Has anyone had success with ONLY a soft cervical collar?

[HapaDude]

Wow, thank you for the fantastic, detailed report. I did order a Blabok collar from Amazon - very similar to the Velpeau you use - and tried it for a night or two. Didn't really work on it seriously, but your report is encouraging. I may try experimenting with it more. Yes, the Wellue O2 Ring is as good as a gold standard for me - I test everything with it. Thanks again!

[ranvanman]

Suggestion....try a couple of different ones from Amazon. Someone else on here or a different board wrote about using a dozen different types before finding one that worked for him.  I tried six different ones before settling with the Velpeau collar. Most didn't keep my chin supported so my chin tucked down. I also tried a couple of different sizes. This one was the best, but I still need the towel tucked inside for higher support.

Good luck!

[Deborah K.]

So you are using the neck collar instead of a pap machine, right?  There's no way to know if you need one unless you either have a sleep study done or maybe you can borrow or rent a pap machine and try it, then post Oscar charts and we can probably tell you whether you need it.  Those are the only ways to find out that I can think of.

[Dodies]

going by the info in your avatar, it appears (to me) you haven't been diagnosed with OSA. You just think you may have "mild" SA.

if that's the case, then there isn't a baseline to check against, especially since most folks in here get their data from oscar.

if you are predominantly a back sleeper, then chin tucking could be causing your snoring. in that case, a cervical collar could certainly help.

would it completely eliminate it??? that would be for you to see. if you have been diagnosed with OSA, then trying something without a machine is a crap shoot, imho.

anecdotally, the cervical collar helps me. i start to sleep on my side, but inevitably end up on my back. it's just way more comfortable for me that way.

since adding the collar, my positional apneas have been diminished. some nights i don't even record any events at all. but i still use the machine. i was debating trying a night without the machine, but i'm sure my results wouldn't be nearly as good...or measurable at all.

the collar i use is the caldera releaf, btw.

This is the same for me, use a different collar but the collar itself has made a very measurable difference to my OSCAR results. I now also sleep on my back, having for years taught myself to side sleep in the hope it would reduce snoring (not realising in has SA) and TBH I really like back sleeping with CPAP, reults below AHI 1 most nights now.

Im also curious if collar alone would help me, I think I would also pair it with some form of nasal dilator or nose bands to open my nostrils, as during my sleep study my Apneas were same on back or side, the nostril things would at least let me know if collapsing nostrils are also the problem.

Maybe hiring sleep study equipment for a couple of weeks would give the needed info?

[Dodies]

I use a travel pillow, but rather than as a U shape, I turn it 90 degrees to a C shape, so my chin is supported.

I find it a lot cooler and comfier than a collar that goes all the way around and material is lovely an smooth.

Such as this

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/6744865