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+--- Thread: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? (/Thread-soft-cervical-collar-replaces-cpap)
soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - christian4870 - 07-22-2017
Hi,
i wonder, does somebody know - personally or from the forum here - who could replace cpap by a soft cervical collar on a continuing basis?
I read a lot about soft cervical collar and bought one yesterday. After 2 try´s (2 hour in afternoon) and 1 night, i can say that it works well for me. My dream is to replace the cpap by the soft cervical collar....
I have only minor short apnoes when using it yesterday and tonight. There are still large leckages, but i would not care about this if the collar works...
[attachment=3692]
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - CB91710 - 07-22-2017
If your apnea is mild, then it MIGHT be able to alleviate your condition.
Many of us drop our chin when we sleep, which narrows the airway and makes it more likely to collapse. Keeping your chin elevated certainly helps, but it may not be 100%, and you will still likely have problems when sleeping on your back.
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - christian4870 - 07-22-2017
I would my apnea not call "mild", there was an AHI of 38,4 before i used cpap. I am now using cpap since 1 month, ahi came down to 1-5 per h for the last week, when using a pressure apap 12-16 mbar. I want to try pressure now apap at a minimum of 4-12 mbar to see what happens....
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - ajack - 07-22-2017
going by your chart, my guess is you are still going to need cpap. You must be pleased with the improvement.
You also seem to have a lot of mouth breathing. you may do better on a FFM, though your avatar says you use the f20? Are they leaks?
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - OpalRose - 07-22-2017
(07-22-2017, 02:17 AM)christian4870 Wrote: Hi,
i wonder, does somebody know - personally or from the forum here - who could replace cpap by a soft cervical collar on a continuing basis?
I read a lot about soft cervical collar and bought one yesterday. After 2 try´s (2 hour in afternoon) and 1 night, i can say that it works well for me. My dream is to replace the cpap by the soft cervical collar....
I have only minor short apnoes when using it yesterday and tonight. There are still large leckages, but i would not care about this if the collar works...
Never heard of a soft cervical collar replacing Cpap therapy. We recommend the use of a soft collar simply to help with chin tucking or mouth breathing, which seems to work for most.
I'm not sure it's working for you as your leak rate is high.
The reason you should care about leaks is that after a certain point, the Cpap may not be able to detect all the apnea events, so your AHI may not be accurate.
The collar is meant to help, not replace. The collar does not keep your airway open to prevent apneas, only the Cpap with positive airway pressure can do that.
But hey, just to satisfy your curiosity, try sleeping without your machine for a night or two, and just use the collar. Then go by how you feel.
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - christian4870 - 07-22-2017
Hi all,
thanks for your replies. I am using currently a nasal mask N-20. I have also F-20, but since 2 weeks now, i like the n20 much more..with the F-20 after a view hours i feel (hear) the leckages, with the n20 I have a much better feeling, do not feel lecks (but have much more large lecks!)
You are right, i can forget to use a cervical collar only instead of the cpap, but i had to check it, what i did just now for 2 hours. see below using 4-12mbar:
[attachment=3693]
I clearly see that the pressure is going high to the end.....my hope was, that pressure will not increase... wrong...
I go now ahead with my original settings of 12-16 mbar and will work on the leckages...
Thanks for supporting
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - ajack - 07-22-2017
till you get your pressure sorted, I would use the FFM, as that will remove one variable. It will be interesting to see what 12-16 does.
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - christian4870 - 07-22-2017
@ajack: I had the pressure to 12-16mbar last weeks using the nasal mask N-20, here 2 examples of last days:
[attachment=3695][attachment=3696]
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - OpalRose - 07-22-2017
I believe that until you can get the leaks under control, it will be hard to get your pressure dialed in.
I would also change the ramp setting to start closer to your minimum pressure. Try 8.
RE: soft cervical collar replaces cpap? - CB91710 - 07-22-2017
The cervical collar will most likely help with the mouth breathing and general leakage.
I get bad leakage with any FF mask due to my chin dropping, and of course mouth leaks with nasal or pillows.
The cervical collar has 100% fixed these issues and I no longer need to adjust a FF mask uncomfortably tight.
It has also significantly reduced my AHI... two nights this week I had 0.0.
As for the pressure, you will likely find 4.0 to be too low. That is traditionally a pediatric pressure, *most* adults find they are starved for air below 6.
But it is important to move in small increments. If you are at 12-16 now, I would perhaps try 10-16, then 8, then 7, and then 6.
At this time, I would not change the 16, as looking at your graphs, your machine is not going that high, but as you get the leakage issues resolved, it MAY get up there.
If you are not having CA events, there is no disadvantage to having the max at 16, and you were still getting hypopneas at 12 with the machine maxed out.
In my non-doctor opinion, your max pressure should be at 16.