I cannot imagine sleeping when I knew that if I relaxed and opened my mouth, I would be jolted awake with intense ear pressure! His pressure is very high at 16, so that may be why the pressure on the ears is so high.

I am just interested in what others have experienced and specifically if anyone has had problems with the ear pressure. Any tips or suggestions are welcome. We are completely new to this, but he has to get used to it because the doctor said he is the worst case he has ever seen. He stops breathing for a minute or more several times an hour and his blood ox goes down to 70 or lower. I have him scheduled to see the cardiologist as we now know his risk of stroke or heart attack is much greater.

Thanks for any input.

Shari

It takes getting used to. Try not to swallow when treatment is being applied. It will also help when the mouth breathing issue is addressed and resolved. Hang in there, sometimes these things take a while....

I've encountered this a few times 'tho not to the extent your husband has. It helps to treat it just as you would if this occurred in an airplane. Hold your nose and blow. Yawn. Whatever works when flying should help w/this ear pressure as well.

That pressure is pretty high. Does he have a BI-PAP? Or, at least C-Flex or EPR on his machine.

Your husband should be seen by a ENT to examine why he is breathing through has mouth. You breathe through your mouth when you cannot breathe through your nose. He may have a deviated septum or nasal valve.

As for the ear/pressure thing, that will pass, but he should see the ENT about it to make sure he doesn't have a low level inner ear infection which can be aggrevated by cpap pressure.

if he is breathing through his mouth, then a Full Face mask is the only real solution, most chin straps don't work because they pull the mandible back in the joint which decreases the distance of the airway actually making OSA worse in some cases.

I suggest he see the ENT and get a Resmed UltraMirage Full Face mask. He should also learn to use the Ramp feature on the machine, that will go a long way in helping him getting used to the machine.

Try not to relate your personal experience with the ear/pressure thing to him, because therapy is hard enough especially at 16.0cm pressure. That ear pain will pass if he doesn't have an inner ear infection where cpap is then contradicted.

My pressure is not as high (13) but I still get stuffy feeling ears when I suit up for bed. I have been to an ENT and in my case they say I am fine. So it just is something some of us have to live with. Clears in the morning but slowly sometimes. You husband may have other ENT issues so best to have them checked out.

If there is nothing wrong (ENT wise) there are a couple things I would suggest.

1) His pressure is pretty high. He may not need that all night. I would seriously consider an APAP so he can might be able to sleep at less than 16 for much of the night. Some here as noted in a response above think 16 is closer to needing a BiPAP. I don't know much about bipap so I can't say.

2) I thought I was a mouth breather too. I was pre-cpap. But with that air blowing up my nose (swift) I found that my nostrils worked just fine. Keeping the mouth (and lips) shut is a challenge. Chin strap alone may not do it. I question whether any RT who suggests that alone as the total solution has ever used a CPAP themselves. Tape is the common answer around here. I use it nightly. Gentle paper tape from the pharmacy shelf. Tuck ends under so there is a tab so you can grap to remove if you need to. Chapstick or the like in the morning to prevent irritation. Some say chapstick before taping, but I have yet to understand how their tape sticks on top of chapstick. But if they can make it work -- great.

Others use polident strips to glue the mouth shut. I tried that and personally didn't like that as well as the tape. When I first read on this forum about tape I thought I would never do that. But once I tried it I was sold.

I don't know if there is a different feeling with a nasal mask vs. pillows concerning air going up your nose. I use pillows and with that pressure of 13 going up I don' t have the slightest inclination to mouth breath as long as my mouth is shut and lips closed.

Before CPAP my mouth would hang open all night and that is where the air went in and out of.


Of course you may truly be a mouth breather. And if none of this works there is the full face mask. I have one of those too and actually started with it. Some swear by them and you may indeed like it.

Try it all. Try the ff mask, try tape and chinstrap (I use a chinstrap -- homemade, just an ace bandage -- in addition to the tape since I find it helps and keeps my headgear more stable) See what works best for you.

If you don't swallow though while useing a mask you may drool somthing awful. I can't see how people could put on a mask and not swallow. But if it works for them -- hey that is great.

have them check the machine for false reading. mymachine said 17, but I was getting 28.4,my ears was hurting and even had bleeding problems.