When using CPAP, do you feel a sudden rush of air come out of you mouth throughout the night? Perhaps your bed partner has complained of a funny noise happening while you sleep? Are you waking with a dry mouth?
If this is you, you may be experiencing ‘mouth leak’, where pressure from your CPAP machine escapes out of your mouth.
If you are experiencing mouth leak, there are a few things you can do to help the problem.
Chin Strap
Chin Straps are available for use with your CPAP masks. They are designed to sit below your chin to keep it shut throughout the night, preventing any air from escaping during the night.
Full Face Mask
If you are currently using a nasal or nasal pillows mask, you may wish to consider trying a full face mask. Full face masks sit over both your nose and mouth and are very effective in controlling mouth leak.
If the leaking out of your mouth wakes you up during the night and disturbs your sleep then it is an issue that will need to be addressed. If leak is occurring during the night, but it is not disturbing you or your bed partner and your AHI statistics are under control, then it is not something that will need to be addressed.
If you are experiencing a dry mouth from your CPAP machine and it isn’t being caused by mouth leak, then you may need to adjust your humidifier settings.
