Acne

[Gaspnea]

Does anyone have problems with zits caused by the contact areas of the mask? I have a shiner right between my eyes right now caused by that plastic forehead piece on the mask. Is the lifelong tradeoff a face full of acne for a good night's sleep?

[PaulaO2]

It was an issue I had when I was first using nasal masks. I have very oily skin and had to use a cleansing wipe or face wash each night. Even then, I kept getting them around my nose.

Or maybe you are morphing into a unicorn?

[zonk]

Have you tried nasal pillows
PAD A CHEEK makes mask liners including nasal masks with foreheads pads
Karen the owner used to be member of the old forum, also she is PAP user herself and can custom made to your requirement

[Gaspnea]

Thanks Paula and zonk. I didn't know about the pads. I also now wonder if they make some kind of putty to fill in gaps and prevent leaks. It's the da*n leaks that wake me up at night, not the mask. Maybe some gum? Haha.
Re: the unicorn. Yeah, this morning I look like a unicorn that has been crying or has bad allergies. Swollen puffy eyes, red marks under eyes and a big zit in the middle.
About the nasal pillows...my husband has them but I haven't tried them yet because the idea of something stuck up my nose all night kind of grosses me out. I may have to resort to them though because he says they are leak free.

[trish6hundred]

Hi Gaspnea, They do make moisturizing cream for CPAP users and I think it comes in a 1-oz tube. The thing you want to look out for is that the cream you use doesn't have a lot of patrolium so as not to break down your mask.
When I use pillows, I use a "little" HPA lanolin cream in my nostriles to keep them from getting soar, that works very well for me and it doesn't break down the pillows.

[Gaspnea]

Thanks Trish. I have an appointment on Tuesday to get another mask because they put the wrong one in the bag with my CPAP machine. My husband picked it up for me and it was already packed up so he assumed they gave me the right one. I will ask to try the nasal pillows when I am there. The best thing would be to Krazy Glue the mask onto your face and get rid of the straps. Voila, no leaks. But...you can then never take it off.

[PaulaO2]

Someone here takes some sort of silicone something. Ear plugs maybe? Rolls them into longer tubes and uses them to help with leaks.

The nasal pillows can leak, depending on what kind you get. However, they leak a lot less than other mask types. I currently use the Breeze. The pillows don't go very far up the nose really and after the first few nights, I didn't notice it.

Try on your husband's mask to see if you can tolerate the feeling.

[Sleepster]

I did get zits at first from the lanolin I put in my nostrils to soothe them. I wear nasal pillows. I tried some special exfoliating cleanser for a while and they haven't come back. I'm careful now to not use too much lanolin.

[xeroid966]

I used to get a rash so I switched to nasal pillows held by an oral appliance from [link removed]

I grind my teeth so the oral appliance serves to hold the hoses and something to bite down on besides my own teeth.

I'll never go back to a mask or straps.

In the future, use Google search terms to direct other members to a commercial website. In this case, you should have said "Google Nomask for information." - Moderator

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Moderator Action: Link Removed

To maintain our status as an educational organization, the only commercial links allowed in this forum are to CPAP-related manufacturer websites. This is stated in the Apnea Board Rules with details given in the Commercial Links Policy section.

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[britincanada]

Try the Remzzzzzz liners

Should work great for you