How to Find the Right Mask & Breathe Through Your Nose

DON'T FIT YOUR FACE TO THE WRONG MASK
One thing I learned the hard way was to find a mask that fit my face - and not try to make my face fit the wrong mask. Let's face it - the majority of CPAP mask designers never tried to sleep with a CPAP mask. If they did we would already have comfortable and efficient masks that really worked. It is definitely a chore finding a mask that actually fits your unique face and also doesn't leak air. When I started CPAP six years ago I tried five different masks over a two month period to find a mask that fit my face. A CPAP store employee actually blamed me for not using the masks correctly. It was a nasal pillow mask that finally worked.

START WITH A NASAL MASK FIRST
My recommendation is start with a nasal pillow mask first. Why? Because one: my sleep study technician told me I was a mouth breather. Two: I spent two miserable months trying to find a full-face/hybrid face mask that worked. Three: frustrated, I tried a nasal mask and, wonder-of-wonders, this "mouth breather" found a mask that worked - a nasal mask! So my advice is to simply give a nasal mask a try first. Then, if it doesn't work out, try a hybrid or full face mask.

WHAT KIND OF BREATHER ARE YOU?
I don't care if you were told that you are a mouth breather, a slow breather, a fast breather, ear breather, or a combination of all of these. I was pleasantly surprised to find I naturally adjusted to breathing only through my nose with a nasal mask. And it didn't take long for me to adjust to nose breathing while I slept (two nights). How did I do it? I didn't do anything. I naturally adjusted to breathing through my nose. Why did it happen? I was naturally blocking the air entering my mouth with the back of my tongue.

BREATHING ONLY THROUGH YOUR NOSE
Say "gaa, gaa ...". Notice that you naturally block off the sound with the back of your tongue when repeating the "gaa" sound. It's just plain old enunciation! This is how harmonica players - with practice - play those rapid fire repetitive notes: ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gah. They stop the sound with the back of their tongue before making another "gaa" sound. Give it a try: while saying "gah" raise the back of your tongue and block off the air entering your throat. Open you mouth and look in mirror while doing it - you can see the back of your tongue moving up and blocking your throat. Don't worry, you can still breath through your nose! Give it a try and do it right now. Try this exercise off and on during the day. You will soon become accustomed to the feeling in your throat. Just relax and breath through you nose while blocking your mouth breathing with the back of your tongue.
NOTE: You don't have hold your mouth closed or clench your teeth to stop mouth breathing. You don't need a chin strap. Your tongue is blocking air from entering your windpipe - not your mouth. So if your mouth is open a little bit it doesn't make any difference. Relax your face completely. Also, it doesn't take much effort for the back of your tongue to block your airway. Your tongue is an amazing muscle - let it do it's thing. When I play a note on my harmonica I can get a vibrato effect (instead of staccato) by barely closing and opening my airway with the back of my tongue. The tongue is an amazing muscle. Blocking your airway is a piece-of-cake.

SLEEPING WITH A NASAL MASK
You will automatically breath through your nose while sleeping with a nasal pillow mask. If you are asleep and start breathing through your mouth - you will get a BIG blast of incoming air into your mouth. Don't worry - it doesn't hurt - but you will wake up. Just relax - block off your mouth breathing with the back of your tongue again - and go back to sleep. This may happen off and on throughout the night while you are adjusting to the nasal pillow mask. But believe me - it's worth giving it a try. It really is easy to do. It may take a few nights before you are a veteran nose breather. And it sure beats trying to get a good night's sleep wearing a modified jet pilot's oxygen face mask.

ONE MORE THING
Good luck in finding the correct mask for your unique face. Also the technique for blocking your airway with the back of your tongue also works for full mask users. Breathing through your mouth - even with a full mask on really dries out your mouth and sinuses fast. Block that airway and get some sleep.

But I want to be a fighter pilot....

Do you need to go to the Dr. to get fitted for a nasal pillow set up or can you just get one on your own? I want to switch from FFM, but I hate the hassle of going to the Dr.

scarlet812 wrote:Do you need to go to the Dr. to get fitted for a nasal pillow set up or can you just get one on your own? I want to switch from FFM, but I hate the hassle of going to the Dr.

Not usually.
Call up whomever you got your machine from and tell them you want to try a different mask and see what they say.
You will need to get it from them if you want insurance to pay.
Usually choice of mask is left up to the patient and the doctor isn't involved in that part at all.

