What you Should do with CPAP Dry Mouth
After not getting a good sleep for a bit due to sleep apnea, some people may get a CPAP machine. It offers a more restful sleep, and helps you feel more awake and alive before you go about your day. There’s just one problem: dry mouth. Cottonmouth is something that’s a common issue when using CPAP machines, and while it’s hard to deal with and kind of frustrating, there are different ways to deal with this, and here, we’ll discuss what you can do. This is a very common side effect to get used to, and it can actually be adjusted to eliminate this issue. CPAP machines are used for obstructive sleep apnea, something that only about 3-9% of the population currently has. It basically is a condition where the airways are blocked, so much that you’re unable to breathe during the night sometimes. This basically pushes air into the orifices which you continue to sleep.
The Cause of This
This is basically because you’re usually only covering one part of the mouth versus both parts. When you sleep with the mouth open, you probably will have a dry mouth. If you do have a mouth breather in place when you’re using this, you’re also quite likely to experience this. Another reason why you might experience dry mouth is the mask isn’t fitting properly, causing air to leak out, drying both the mouth and the nose as a result. If it’s too small, it also can dry it out too, since it also may leak some air out.
How to Prevent this
This is something that isn’t too hard to change provided that your medication or condition isn’t’ causing this. It’s something that usually is easy to change if it’s just the machine. You can change from just a mask that covers one orifice to a machine that has a mask that covers everything. A chin strap is also a good option, since it helps keep the mouth shut while you sleep.
Some of them do have humidifiers, which of course will keep the air nice and moist. If you do deal with dry mouth or nose this is something that also may be considered especially if you need a CPAP machine. It’s vital to ensure that the mask fits correctly, to prevent mouth drying from happening, and your doctor can also help you measure your face area to get you the correct mask or get you another kind if the current one isn’t working correctly.
Remember that if you tighten those straps, it doesn’t really fix this, and it can also cause problems due to the tightness of the band on your face area. If you’re looking to use a CPAP machine, you also may want to consider gels, sprays, or rinses that are dry mouth medications, which stimulate the orifice to create saliva, which fixes a lot of dry mouth.
You can also use sugar free gum, reduce caffeine and alcohol, or other ways to naturally stimulate the mouth and reduce dry mouth. This is something that allotones’ have a good adherence rate, since most of the time it does get to have issues over time. if you do notice that there is issues with adherence, then definitely talk to your doctor.
Dry mouth kind of stinks, but don’t think that it has to be the end-all to everything! Adjusting your mask and adjusting the machine is the best way to prevent dry mouth, a condition that’s not fun for anyone, but is pretty simple for you to fix if needed.
