Can Chinstrap Cause issues ?

After 5+ weeks into my therapy and still struggling with mouth leaks, I thought I had a great night. It was the first time I was able to sleep all night with chinstrap to keep mouth closed, AND the tape stuck all night keeping air from slipping out lips. I have always removed straps in first few hours as I hate them. And the tape usually only works a few hours, then loosens and allows leaks. So when I awoke and found tape secure and chinstrap from papcap still on, I was expecting great numbers. They are terrible! Leakage is still 40, which is my avg. LPM is supposed to be close to 31 for Swift LT on Pro M series. But AHI was 24.0 with OA's at 21.8 !

My question is could the chin strap cause OA's ? Most, including this one are more like jawstraps as being so wide they cover a large portion of lower jaw, past chin. I do have some excess chin, which is pushed up by chinstraps. To me, it feels like it pushes tissue into airway making breathing slightly more difficult. Which is one reason I hate wearing one. But could it actually restrict airway enough to cause OA's? The H's are not up, only OA's. Snoring was bad also. I have not found a simple chinstrap, with just a small chin guard, that is comfortable enough to wear all night.

Obviously I also have mask leaks I never thought I had. Air had to go somewhere and unless I have an extra hole in my head I am not aware of, it must have lost seal most of night. Other than first and last hour, the Leakage line looks like a seismograpgh in an earthquake. I did wake up twice to hissing and had to adjust and go back to sleep. That is rare for me but assumed i moved too much and caused it. It could be it needs new pillows as it is 5 weeks. Only other thing I did different is skipped the breath right strip. I will try duplicating everything else tonight, but also use a strip. It always seemed to help the pillow reseal on their own when moving. If results are still bad I will give up chin strap and just wait for my new masks coming this week. I ordered a Hybrid and Quatro FF (tried at Dr, ordered on Auction). Without the chinstraps on a good night my AHI is only around 5 and leakage still around 40 LPM. Any thoughts ?

Don,
Haven't heard of that one! I love my PapCap. Its ability to pull my jaw forward is what helps keep my airway open. I have noticed I need to keep the strap on the chin...and not near the throat as it impedes breathing if I do. That's my only thought/suggestion! Hope it works out for you.

T.

Sleepy,
I agree the papcap is the best of all chinstraps I have tried, and most comfortable. I especially disliked that 4" wide white one many sell. Perhaps I am not wearing it right. I will try moving it as far forward as possible without it slipping off. It is the only one that I have been able to wear all night to keep my mouth from opening. Maybe last night was just a fluke. Thanks for the reply.

I wouldnt bother with the chinstrap but just tape the lips, use surgical tape and roll the lips inward so tape goes on skin above and below lips, double tape back on both ends to make tear off strips

loose mask straps can cause leaks

SleepyT wrote:Don,
Haven't heard of that one! I love my PapCap. Its ability to pull my jaw forward is what helps keep my airway open. I have noticed I need to keep the strap on the chin...and not near the throat as it impedes breathing if I do. That's my only thought/suggestion! Hope it works out for you.

T.

Don, I also wear the PAPCap chin strap just as SleepyT described -- as far forward as possible so it doesn't push on the neck area, even part way off my chin sometimes. I think it can also make a difference in the way you anchor the chin strap velcro to the cap -- whether it's straight up or angled toward the back -- so you can experiment with that. Since I started using it, I get zero leak numbers every night. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but it solved my problem!

~ DreamOn

Sleepy,
I wil keep trying with the papcap strap a while. Maybe I am making it tighter than needed or placing it wrong.
Harry,
The tape usually loosens on top at my musache. I hate to lose the mustache as I have had it 28 years. It covers some scars from stitches above lip. I do trim it much smaller now to give some skin area for tape and wash well before tape to remove oil and stuff. The tape helps a lot but only first 3-4 hours usually. Then air starts leaking there.

Ok, after thinking about this for a minute or two I would think it is possible that the chin strap could cause more problems in certain individuals. Think of it kind of like this. If you have a cpr card you are instructed to open the airway by tilting the head up gently and or lifting the chin out. By putting a chin strap on you are basically pulling your chin towards your throat potentially causing more blockage.

Gerry

Gerryk wrote:Ok, after thinking about this for a minute or two I would think it is possible that the chin strap could cause more problems in certain individuals. Think of it kind of like this. If you have a cpr card you are instructed to open the airway by tilting the head up gently and or lifting the chin out. By putting a chin strap on you are basically pulling your chin towards your throat potentially causing more blockage.

Gerry

Agreed. I was instructed to make sure my chin strap force/pull is in an upward direction. If the chin strap pulls the chin backward it can contribute to closing the airway.

DoninOrlando wrote:I wil keep trying with the papcap strap a while. Maybe I am making it tighter than needed or placing it wrong.

Have you watched the demonstration videos? Maybe it would help to try it on while watching the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CyhzcNaCRI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=452-qvNB7SY