Why is there such resistance to mouth tape?

[Hardhead]

I have used mouth tape a few times as an experiment, but I consider it risky.
What happens if the electricity goes  out?   You are going to have to wake up enough to remove your mask.   Admittedly, it is pretty quick to do with the nasal pillows, but some of the masks I have had in the past would require you to release a catch to get the thing off.

[SeePak]

full mouth taping prevents mouth puffing, getting rid of air pressure that builds up due to expiratory flow limitation, palatal prolapse type thing.

This can/will also cause a decrease in therapy effectiveness depending on severity etc.

That is the BIGGEST reason to NOT fully mouth tape.

I am currently using MYOTAPE that allows mouth to open for pressure relief as required, but otherwise can help keep mouth closed.

Chinstraps can help keep mouth closed, but can also move jaw back causing more obstructive issues with tongue.

neck collars are popular, i use one, to keep from chin tucking, and can also be useful if correctly sized, to help keep mouth closed.

I have also had problems with mouth fully taped when i had to sneeze or cough, which is a very unpleasant feeling, and i am unsure what types of physiological complications this can cause. I know my lungs/throat hurt after this, though it did go away.

Reflux , as mentioned by others is also another concern.

[Schnoozer]

full mouth taping prevents mouth puffing, getting rid of air pressure that builds up due to expiratory flow limitation, palatal prolapse type thing.

This can/will also cause a decrease in therapy effectiveness depending on severity etc.

That is the BIGGEST reason to NOT fully mouth tape.

Can you explain this a bit? I'm not clear on what you mean.

[G. Szabo]

full mouth taping prevents mouth puffing, getting rid of air pressure that builds up due to expiratory flow limitation, palatal prolapse type thing.

This can/will also cause a decrease in therapy effectiveness depending on severity etc.

That is the BIGGEST reason to NOT fully mouth tape.

I agree that taping can be counterproductive in palatal prolapse (PP). But PP is a rare condition, so taping can be beneficial in the overwhelming majority of cases.

[SeePak]

snoozer

When nasal is plugged for whatever reason, air will go out your mouth.

There are a few anatomical reasons for this, Palatal Prolapse is one, probably deviated septum too.
You can find lots of info on this Wiki site....

[Lucid]

I don't sleep with mouth tape, but I had a weird experience a couple of years ago that might be relevant.  I was sleeping and suddenly could not inhale or exhale -- it felt like something was blocked off.  I don't know what caused it -- maybe my tongue fell back or I had this palatal prolapse you're talking about?? -- nothing like it had ever happened to me before.  I immediately sat bold upright and tore off my mask.  

Switching to an upright position seemed to fix it.  I don't think there was a problem with the mask as I sleep on my back couldn't have kinked the hose or anything.  I was sleeping with an O2 ring at that time but could not tell from OSCAR if my O2 fell: the O2 graph doesn't sync perfectly with ResMed because of course the AirSense clock has lagged over time.

I have also awakened due to increased breathing effort when the electricity went off and my machine stopped working.  This is more gradual, though, as I can still breathe through the machine and tubing without pressure, it just requires a much greater effort.

Anyway, it never recurred, thank God, but I feel quite confident that if anything cut off my breathing I would wake up and take action immediately (assuming I'm not sedated).

[LaurenceShaw]

I have been using mouth tape for a couple of months and it has allowed me to use a nasal mask which is great. 

However sometimes the CPAP can give me reflux (seems to be rare, but once or twice) and I did wake one night suddenly with a mouth half full of vomit ? It was a pretty horrifying experience, I was able to get the mask and tape off quickly but it did occur to me that if I hadn't woken up immediately things could have been much more serious.

I'm still using the mouth tape but am planning to try a chin strap to see if I can get by without taping

Hey donsburg,

I suggest take a look at Supplier 37 before trying a chin strap.  Traditional chin straps push the jaw almost directly into the jaw joint when what you want is a force to rotate the jaw upwards ...