How to Prevent CPAP Mask Leaks | LOFTA LESSONS

Do you feel like you're eating your mask at night? or that you're a fire-breathing dragon? or maybe your CPAP mask ends up on the floor?
We'll tackle each of these and more with Narina, our in-house respiratory therapist. She'll walk through the symptoms and signs of mask leakage and how to fix it for each style of CPAP mask.
LINKS:
CPAP Pillow: lofta.com/products/memory-foa...
CPAP Pillow with Cooling Gel: lofta.com/products/memory-foa...
CPAP Masks: lofta.com/collections/cpap-masks

[@spydude38]

I purchased a foam cervical neck collar for 9 bucks on Amazon and that solved my mouth breathing problem which was causing leakage. It wasn't the large solid type that you would see when someone has whiplash. It is smaller than most airline neck pillows, so it is minimal. The important thing is that it supports the chin and prevents your jaw from dropping.

[@jwaldhelm]

Thank you, very informative. 👍

[@loftasleep]

of course! let us know if there are other topics you'd like us to go over

[@lesschoenberger3070]

I read comments on another video that said memory foam gives off toxic VOC chemicals, what are your thoughts about that?

[@lynnemcnab76]

The head strap on my new mask won’t stay put on my head and slides down as I move about this is causing the mask to leak and I wake with sore mouth and throat, I bought the. Resmed mini to take away the first week or two has been great and I’ve felt much better, now the strap seems a bit fragile and won’t stay put. Do I need to try some other mask at all.

[@ranatlas]

Thank you for this. I use the ResMed P10 nasal pillows. Also am using SomniFix mouth strips. Full face and hybrid masks were either hurting my nose or leaking a lot. I like the nasal pillows but am receiving mouth leaks much of the time. Is there anything I can do to help this from happening? My sleep doctor doesn't want to lower the air pressure. My AHI numbers usually are below 5. Do the mouth leaks increase the AHI number? I tried a chin strap but found it to be uncomfortable (hurt me and I dislike the extra strap). I do better with the mouth strips. Sorry to go on so much. The main thing is, I would like to reduce the number of mouth leaks. And what should I do when I get them while I'm awake?Try to exhale them out of my mouth? 🤔 Thanks again!

[@loftasleep]

Thank YOU for the feedback! I am sorry to hear the doctor will not adjust your pressures although your events are within the normal limits. Because this may be related to other aspects of your health or sleep, I would recommend asking the doctor if they can adjust a comfort feature called EPR (Exhale Pressure Relief) on the device. This will allow the pressure to drop by 1, 2 or 3 levels at maximum on exhale, which may help with your mouth blowing open when trying to breathe out. You have done a great job in trying out both the chin strap and mouth tape, but if the comfort feature request is denied for any reason, it may benefit you to try to go back onto a full or full hybrid mask. There are ultra-soft Hybrid masks like the ResMed F30i or the Philips DreamWear mask that will rest under your nose. They are made completely out of silicon and should not rub aggressively against your face. If they do, you can try mask liners! To help with mask leaks while you are awake, it may be best to go with it and exhale from your mouth if you cannot tolerate breathing out through your nose only. In turn, having an excess of air leaks can compromise how effective therapy is (the air escaping from your mouth is not reaching the airway to stent it open). Your doctor should be able to look further at your device data to see if your leakage is directly correlated to any events you are having. Sorry to go on so long as well, but I hope this helps!

[@sheilabowman5556]

I have had a full face mask for about 4 years but have quit using it. My mouth tends to drop open during sleep so this is the mask they recommended. I am still waiting for that “A-Ha moment where I wake up rested. The problem I have and have tried a new face mask for, is that my cheeks lose contact with the mask and creates this fluttering! Most times I sleep and my jaw relaxes but my mouth doesn’t open and I’m still getting the fluttering/flapping. I’ve tried creams on my very dry face to hopefully create a better seal with no luck. I don’t know if there’s a cream out there to help with this seal. Any advice? I have played with adjusting the straps to the point that I have marks on my face past two in the afternoon!