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Wearing a cervical collar along with cpap has helped me tremendously

Just thought I'd post this, since it has been a wonderful breakthru for me.  I've been on the cpap for a year and a half now.  It has helped alot, but until recently it was still hit and miss.  I increased my pressure, tried different masks, but still had lousy days where I felt like I had apneas the night before.

This changed two months ago, when I went to bed wearing a firm foam 3 1/2 cervical collar.  I work in the medical profession and when we do CPR on patients, we tilt the head backward to open up the trachea.  So I thought I would do this on myself.  My head really isn't tilted backward, but the tip of my chin is at about a 90 degree angle from my chest while wearing the collar.  I also use a cloth--a wash cloth and place it between the front of my neck and the collar to give my chin firm support, so it can't push down the collar at night. 

It takes a few nights to get accustomed to the feel.  And make sure you don't make the collar too tight.  It almost feels like you are getting strangled--and that's not good.

But I honestly can say that wearing my cpap with my cervical collar, I have had the best sleeps in 30 plus  years.

I'm hoping my discovery can help others too.

All the best, Noah Calderon.

 

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Marie,

I'm glad you tried it out and had some success.  I'm not sure why it works.  I wonder if it even reduces vibration in our trachea and soft palate.  But it certainly helps me alot.

All the best, Noah
MARIE G. said:

I tried the 3 1/2" wide foam cervical collar along with a rolled up sock tucked in the front for chin support.  I also used a small rectangular buckwheat pillow instead of my contoured memory foam pillow.  I slept on my side with my head and chin pointed upwards.  I had a really excellent night's sleep!  I use an auto-bipap machine.  I had the mma jaw surgery a year ago and unfortunately still have sleep apnea.  I too experienced hit and miss nights with the bipap and suspected it was due to my head position - I naturally sleep with my chin pointed towards my chest thereby kinking my airway.  The collar really prevents this.  I wonder if I would benefit from an additional surgery such as the tongue/hyoid advancement.



Owen Dell said:

Just in case you miss my new posting, I'm repeating it here for anyone following this thread:

 Owen,

Happy to see the cervical collar is working so well for you.  Hopefully others with sleep apnea will try it out also.  When I actually first told others a year ago, including an MD, that I was using a c-collar to help with better sleeps, they laughed. .  Well, I laugh now too seeing that your sleep test went so well.  That's' awesome!  Keep the word rolling.  Noah http://www.sleepguide.com/forum/topics/cervical-collar-replaces-cpap

 

Today was a special day for me.

 

A few months ago I decided to see if wearing an inexpensive foam cervical collar (see typical example at http://bit.ly/h6YsBj) during sleep would help mitigate my severe sleep apnea. I got the idea because I noticed that my airway would begin to be constricted when I allowed my head to drop forward as it naturally does during sleep. Conversely, straightening my neck out would unkink the airway and allow for unobstructed breathing. My theory was that the collar would gently keep my neck in place, allowing my breathing to proceed normally and thereby reducing the number of apneas I would experience. It seemed to work pretty well, but of course I was hesitant to quit using the CPAP without knowing for sure just how effective the collar was in practice.

 

By way of background, in 2007 a sleep study revealed that I was experiencing 33 apneas per hour, and so I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea and outfitted with a CPAP.

 

Like many people, I have always found the CPAP to be uncomfortable. In addition to the discomfort, I was unhappy about having to carry it along on trips, and I despaired of the prospect of never being able to go backpacking or river rafting again. So when I came up with the idea of using the cervical collar to keep my neck straight while sleeping, I had a fantasy that it just might replace the CPAP.

 

A week ago, I had a sleep study done while wearing the collar, and today I received the results from my doctor. He and I were both stunned to learn that I had only ONE apnea while wearing the collar. He advised me to put my CPAP in its case and not worry about using it anymore, as long as I slept with the collar on. As far as I know, this is the first time the efficacy of a cervical collar has been tested in a sleep study. Needless to say, I'm overwhelmed with delight at the outcome, which is much more than I had hoped for.

 

Tonight I will sleep without the discomfort of the CPAP mask for the first time in over 3 years. I can't wait to go to bed, but first I wanted to share this news with the sleep apnea community. While it should be clear that this approach won't necessarily work for everyone, and while of course I am NOT recommending that you try this without first talking with your doctor, I do suggest that others consider the possibility that a cervical collar will work for them too, and perhaps try a sleep study to see if that is the case. 

 

There is almost nothing in the medical literature about the use of collars for apnea, and I have heard of only a couple of other people who have independently come up with this solution. So I believe there is a bit of medical history in the works here, and I am happy to report a good result in my case. I would be even happier to find that this works for others. I'd love to hear any news about this development, and I wish you all the best of luck with your management of your apnea.

 

Owen Dell

 

 

 

 

I sleep on my right and left side and on my back.  I seem to  breath better when I am on my back.  But that's me and we all have different anatomy.

I believe the c-collar helps to open the trachea and its mass around our neck also reduces the vibration in our soft palate and trachea, leading to fewer apneas.  

