Chin Tucking as cause of apnea

[ejbpesca]

A recent ad for a cervical collar has me wondering if my apnea troubles all these years have been due to chin tucking which CPAP machines cannot remedy.  My OSCAR reports show clusters of apneas that are suspected of being caused by chin tucking, otherwise very few apneas show on my reports. 

My four in-hospital sleep studies never mentioned tucking.  What if the technicians were reading apnea after apnea due to chin tucking during the study that resulted in a diagnosis of severe apnea?  

Is it possible that sleep study results can be skewed by chin tucking? I wonder how my studies would have gone had I been wearing a cervical collar.  Could a cervical collar be better for some to use for apnea therapy than a CPAP machine?

I am trying to find a cervical collar to wear during sleep.  If I wear it and I read extremely low AHI scores, I think I may have been using a CPAP machine for nill for 15 years.  So far the collars I have bought cause neck pain so I have not made it through one night with one on yet.

Does anyone here have an opinion on chin tucking and it being the cause of apnea, maybe the major cause as opposed to other causes of airway collapse?

Thank you.

[daves677]

I also use a FFM and ResMed Airsense 10 and notice that I will mouth breath if I don't use a collar. I used the 
Dr. Dakota one and now use the smaller one, The Eliminator Sleep cushion. If I forget to put it on, I will have periods of mouth breathing and higher AHIs

[Jay51]

Thank you for the post.  A soft cervical collar definitely helped me (both confirmed by OSCAR and oximetry).  Try the collar and post a few OSCAR's to see if you get an improvement.  When an airway is permanently "kinked" by chin tucking, etc. no amount of pressure can open it up.  It takes a bodily change in position usually to clear the obstruction.

[PeaceLoveAndPizza]

I reckon that chin tucking does not directly cause apnoeic events, but it does cause flow limitation which drives pressure up.

I’ve have experimented with SCC only and used my Apple Watch to collect what data it can. I am 2-3 percent higher in SpO2 with the CPAP machine (avg 95% during sleep with SCC and CPAP, 93% with only SCC). Other than that things look pretty much the same, though I do get more deep sleep with CPAP and SCC. I would not however sleep only with the SCC unless that was my only choice as I do feel more rested with CPAP.

I have used the Caldera Releaf for years. Very comfortable and for me effective.

[Gideon]

It's possible.

Find a collar that works with your CPAP. Tis ONLY proves that you are well treated.

then work with your doctor and get an inlab diagnostic sleep test split study, half with the collar, half without, this is without CPAP.

The inlab test is the most definitive of all the tests. At home tests tend to be less reliable at lower values of AHI.

[ejbpesca]

I also use a FFM and ResMed Airsense 10 and notice that I will mouth breath if I don't use a collar. I used the 
Dr. Dakota one and now use the smaller one, The Eliminator Sleep cushion. If I forget to put it on, I will have periods of mouth breathing and higher AHIs

I cannot find Dr. Dakota or The Eliminator Sleep Cushion.  Do you have a source for these?  (I think I've been down the search road for them before.)

[Jay51]

You might find a Dr. Dakota or Eliminator by checking ebay a few times a month.

[Sleeprider]

ejbpesca, one of the most common conditions we find on Apnea Board is "positional apnea" from chin-tucking. long ago we wrote the positional apnea article in Optimizing Therapy, and the Soft Cervical Collar wiki. I'd be interested to see what company finally figured it out. Probably one-third of the members of this forum end up using soft cervical collars to cancel out positional apnea to let CPAP do its job.

Positional apnea: https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...onal_Apnea
Soft Cervical Collar: https://www.apneaboard.com/wiki/index.ph...cal_Collar

[ejbpesca]

I am trying the Corflex collar.  The first night was okay, but woke up today with serious neck pain.  I have a metal plate screwed to cervical vertebra C 2-3-4 that maybe makes a collar not an option for me.

First night produced a very nice OSCAR report but last night I got one that to me is very poor on several levels.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.

Recent actions for better sleep:

1. Thin pillow
2. EPR set to full time 2
3. Mouth tape
4. Collar
5. Tonight Max. pressure will be 20 since it pegs out at 18.6 often 

   

[ejbpesca]

Perhaps I should start a new thread for help with the latest OSCAR report and how I may improve?