Why doesn't everyone use a cervical collar?

Not sure what pressure I need since I never stay asleep very long when I get back to sleep even with ambien. Usually I try 12 but AHI is always above 5. If I start out that way, I only last about an hour on the machine.

Mask I have tried that caused excessive leaks (farts( at 13 - Quattro FX, Quattro, Hans Rudolph, FitLife, and Mirage Liberty. Also previously tried FP 431 which caused leaks. Didn't matter how I adjusted straps and using liner did not work for quattro fx or quattro.

Because my teeth may have moved due to cpap usage, I might need a mouthguard. So perhaps that might stop some of the leaks. And I need to try that cheap one that tiger Lilly recommended.

That is why I am looking at the ultra mirage as I am hoping with the options for sizes that I might get a better fit. But it would be nice if the Quattro Air worked due to it being so light since I am so hypersensitive to stimili and have been for as long as I can remember.

49er

zoocrewphoto wrote:

49er wrote:I am in a similar situation to Sheffey. If I wear one, I can run a pressure at around 8 with a great AHI. Unfortunately, I never can stay asleep on the machine for more than 2-3 hours and when I wake up, I can't get it off fast enough. And my body rebels big time when I try to put it back on.

I am looking to find a comfortable full face mask I can wear at higher pressures that doesn't leak to see if I can shed it. The ones I currently have all leak at high pressures. Asked Resmed to send me the fitting template that isn't available online for the ultra mirage.

49er

What pressure do you need without the collar? Which masks have you tried so far?

I use the Quauttro FX with 11-17. I do tend to wake up when I get into the 15-17 range which isn't very often. But I think it is more because I am on my back, and my jaw opens wider. Since I am on my back, my pressure needs go up, and with the mouth open wider, my cheeks flap. I wake up, restart the machine, and roll over. Back to sleep. Now, most of the time, I just don't roll onto my back. Or if the pressure starts creeping up, I tend to roll back over before it gets bad. I only remember it happening once or twice a week now.

I do get the occasional leak, but it is usually associated with drooling, excessive sweating (temp is up, and I didn't adjust the remp/humidity). Or I rolled onto my left side, and for some odd reason, my mask doesn't do well on my left side. I think I must smoosh my head into the pillow differently on that side.

But most nights, I don't have any leak problems. My leak line is pretty much zero. My pressure is usually in the 11-14 range. I believe my 95% number is 13 something.

So, I am not sure how it would do at consistently higher pressures.

zoocrewphoto wrote:
Everybody has different things that bother them. My nephew is scared of spiders. Even as an adult, if he sees a spider, he has to get somebody else to get rid of it. As long as the spider isn't on me, no problem. My nephew drives a semi truck.

Tell him about the collars. You do know they repel spiders?

Why don't you come up some time and see me?

I'll make sure to wear my collar.

Sheffey wrote:
Why don't you come up some time and see me?

I'll make sure to wear my collar.

Have you tried the brass version?



I am beginning to sense a trend to your posts.

You couldn't pay me enough to wear a cervical collar because it's just too d@mned HOT. Winter or summer, I'd sweat so much I'd be drowning.

Which is why I made my "brandy keg."

It's a 4" hard foam cylinder that I bored a hole in, put a narrow strap through, and covered in fleece. It does the same thing -- keeps my chin up -- and leaves the sides and back of my neck free.

Hmmmm I would say probably because of the smell.

[quote="Kiralynx"]You couldn't pay me enough to wear a cervical collar because it's just too d@mned HOT. Winter or summer, I'd sweat so much I'd be drowning.

Which is why I made my "brandy keg."

It's a 4" hard foam cylinder that I bored a hole in, put a narrow strap through, and covered in fleece. It does the same thing -- keeps my chin up -- and leaves the sides and back of my neck free.[/quote

Your collar does sound cooler. Maybe Karen from Pad-a-Check would consider making this for those that are not as handy. Still so far, my 2 1/2 collar seems comfortable enough. My short-necked hubby, a more typical OSA person, would need a one inch collar. So many of the collars have too much height.

I am a back sleeper - always. I use a contour pillow and, since I never move while sleeping, I set my head in the groove and the lower contoured part supports my neck. It is like being a position to have CPR done on me. It keeps the airway very open. I have severe sleep apnea (63 at sleep test) but my pressure stays at 11 cm (I have an auto set at 11 cm to 13 cm) and my AHI is almost always below one.

I doubt this would be much help for side sleepers. I don't know.

Kiralynx wrote:You couldn't pay me enough to wear a cervical collar because it's just too d@mned HOT. Winter or summer, I'd sweat so much I'd be drowning.

Which is why I made my "brandy keg."

It's a 4" hard foam cylinder that I bored a hole in, put a narrow strap through, and covered in fleece. It does the same thing -- keeps my chin up -- and leaves the sides and back of my neck free.

Hi Kirlynx,

Could you post a picture of your "brandy keg" and the straps? Sounds interesting, may work for me though I do spend some of the night on my side but mostly on my back. Thanks!

Kiralynx wrote:Which is why I made my "brandy keg."

It's a 4" hard foam cylinder that I bored a hole in, put a narrow strap through, and covered in fleece. It does the same thing -- keeps my chin up -- and leaves the sides and back of my neck free.

I, for one, would love to see a picture of that.

