My Life and Sleep Apnea

From my experience with the CPAP mask it seems that the fit and the comfortability is very important if not the most important thing (although getting used to the air blowing into your face also takes time to get used to).   In my situation I had to have a full face mask because I couldn’t sleep with my mouth closed. I tried just covering my nose but it wasn't long before the air was rushing out my mouth which was a strange sensation.   Of course with the full face mask I had problems also such as the air escaping from the side of the mask, or the mask was so tight that it gave me headaches.   You might want to consider a hybrid CPAP mask . The hybrid mask has a combination of the best features in all the other types of mask.   One of best things about this mask is the adjustability of it which helps stop the air leakage and also makes it more comfortable to wear. Another feature is the addition of nasal air pillows which go into your nostrils. It also has ...

Everyone that has been diagnosed with sleep apnea has probably tried using a cpap mask . While some find it a life saver others view it as a torture device. It definitely isn’t a natural feeling to wear a mask to bed, especially a mask that pushes air into your mouth or nose. If you are thinking about using a cpap mask here are a few things you might want to know about them. The cpap mask can either be full face or just fit over your nose. If you breathe through your mouth then the full mask is for you. One of the reasons I didn’t like the cpap was the noise that it made. Fortunately this issue has been addressed by many of the companies that manufacture cpap machines. One of the fears that I had when I wore a cpap was what if the power went off . Having a beard with a full face mask can be a problem. It is difficult enough to get the mask to fit without any leaks but having beard makes it much worse. Even if you can’t sleep the whole night with the mask on some rest with the ...

When I first read about the use of a chin strap to help with Sleep apnea I was skeptical. I sleep with my mouth open and I can’t believe that just by using a chin strap your sleep apnea would go away. But for some people I guess it does work. The idea is quite simple; the sleep apnea patient has a strap around the top of their head and around the chin. This keeps the mouth closed forcing the patient to breathe through their nose. One of the first sleep studies that I went on I used a chin strap with the cpap mask. The reason why I did that was because the sleep lab didn’t have any full face masks and I am a mouth breather. It didn’t work. The feel of the strap around my head was very uncomfortable and I just couldn’t get used to breathing through my nose. I suppose that I could make the adjustment to breathing through my nose but it would certainly take a long time. But from what I read many people find relief from sleep apnea just using the chin strap without the cpap machine. ...

One of the major problems with early models of cpap machines was the dry air that flowed through the hose to the mask. This would dry up the nasal passage, make you sneeze and was a possible cause of infection. If you had a full face mask like I did then it not only dried out the nose but also made your throat dry and irritated when you woke up. The way that the cpap companies solved this problem was to add a humidifier . The last cpap that I had used what was called a passover humidifier. A container of water was connected to the cpap machine’s hose as the air crossed over the container moisture would be picked up and passed through the main hose. I was instructed to use distilled water in the container because tap water would wear out the machine faster. Since the first cpap that I had used didn’t have the humidifier, I could definitely tell a big difference in the air passing through the hose. There is also something called heated humidity. Heat produces the moisture a...

Nasal pillows are something that I have never tried and really didn’t know much about. From what I have read they work in conjunction with the cpap machines. Instead of a mask covering your nose and mouth, the tubes go directly into the nostrils. Apparently the part that goes into your nose is cushioned so it isn’t as uncomfortable. Somehow this is supposed to be more natural than the regular cpap mask. Well, I had to have a full face mask when I used the cpap machine because my mouth is open when I sleep, so this wouldn’t be much help to me. If you don’t have that problem you might want to look into the nasal pillows. Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed Thanks