Soft Neck Brace Reduces Flow Limititations

Lately, I've been getting some mask leaks after I fall asleep, I assume due to my jaw dropping as I relax. I decided to try something new, a soft neck brace I made from some 1'' foam I had. I made a piece that was about 3 1/2 inches tall that wrapped a little more than half-way around my neck and held it in place with one of those stick to itself ace bandages wrapped around the outside of the foam.

The surprising result is depicted below. My Flow Limitations, which I most recently became aware of with the purchase of a new S9, have almost disappeared! This has been a consistent result since I using started using the brace, about 6 days ago. I notice my pressure average, in auto, has dropped and all obstructive apneas and hypopneas have virtually disappeared as well.

I think what is happening here is that the brace is not only keeping my jaw from dropping, but it is also helping to keep my airway open by keeping my head from tipping forward.

I'm not sure the long term implications of this, but it seems, at the very least, I will be able to lower my pressure settings. I wish I could say I felt significantly better, I don't, but then I was feeling pretty good already, with a sub 1.0 AHI. Needless to say, I ordered a real soft cervical collar and should get it tomorrow.

I post this in the hopes it may help someone with their therapy.

Congratulations. Reducing jaw drop at night can do wonderful things

JDS74 wrote:Congratulations. Reducing jaw drop at night can do wonderful things

Thanks, JDS. I edited my post above to indicate that I believe the brace is doing more than just keeping my jaw from dropping. I have used chinstraps which will do the same thing, but don't affect Flow Limitations. I think the brace is actually helping to open the airway so less pressure is required from the apap to prevent OSA's and hypopneas.

While I think the brace is probably beneficial to overall therapy and I plan to keep using it, it really didn't do much for the leaks (not severe) which prompted me to try it in the first place.

Jay Aitchsee wrote:I decided to try something new, a soft neck brace I made from some 1'' foam I had. I made a piece that was about 3 1/2 inches tall that wrapped a little more than half-way around my neck and held it in place with one of those stick to itself ace bandages wrapped around the outside of the foam.

Really NOT trying to be an A Hole, but it seems like you would have to be a contortionist to put on your brace.

StuUnderPressure wrote:Really NOT trying to be an A Hole, but it seems like you would have to be a contortionist to put on your brace.

No, I don't get it Stu. The piece of foam I have is about 1 inch thick, 3 1/2 inches tall, and 15 or so inches long. Looks pretty much like a standard soft cervical collar and donned pretty much the same way. I just used an ace bandage wrap to keep it closed since I didn't have any way to do Velcro which would be normally used. No more difficult than wrapping an ace bandage around the neck.

Jay,

A chin strap moves the jaw slightly backwards and contributes to a reduction in airway size.
It also helps keep the jaw closed.
The cervical collar just keeps the jaw supported but doesn't have the other effect.

I like your experiment to see if it would work. My first experiment was to use a medium size bath towel folded up for the same purpose. Now I use a real cervical collar

OK, FWIW, here's two recent nights. The one on top is without a soft cervical collar, the one on the bottom is with one. The one on the bottom looks better, but I can't honestly say it is. Subjectively, I felt about the same both nights and the AHI was about the same both nights The top one without the collar had 4 hypopneas and two OA. The one on the bottom with the collar had 3 CA, 1 hypopnea and 1OA. Obviously, the night without the collar required a higher average pressure.

Jay Aitchsee wrote:
I think what is happening here is that the brace is not only keeping my jaw from dropping, but it is also helping to keep my airway open by keeping my head from tipping forward.

I'm not sure the long term implications of this, but it seems, at the very least, I will be able to lower my pressure settings. I wish I could say I felt significantly better, I don't, but then I was feeling pretty good already, with a sub 1.0 AHI. Needless to say, I ordered a real soft cervical collar and should get it tomorrow.

Jay,

Glad you discovered that. On the recommendation of someone in the forum, I started wearing a soft cervical collar nearly ten years ago. It allowed me to lower my pressure 4 cm and get better AHI. As you might imagine, this made life so much easier.

I think what is happening here is that the brace is not only keeping my jaw from dropping, but it is also helping to keep my airway open by keeping my head from tipping forward.

In my case, it does not seem there is any effect on the jaw dropping because I still mouthbreathe a few times every night just like before. I am assuming the big advantage comes from keeping the airway straight and thereby ameliorating collapse of the airway tissues.

I pay about $8 at a local pharmacy for the collars. I never sleep without my collar for nearly ten years now.

Forum member Kiralynx made a DIY brandy keg chin stabilizer that has a similar effect.

My advice when looking for a collar is "less is more". I found the "one size fits all" to be too big, wrapped too far around the back of my neck and was uncomfortable for back sleeping. Also, look out for those that extend too far up the side of the neck, I presume they might be good for keeping the head stable while awake, standing or sitting, but can be uncomfortable for side sleeping. This commercial collar was the most comfortable I tried, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FZ ... UTF8&psc=1 I thought 2.5 inches tall would be too short, but it wasn't. It still keeps the head erect, but fits under the jaw line at the ear and is comfortable for side sleeping. It is sized for circumference as men's shirt sizes.

chunkyfrog wrote:Forum member Kiralynx made a DIY brandy keg chin stabilizer that has a similar effect.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=77605&p=716460&hili ... dy#p716250

Kind of like Kiralynx, my most comfortable collar yet is one I made myself from a piece of 1 inch foam about 3 inches tall and long enough to wrap around my neck just past my ears. I covered it by wrapping in a bandana and hold it closed by placing two large safety pins, one near each end, and threading a piece of that stick-to-itself ace bandage from one safety pin through the other and back. This leaves no bulk at the back of my neck when sleeping on my back and fills the indentation in my neck from under ear to shoulder. Hopefully, this description makes some sense.