Mask for a Stomach Sleeper?

Q: My son needs a new mask. Must be a full face mask, as he sleeps with his mouth open. He also sleeps on his stomach. In your opinion, what would be a good mask for him?

A:

1. Mirage Quattro Full Face Mask

Spirit says - For best fit/quality, he will have to experiment with different masks, till he is happy with one.

I am a stomach sleeper, I use the Quattro. It was very difficult to sleep on my stomach in the beginning, but as time passed, I began to learn to stomach sleep with the mask, making nightly adjustments till mask felt good, and no longer leaked, took a few nights.

I first began sleeping on my side, with no leak issues, then worked my way to stomach, the more I moved towards stomach sleeping, my mask would begin leaking, as my head rotated, then around another 30 day's later, I was able to sleep, on my stomach comfortably, after nightly adjustments. It took a little while, but can be done.

2. UltraMirage Full Face Mask

Julie says - I use the Ultra Mirage FF because it vents not from the elbow angle (above where the hose connects) but higher up on the mask, which means the vent holes are not blocked by bedding, which is a rather dangerous occurrence as the CO2 must be allowed to leave once we breathe air in through the machine. I also got a very good quality 4-5 inch high slab of foam to cover my mattress, then cut out a 10 inch long by 3 inch trench in the centre, from the top downward, allowing somewhere for the mask to dip into while sleeping - I was getting a very sore neck before that, and the mask was getting knocked around too much. I ordered the foam (cut to any size) from a foam rubber store/dealer, who sell nothing else. I tried various grades and weights and densities in the store. Weight seems to be the measurement that counts rather than density, but there's a bit more to it all, which experts can tell you about. Also important is to ask about the type of foam in terms of sleeping, whether it needs off gassing for weeks first, or whether you can use it more or less right away (with a sheet, of course). The good stuff will be the usual cream color, not a grayish blue, as far as that goes. And the best thing to cut it with is a turkey carving knife. In general, the more the foam weighs, the better the quality.

3. Softgel Nasal Mask

I am also a stomach sleeper w/open mouth. So far the new Resmed Mirage Softgel Nasal Mask is working very well but I also need a chinstrap to keep my mouth closed. My Rescan number look very good with this setup.

4. Sleeping Position

Try the Falcon Position of Tummy Sleeping. This position avoids airway narrowing of sleeping on your back. "By sleeping on your side, or on your stomach with your head turned off to the side, this elicits the pull of gravity to cause the soft tissues of the palate and the tongue to fall somewhat forward and away from the back of the throat, preventing them from narrowing or obstructing the airway."