When I first read about the use of a chin strap to help with Sleep apnea I was skeptical. I sleep with my mouth open and I can’t believe that just by using a chin strap your sleep apnea would go away.
But for some people I guess it does work.
The idea is quite simple; the sleep apnea patient has a strap around the top of their head and around the chin. This keeps the mouth closed forcing the patient to breathe through their nose. One of the first sleep studies that I went on I used a chin strap with the cpap mask. The reason why I did that was because the sleep lab didn’t have any full face masks and I am a mouth breather. It didn’t work. The feel of the strap around my head was very uncomfortable and I just couldn’t get used to breathing through my nose. I suppose that I could make the adjustment to breathing through my nose but it would certainly take a long time.
But from what I read many people find relief from sleep apnea just using the chin strap without the cpap machine. I can imagine that the folks that get some benefit out of this don’t have severe sleep apnea and this device could also be used for people who just want to cut out their snoring.
The biggest advantage to the chin strap has to be the cost. It would certainly be worth a try if money was an issue or if you didn’t have any kind of insurance. But I would certainly talk to a doctor before trying this out. You always have to be careful when you are dealing with sleep and breathing.
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ReplyDeleteI had sleep choking problem. I used CPAP machine and dental appliance.
ReplyDeleteI found these two to be uncomfortable.
However, just the chinstrap has worked for me. Amazing. I have now put the CPAP machine and the dental appliance in a storage. What a waste, as I have wasted about $4000 on them and the testing. The solution, a $60 chinstrap. It is much more comfortable. Go for it. First try it before you waste thousands like me.
All the best.
A happy chinstrap user to overcome sleep apnea.