Chin straps - how tight?

[Davidacarrick]

Ok so my sleep doc has provided me a Resmed chin restraint but the instructions aren’t exactly the best! How tight are these meant to be?

[MitchS]

It’s subjective. It needs to be tight enough to help keep you mouth closed, but not so tight it’s uncomfortable. It will take a little experimentation to get it right. I tend to wear one as tight as possible. 

A loosely worn soft cervicle collar can be more comfortable than a chin strap and as effective.

[Sleeprider]

I think the Resmed chin restraint is one of the worst designs on the market. It is a stretch material with a single strap that will pull the chin up and back which will make airway restriction worse. Controlling leaks and keeping the chin withing a face mask is a fine objective, but a device needs to be designed to pull upward without pulling back. I was impressed with the Knightsbridge Dual Band Chin Strap due to its use of non-stretch materials and ability to pull upward rather than back. We have had members that also used a PAP Cap or soft cervical collar to keep the jaw from moving.

[SarcasticDave94]

I think the question "How tight?" should team with "Is it designed right?" and "Is this going to help?".

If it's not designed right, and will possibly add to the problem by poor design and moving the jaw back, tightness won't overcome that. Too tight is definitely wrong.

For myself, I'm not interested in getting a wrongly designed strap like that ResMed. However, I will look into getting the Knightsbridge and PAP Cap for myself. To me, it's not OK to pull the jaw back further and increasing the possibility of events and/or pain, injury by doing so.

Just my 2 cents

[Davidacarrick]

I totally agree, I’ve emailed Knightsbridge to see if they have an XL as looks like their website is out of stock. I like the look of theirs over the pap-cap. Well I don’t like the look of it it’s bloody ugly but you know what I mean, support wise looks good.

[SarcasticDave94]

Keep us updated if you get either; which you choose, how it helps or not, etc. maybe even product review of it if you're up to doing so.

Like I said, I've got both on wish list, just not sure which is first.

[JoeyWallaby]

PAP Cap looks good but the fabric will be less breathable than the Knights Bridge.