I was using an extra small mirage quattro full face mask because I sometimes breath through my mouth.  Due to some dental surgery, I have had to switch to a nasal mask for a couple of months.  The nasal mask I chose is the mirage micro nasal mask.  The mask is similar in design to the quattro.  The therapist at Optioncare (Walgreens) gave me a med/large mask because he did not have a small in stock.  I have asked him to get me a small.   Other than the mask being a little too large I found that I could sleep with it pretty well.  It does not give me as bad a claustrophobic feeling as the quattro.  I will not mind using this mask when I am breathing well and not coughing.  But I have found one problem with the micro.  My jaw muscles are getting sore from trying to keep my mouth shut all night.  A chin strap is not an option with my claustrophobic tendencies.    Does anyone have any ideas to get the tension out of my jaw.  I have been using the mask for a couple of weeks and even though I try to move the jaw when I get up it does not seem to relax.  Any ideas to help relax the jaw muscles is appreciated.

clk

Maybe because I've never suffered from claustrophobia but I really do fail to understand where a chin strap would make you feel claustrophobic when you've been able to tolerate the Quattro full face mask.

AND it may well be that your jaw is sore, not from trying to keep your mouth shut all night, but rather from trying to keep that too large micro from popping INTO your mouth rather than resting between the bottom of your nose and your lips.

I have the Micro as well. And my sleep pulmo for some strange reason I've yet to understand ordered the Large/Medium Micro for me too. For crying out loud I take an XSmall or Petite in every mask I've tried. I've had the best luck w/the Simplicity simple nasal cushion (and the ComfortLite II simple nasal cushion prior to that) which doesn't fit the entire length of the nose from bridge to bottom of the nares. It sits just below the bridge of the nose. And it is especially frustrating because the Micro frame for the Large/Medium is the same, but it requires an entirely new mask to get the Micro Small.

The Quattro XSmall is still too long for my face. Impress upon your DME that you NEED the Micro Small NOW! Like YESTERDAY!

Plus, it is more than likely that you are not trying to breathe thru your mouth so much as it is that air is leaking out thru a small gap in your lips from time to time thru out the night, the "lip flutters". A chin strap won't do diddley-squat for the "lip flutters".


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The small is on order and should arrive any day now.  The DME truly did not order any size small in their original order.  I have found this to be a recurring problem with walgreens optioncare.

Also, I really do open my mouth ocassionally when I sleep.  My lower jaw is a lot smaller than my upper jaw thanks to one parent having a large jaw and the other a small jaw and now I have a combination of the two.  Even during the day I sometimes beath through my mouth.  And now to make life even more interesting my dentist tells me, a western european descendant, that I have Asian molars.  He said my molars are shaped like Asian descendants and that I am first non-asian that he has seen with this type of molar shape.  The dentist said he could make me a night guard but I told him they tried that many years ago and I have the tendancy to gag when wearing a nightguard.  I could not image a nightguard on top of the cpap mask.  Gives me the shutters.

If my jaw is still bothering me in June I will speak to my primary care doctor.

as for the chin strap.  It feels like a cage around my head which just adds to the closed in feeling of the cpap mask.

clk