Or you can just buy it online somewhere if you want to pay out of pocket for it and forgo insurance being involved.

Jimmy D wrote:DON'T FIT YOUR FACE TO THE WRONG MASK
One thing I learned the hard way was to find a mask that fit my face - and not try to make my face fit the wrong mask. Let's face it - the majority of CPAP mask designers never tried to sleep with a CPAP mask. If they did we would already have comfortable and efficient masks that really worked.
It is definitely a chore finding a mask that actually fits your unique face and also doesn't leak air. When I started CPAP six years ago I tried five different masks over a two month period to find a mask that fit my face. A CPAP store employee actually blamed me for not using the masks correctly. It was a nasal pillow mask that finally worked.

START WITH A NASAL MASK FIRST
My recommendation is start with a nasal pillow mask first. I don't care if you think you are a mouth breather, a slow breather, a fast breather, ear breather, or a combination of all of these. Your breathing will naturally adjust to breathing only through your nose with a nasal mask. Good news - It doesn't take long to adjust to nose breathing while you sleep. How do you do it? You will naturally block off the air entering your mouth with the back of your tongue.

BREATHING ONLY THROUGH YOUR NOSE
Say "gaa, gaa ...". Notice that you naturally block off the sound with the back of your tongue when repeating the "gaa" sound. It's just plain old enunciation! This is how harmonica players - with practice - play those rapid fire repetitive notes: ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-ga-gah. They stop the sound with the back of their tongue before making another "gaa" sound. Give it a try: while saying "gah" raise the back of your tongue and block off the air entering your throat. Open you mouth and look in mirror while doing it - you can see the back of your tongue moving up and blocking your throat. Don't worry, you can still breath through your nose! Give it a try and do it right now. Try this exercise off and on during the day. You will soon become accustomed to the feeling in your throat. Just relax and breath through you nose while blocking your mouth breathing with the back of your tongue.
NOTE: You don't have hold your mouth closed or clench your teeth to stop mouth breathing. You don't need a chin strap. Your tongue is blocking air from entering your windpipe - not your mouth. So if your mouth is open a little bit it doesn't make any difference. Relax your face completely. Also, it doesn't take much effort for the back of your tongue to block your airway. Your tongue is an amazing muscle - let it do it's thing. When I play a note on my harmonica I can get a vibrato effect (instead of staccato) by barely closing and opening my airway with the back of my tongue. The tongue is an amazing muscle. Blocking your airway is a piece-of-cake.

SLEEPING WITH A NASAL MASK
You will automatically breath through your nose while sleeping with a nasal pillow mask. If you are asleep and start breathing through your mouth - you will get a BIG blast of incoming air into your mouth. Don't worry - it doesn't hurt - but you will wake up. Just relax - block off your mouth breathing with the back of your tongue again - and go back to sleep. This may happen off and on throughout the night while you are adjusting to the nasal pillow mask. But believe me - it's worth giving it a try. It really is easy to do. It may take a few nights before you are a veteran nose breather. And it sure beats trying to get a good night's sleep wearing a modified jet pilot's oxygen face mask.

ONE MORE THING
Good luck in finding the correct mask for your unique face. Also the technique for blocking your airway with the back of your tongue also works for full mask users. Breathing through your mouth - even with a full mask on really dries out your mouth and sinuses fast. Block that airway and get some sleep.

I definitely agree with the goal of being a nasal breather.
My tongue is not as amazing as your as after 7 years I still need to use the Ultimate Chip strap to control mouth leaking.
I am curious as to what pressure you are using.

Hello Ted. Regarding your question about my pressure setting: I have an Auto CPAP machine (Christmas present to myself). It automatically adjusts pressure during use. My original Rx setting was 10 - and my current daily 90% average pressure reading with my auto CPAP machine is 9.5. Amazing machine.

I have been a CPAP user for 9 years. I am a nose breather...I hate nasal pillows. It bothers me to have the air pumped directly into my nose. With the FF mask, the air is diffused in the mask and I can breath (through my nose) more naturally. I have the right mask....Quattro FF mask.

Jimmy D wrote:Hello Ted. Regarding your question about my pressure setting: I have an Auto CPAP machine (Christmas present to myself). It automatically adjusts pressure during use. My original Rx setting was 10 - and my current daily 90% average pressure reading with my auto CPAP machine is 9.5. Amazing machine.