I have used a 4" Cervical Collar, but with mixed results.
Maybe, a "brandy keg" would work better for me.

Sheffey wrote:

Kitatonic wrote:
It seems to me it works by keeping your head in an upright position and not allowing your head to bend so that the chin moves closer to the chest. This puts the soft palate in a position where the CPAP pressure can more easily create an air splint between the soft palate and tongue. I believe when your chin drops toward your chest the tissues of the soft palate and tongue are more "bunched up" and thus require more air pressure to splint open. (All speculation on my part.)

Whatever the case, I think it would take 20 cm or more to control my condition without the collar.
.

Thanks so much for this information. I'm going to give it a go.

I'm a newbie, only been using the CPAP a couple of weeks. My AHI has been good some nights, but on other nights it's been just about the same as it was on my first sleep study. I have a problem with my head bending toward my chest or sort of sideways toward my shoulder when I'm asleep. I have MS and have a lot of lower cranial nerve involvement due to a lesion in the right (or wrong depending how you look at it) place thus weakness in the muscles those affect. I often wake up with my head on my chest or resting on the front of one shoulder. A cervical collar would prevent that, and since I already have a problem with my tongue blocking my airway if I turn my head in one direction, the cervical collar should help a lot. When I'm awake, I keep check on my posture, and try to keep my head in the right position, but when sleeping I have no control, so I'm going to go order a collar now on Amazon. You theory makes perfect sense to me.

StuUnderPressure wrote:

Kiralynx wrote:Which is why I made my "brandy keg."

It's a 4" hard foam cylinder that I bored a hole in, put a narrow strap through, and covered in fleece. It does the same thing -- keeps my chin up -- and leaves the sides and back of my neck free.

I, for one, would love to see a picture of that.

I have used a 4" Cervical Collar, but with mixed results.
Maybe, a "brandy keg" would work better for me.

Me three in wanting to see a picture

49er

keepsmyelin wrote: I have a problem with my head bending toward my chest or sort of sideways toward my shoulder when I'm asleep. I often wake up with my head on my chest or resting on the front of one shoulder. A cervical collar would prevent that, and since I already have a problem with my tongue blocking my airway if I turn my head in one direction, the cervical collar should help a lot. When I'm awake, I keep check on my posture, and try to keep my head in the right position, but when sleeping I have no control, so I'm going to go order a collar now on Amazon. You theory makes perfect sense to me.

You gave a good description of what the collar is doing.

I hope the collar you ordered gives you great relief. Maybe you can post about your forthcoming experience in this thread.

Best of luck!

(I like your user id and pray for a cure for all my friends with MS.)

Sheffey wrote:

keepsmyelin wrote: I have a problem with my head bending toward my chest or sort of sideways toward my shoulder when I'm asleep. I often wake up with my head on my chest or resting on the front of one shoulder. A cervical collar would prevent that, and since I already have a problem with my tongue blocking my airway if I turn my head in one direction, the cervical collar should help a lot. When I'm awake, I keep check on my posture, and try to keep my head in the right position, but when sleeping I have no control, so I'm going to go order a collar now on Amazon. You theory makes perfect sense to me.

You gave a good description of what the collar is doing.

I hope the collar you ordered gives you great relief. Maybe you can post about your forthcoming experience in this thread.

Best of luck!

(I like your user id and pray for a cure for all my friends with MS.)

Have your tried using bolts ... they should help keep your head on straight.

Sheffey wrote:

keepsmyelin wrote: I have a problem with my head bending toward my chest or sort of sideways toward my shoulder when I'm asleep. I often wake up with my head on my chest or resting on the front of one shoulder. A cervical collar would prevent that, and since I already have a problem with my tongue blocking my airway if I turn my head in one direction, the cervical collar should help a lot. When I'm awake, I keep check on my posture, and try to keep my head in the right position, but when sleeping I have no control, so I'm going to go order a collar now on Amazon. You theory makes perfect sense to me.

You gave a good description of what the collar is doing.

I hope the collar you ordered gives you great relief. Maybe you can post about your forthcoming experience in this thread.

Best of luck!

(I like your user id and pray for a cure for all my friends with MS.)

Thanks for your well wishes. Yes, we'd all like a cure, but since they're still not sure of the cause, I don't think a cure is in the near future. Instead we're offered expensive meds to try to slow it down, the latest and greatest costs close to $6K per month. I'm beyond the recommended use of the MS disease modifying drugs, so that's good news (since I don't have to give myself interferon shots) and bad news because there's no reason to think things will get better. But thanks to symptomatic meds and technology (I have an implanted pump for my spasticity,) I'm still on my feet, which is better than a lot of MS patients.

So here's my report. I ordered the collar, it took 2 days to arrive (thank you Amazon Prime.) My AHI had been between 11 and 16 since I started using the CPAP, about 2 weeks ago now.

First night with the collar, my AHI was 3.3. Last night with the collar my AHI was 2.6. I made no changes except for using the certival collar...I bought a 2 inch one, which seems to be small enough to not be too bothersome and seems not only to keep my head/neck from bending, but also to support my chin.

Also, last night was the longest I've slept, over 8 hours. Before, it was around 6 hours a night. After the sleep study which showed no REM and 82% in Stage II, I figured anything would be better than what I had been getting, but with the addition of the collar, I'm very pleased with the results.

Thanks for the advice.