Designing a high quality chin strap

Thanks for the comments everyone, I really appreciate it, for me personally, I am a mouth breather and I was sleeping without a chin strap for a couple of months. Besides from the constant dry mouth, I do think my sleep quality had suffered as a result of not using a chin strap to keep my mouth closed, every time my mouth opens it does wake me up. Maybe it is a placebo effect but I notice my sleep quality had become better ever since starting to use the chin straps again, I made sure to push my chin strap right under my lips, providing pressure to keep it closed.

For me, having sleep apnea at a young age frustrates me, everything seems so outdated and we as customers just have to settle with what's out there. I do want to change that starting with the chin strap, yes it doesn't work for everyone but I want to design one with material that is more comfortable for people that find it helpful.

I shall keep everyone posted If this idea ever gains any traction

Hey, Art, good luck with your project.
I mentioned earlier that conventional chin straps tend to pull the chin backwards, possibly exacerbating OSA. This might be prevented by running the strap vertically from under the chin over the top of the head, falling approximately at the temples. To prevent movement, a second strap would be needed running horizontally around the head (think sweat band) and the two straps fastened together where they naturally cross. I've seen a couple commercial straps made similarly, but not many, so the design may be lacking in stability, I don't know. Just a thought.
You might also want to consdider this as an alternative.

Follow-up report on experiment:

I cut off a leg of the leggings at the knee, and used that, based on testing.

I slit at the bottom so I had a bit more room.

I think I used too much at the front of my chin, and had to take it off due to it putting too much pressure pushing back the chin.

However, for the good parts:

• It doesn’t leave deep marks

• As I expected, it does NOT slip: too much surface area for that

• With the right material choice, it’d be the most breathable of options with it being sweat-wicking

• Using the right material, easy to care for

It seems likely the most comfortable shape would be very close to a ski mask, but of this sort of material.

ArthurC wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 31, 2019 7:27 am

...I want to design one with material that is more comfortable for people that find it helpful...

Silk probably should not be the "load-bearing" material, but whatever material you choose to handle the load-bearing, you could certainly use silk lining. Adding a silk lining might be over the limit for labor & materials if you are trying to keep costs down though...

From the chin-straps I've tried, I think to keep it from pulling the jaw back, the strap doing the lifting needs to go over the top of the head as far forward as possible, which means you will need a smaller strap(s) going around the back of the head that prevents the "over the top" strap from slipping forward. Seems more likely than not it will still tend to put rearward pressure to some extent on the chin if it's taught enough to keep your jaw up.

In my experience (and experiences will vary) no matter what I used - even with a headband over my mouth, I still had mouth leaks because even with your jaw clenched shut, you can still exhale through relaxed lips. I ultimately gave up on a chin-strap and now use a full face mask. Mouth leaks are no longer an issue that wakes me during the night, but I still get the morning " CPAP-Dry-Mouth" a couple/few times a week. I think that if you are like me, prone to mouth leaks and can't train yourself to keep the CPAP air from entering the back of your mouth, then the surest solution for the majority of folks is to glue your lips shut somehow or learn to tolerate a FFM.

Good luck with it,
-JD

JayDee's lining idea is good. You can just start with linings for the more popular chin strap models. If silk fabric is too expensive around you, you might be able to find a long silk skirt or dress in a second hand shop that you can use for prototypes.

Good luck!

I just replaced my ruby red chinstrap with this one from CPAP.com. https://www.cpap.com/productpage/deluxe ... -mouthleak
I like this one better. The Ruby Red did pull my jaw back. It was the first one that I tried and it worked for about a year, then started to lose its elasticity. The new one is pretty comfortable. My jaw drops when I sleep and I get mouth leaks. This helps. No more sand paper tongue.