u/CriticalFortune6308

Hey everyone, I'm about to purchase a CPAP after years of mild apnea (self diagnosed) but after a jaw injury causing the lower jaw to rest further back it's gotten worse with a week of next to no sleep & don't want to wait on study/prescription. Places where I can obtain devices without the prescription would be very useful too - I'm from the UK. I'll just get an autoset & figure it out after - can always get the study done after too.

I'm think about the Resmed Airsense 10 - I don't mind it being refurbished (should total usage be a concern?). Doesn't have myAir though, is that useful?

I know Heated tubing, mask & filters are the required accessories.

But anyway my main concern is that I have a "bilateral coronoid hyperplasia" (similar to TMJ symptoms) & is a fancy way of saying the lower jaw on both sides has excess growth & is impinging.

Recently it's gotten worse after stupid chin tuck stretching where I pushed the chin forcefully & pulled the head down - not properly flexing the neck. My tongue and lower jaw now sit further back and I can't even get to sleep let alone have any type of events capture, it's pretty obvious obstructive sleep apnea

My temporalis muscle is especially tight on the left causing grinding & headaches. I also have some neck & upper back pain - so any heavy strapping isn't ideal. I have like a small-medium head size I guess with a short neckbeard, mainly side-sleeper

I've always been a nose breather, I'm not sure what types would be great (pillow or cradle whatever else?) given my condition and how to determine size - or if there any designed as one size fits all?

Are mouth guards something I should look at too ie?

Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated 🙏🏻 I'm not sure how much longer I can go on with the little sleep 😞

Have had LPR for 2+ years, but a messed up neck for nearly a decade after some trauma & constant poor form doing exercise

I can manage ok with a bland diet, Gaviscon Adv & taking Lansoprazole during a flare.

I felt the need to bring up something I feel is important which is addressing weak Deep Neck Flexors (either side or both). Weak DNF can cause a whole host of neck issues. Tight extensors on the back of neck, sub occipital pain & headaches, tenderness near the Adams Apple, *swallowing issues* even jaw alignment/pressure...

You need to release tight areas on back of the neck with a lacrosse ball or pinch with fingers muscles in the front like the STM. Then gently stretch the neck with a chin tuck stretch (try to get a double chin, have the back of your head feel raised & try to relax the back of neck as much as you can & pull your head straight down &/or to each armpit) - can be difficult to chin tuck with tight extensors & so it needs to be released as best as you can. I've even tried to decompress my neck using a resistance band attached to a door.

Then hopefully you can increase with more chin tuck exercises - ensure the STM doesn't take over fron the DNF which helps flex the neck too but it can impede, use your hand or res. bands for resistance etc it has a made a difference for me in swallowing and neck issues. Many of us are looking down on screens constantly or in poor posture following injury/trauma, scapula issues can affect the neck too causing forward head posture & that can cause a dormant DNF too so addressing the underlying cause is important ie. Having LPR on top is torture because adding PND & reflux into an already messed up neck will make life difficult even at rest.

I've been doing physio on it for a few months now, it's been quite cumbersome/slow as i didn't have all these pointers initially I had to figure it out by myself, I have a ton of issues on the right side of my body too affecting the scapula, ribs/core & even hips and one area can regress to affect the other.. and it's a vicious cycle

But anyway the takeaway to this post, sort out as many issues with the neck & even scapula areas with physio like chin tucks ie (& if anyone has other suggestions to improve the neck please do share) - to ensure you have a strong neck to tolerate better the issues LPR brings.