Breathing through mouth with nasal mask.

[AuntClaire]

If I breathe through my mouth with the nasal mask, does it still work? Do I have to breathe through my nose?

[LSAT]

If I breathe through my mouth with the nasal mask, does it still work? Do I have to breathe through my nose?

NO, NO (If you use a FF mask), YES (If you don't).

[ChicagoGranny]

If I breathe through my mouth with the nasal mask, does it still work? Do I have to breathe through my nose?

The pressure is lost when you breathe through your mouth using a nasal mask. The treatment is ineffective. You could still be having many apneas.

If you can't avoid breathing through your mouth, a full face mask is needed. It will maintain the pressure when your mouth is open.

[AZBoiler]

This is exactly why I switched from a nasal to FF mask. I had to use a chinstrap with my nasal pillows to keep from breathing through my mouth and defeating my machine's sole reason for being worn. After a year and a half, I switched to a FF mask to keep from having to wear the chinstrap. Although it's a little more cumbersome to wear, I got used to it pretty quickly.

[Nechaken]

How do you know if you start breathing through your mouth while wearing nasal mask?

Would the flow rate would just look flat instead of the periodic up / down of inhalation / exhalation ?

[ChicagoGranny]

How do you know if you start breathing through your mouth while wearing nasal mask?

Your mouth will get very dry within five minutes of mouthbreathing. You will probably wake up when you are mouthbreathing.

[dreamingofdreaming]

How do you know if you start breathing through your mouth while wearing nasal mask?

Would the flow rate would just look flat instead of the periodic up / down of inhalation / exhalation ?

When my mouth opens, I hear a hiss that wakes me up. I have to wear a chin strap to stop this from happening. I was hoping that I would "train" myself to not let my mouth fall open with out a chinstrap, but no such luck so far.

[igotsuckeredtoo]

How do you know if you start breathing through your mouth while wearing nasal mask?

Would the flow rate would just look flat instead of the periodic up / down of inhalation / exhalation ?

When my mouth opens, I hear a hiss that wakes me up. I have to wear a chin strap to stop this from happening. I was hoping that I would "train" myself to not let my mouth fall open with out a chinstrap, but no such luck so far.

I went to FFM because of this. Then still had to wear the chin strap due to my mouth opening anyway. The Chinstrap has to be tight so the neoprene stuff they are made with wears out quick and starts digging into my skin as its stretched into a narrow band I have to have it so tight. Recently I had been trying to sleep w/o it and it has been ok. Last night the best night in a while I did not wear it. But some nights my mouth still opens and gets dry.

[Weagle]

Same as others have posted. I too breathe through my mouth and have switched to a full face mask. Unfortunately even with a full face my jaw drops lower than the seal so I, too, need to keep a chin strap on for now. I ordered the PAP-CAP from CPAP.com and hope that is more comfortable than the neoprene straps.

[ChicagoGranny]

But some nights my mouth still opens and gets dry.

Just before you put your mask on, use a dry mouth gel or Xylimelts.

[SnoringInOregon]

I do quite a bit of mouth breathing when I sleep on my side. But I'm OK sleeping on my back.

Many people don't like sleeping on their back, for reasons of comfort or because they may need higher pressure in that position. But it works for me!

[igotsuckeredtoo]

But some nights my mouth still opens and gets dry.

Just before you put your mask on, use a dry mouth gel or Xylimelts.

I'll look into this. Thank You