All the best, Noah     Owen Dell said:

It's hard to say but I think it works well in either position. I should have mentioned that I also use a cylindrical pillow, shaped like a big hot dog, that's about 5 inches in diameter and a little over a foot long (a foot long hot dog pillow, I guess!). It's filled with buckwheat. It's homemade, not something you can buy in a store. So the hot dog helps throw my head back when I'm sleeping on my back. When I roll over onto my side, I take the hot dog away and sleep on the underlying memory foam conventional pillow.

 

The sleep study showed only one apnea the whole time, so it seemed to work in both sleeping positions.

 

Owen

 

 

 

Steven XXXX said:

Owen Dell said: I sleep mostly on my back and part of the time on my right side.

 

Does the Cervical Collar work just as good when you are sleeping on your right side as it does when you are sleeping on your back?

 

Seems like it would only work if you are sleeping on your back - but then you are the one that has done the real life testing.

One of the members,Chris H. Told me about this discussion and I am so glad he did. I had dental surgery and a bone graft sinus repair a week ago. I was told I could not use my cpap for three weeks. Last week was terrible. Woke with headaches,groggy, and once with sharp chest pain. I am so looking forward to trying the collar tonight and praying it will work for me. I haven't gotten a good nights sleep in a week,and with the surgery,feeling really exhausted. Thanks so much for posting these findings. Will be wonderful if it works for me as well.

I have been using my CPAP for about 4 months now.  Recently (as of writing, 5 weeks ago), I had a discectomy which requires the use of a c-collar "at all times besides taking shower". After some trial and error ( Mask goes on first - collar covers straps) I finally got used to wearing both at the same time throughout the night.  I have noticed 2 things with this process that may help someone else:

 

1) I have noticed that I wake up with less air discomfort in my stomach. I've heard that this goes away with time with most CPAP users, so I cannot contribute it solely to the c-collar, but the timing is suspect - and I am grateful!

 

2) (Which is what I was searching for) I have noticed that the c-collar is moving my jaw forward (which seems to be beneficial for most people), however, I have an overbite. The collar moves my jaw so far forward that my bottom teeth end up putting pressure on my upper teeth to the point that I wake up with tooth pain which lasts at least a few hours into each day.  I believe that this is strictly the collar's "fault" and has nothing to do with the CPAP or combination of CPAP/Collar.  I am thinking of getting a mouth guard to see if that helps - hope so. Sounds like a minor thing, but it's really annoying!

 Noah Calderon

Despite some initial skepticism I bought a cervical collar and tried it out. While I did not find it helpful so far I will eventually do some more experimenting as it seems to have some potential for me.

What I did want to say is I passed it on to my older brother (much older dear brother :0) and he told me over Thanksgiving that he is having some great success with it.

He should be home over Christmas and hopefully should post, but he told me that he has been able to make a big reduction in his pressure due to use of the collar. He has been carrying it for about six months on all of his trips and now considers it an essential piece of equipment along with his mask and machine.

So I am thankful that you experimented and posted your results here and my brother sends his thanks.

Ciao,

       I'm a newbie (diagnosed in June, 2011) so I never saw this discussion. Wow, am I glad I did! Thanks for posting your experience, Noah.

       I'm definitely going to try the collar. If it works really well for me...YIPPEE!  If it only helps, I'm very happy.

       If I don't notice any real change, well, I'll keep looking -- and checking this board.

       I know that I sleep better (my machine doesn't give me numbers, btw, so I don't know "how" much better). That said, I don't sleep really well and don't dream that much. Anytime I have vivid dreams I also feel much better the next day. My OSA is categorized as "severe" so maybe that's why it's going to take me a while to get better.

       Again, Noah, thanks for posting and starting this discussion. I'm also grateful to everyone else who chimed in with suggestions, comments and their experience. We're all learning....

Sure, no problem.  It works for me.  I still wear it every night.  If I don't, the following day is kind of shakey.

This sounds odd, but what I do to help me sleep is eat  a table spoon of almond butter, and take a little 5HTP right before bed. 

 



Banyon said:

 Noah Calderon

Despite some initial skepticism I bought a cervical collar and tried it out. While I did not find it helpful so far I will eventually do some more experimenting as it seems to have some potential for me.

What I did want to say is I passed it on to my older brother (much older dear brother :0) and he told me over Thanksgiving that he is having some great success with it.

He should be home over Christmas and hopefully should post, but he told me that he has been able to make a big reduction in his pressure due to use of the collar. He has been carrying it for about six months on all of his trips and now considers it an essential piece of equipment along with his mask and machine.

So I am thankful that you experimented and posted your results here and my brother sends his thanks.

Ciao,           All right.  Great to hear that I am not the only odd ball out there wearing a c-collar at night and that it is helping others.  Adios, Noah 

From all the time I thought I was an insomniac, I know that 5HTP can help with sleep. The fact that I have a more severe problem (SA) doesn't mean that the 5HTP and almond butter don't have nice, lulling chemicals that will help boost one into slumberland.

So now my "Noah Calderon" shopping list includes:

* cervical collar

*  5HTP

*  Almond butter

;-)



Noah Calderon said:

Sure, no problem.  It works for me.  I still wear it every night.  If I don't, the following day is kind of shakey.

This sounds odd, but what I do to help me sleep is eat  a table spoon of almond butter, and take a little 5HTP right before bed. 

 

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