You didn't answer the question...Your auto automatically adjust pressure between the min and max pressure settings...what are your pressure settings . The 90% figure means that you were at OR BELOW that figure 90% of the time.

Jimmy D wrote:Hello Ted. Regarding your question about my pressure setting: I have an Auto CPAP machine (Christmas present to myself). It automatically adjusts pressure during use. My original Rx setting was 10 - and my current daily 90% average pressure reading with my auto CPAP machine is 9.5. Amazing machine.

I also like using APAP (16-20). Much better than the biPAP (15/19) I used for 7 years.
At high pressures it is not mouth breathing, but mouth leaking that had bothered me.
As LSAT states comfort is a reason to prefer a FFM.

Jimmy D wrote:How to Find the Right Mask & Breathe Through Your Nose

I love my FFM - leak level zero most nights; on infrequent nights, a bit above zero but not a problem.

I breathe through my nose about 95% of the night. But, even if my mouth opens only once per night, I don't want that awakening.

LSAT wrote:

Jimmy D wrote:Hello Ted. Regarding your question about my pressure setting: I have an Auto CPAP machine (Christmas present to myself). It automatically adjusts pressure during use. My original Rx setting was 10 - and my current daily 90% average pressure reading with my auto CPAP machine is 9.5. Amazing machine.

You didn't answer the question...Your auto automatically adjust pressure between the min and max pressure settings...what are your pressure settings . The 90% figure means that you were at OR BELOW that figure 90% of the time.

I have a feeling he has a low pressure requirement. It's been said that 10 is an average pressure among CPAP users. So, it he is at 9.5 or lower 90% of the night, he might be at 6 or 7 most of the night - a very low pressure.

Let him sleep with my BiPAP at 24/20, and we will see how proudly he promotes nasal pillows for all.

Full face mask user for nearly 13 years. I would NEVER consider using or even trying a nasal mask. No way, no how!
I knew I was a mouth-breather before I started......and approached my therapy from that perspective.
With all that said, I quickly became a nasal breather.......using cool, "passover" humidification and doing nasal cleansing before bedtime.


Den

.

HAPPY NEW YEARS
Commenting on this forum has been very interesting to say the least. Well, I gave my itty-bitty piece of advice, and now - with a heavy heart - go wandering off into CPAP land: that special place for sleep apnea sufferers looking for a good nights sleep.

FINAL COMMENTS REGARDING THIS SUBJECT
You may luck out and find the perfect mask right away - or you may spend months looking for the right mask. Well good luck to all of you still searching for the perfect mask. And congratulations if you found it on your first try. Believe it or not - it can happen. A good friend and co-worker of mine hit a home run with his first mask - truly a "Christmas Miracle" as far as I'm concerned. Well, what can you do eh? I guess for the rest of us -just hang in there - and with a bit of luck will - sooner or later- find that perfect mask and finally get a good nights sleep.
"The exact contrary to what is most often believed is most often the truth." [Some old German philosopher said this long, long, ago. Bless his heart. Must have been a Democrat eh?]

Jimmy D wrote:HAPPY NEW YEARS
Commenting on this forum has been very interesting to say the least. Well, I gave my itty-bitty piece of advice, and now - with a heavy heart - go wandering off into CPAP land: that special place for sleep apnea sufferers looking for a good nights sleep.

FINAL COMMENTS REGARDING THIS SUBJECT
You may luck out and find the perfect mask right away - or you may spend months looking for the right mask. Well good luck to all of you still searching for the perfect mask. And congratulations if you found it on your first try. Believe it or not - it can happen. A good friend and co-worker of mine hit a home run with his first mask - truly a "Christmas Miracle" as far as I'm concerned. Well, what can you do eh? I guess for the rest of us -just hang in there - and with a bit of luck will - sooner or later- find that perfect mask and finally get a good nights sleep.
"The exact contrary to what is most often believed is most often the truth." [Some old German philosopher said this long, long, ago. Bless his heart. Must have been a Democrat eh?]

Nope! He was French.

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/jean ... ere_383764


Den

.

I have tried several nasal pillow masks, and been unable to make any of them work for me. I had UPPP surgery several years ago and cannot keep a good seal with the nasal pillows. I have decided I will always use a full face mask from now on. If a new mask comes out that looks interesting, I will probably try it out of curiosity.