Dreamwear Cushions Vs Pillows Issue

[holden4th]

I love my Dreamwear mask. It's top mounted hose allows me the freedom to move around as I wish and the minimalist design means that you don't even notice that you're wearing it. The cushions that originally came with the mask had one small issue in that it could blow air into my eyes and tended to leak a bit. So I could wake up in the morning feeling well treated but with eyes that looked as if I had a hangover. The nasal pillows for this mask solved these two issues but created another.

After a few days of wearing the pillows I get a very small sore on the right side of my left nostril. Why that particular point I don't know but after a week or so I have to move back to the cushions to allow the sore a chance to heal. Now while the sore is not bad and I could probably continue to tolerate it, a sore is a possible point of infection and I don't want that to happen.

I have memories of posts from a while ago that talk about products you can apply that will fix this but a search has not brought anything to light. If anyone could point me in the right direction it would be appreciated. In the last three weeks I've had two genuine 0.0 nights and both were with the pillows. Upgrading to the Aircurve VAuto for the S9 BiLevel Auto has probably helped with this as well.

[OpalRose]

Try Lansinoh Cream, (comes in a purple box). This is an ointment that breast feeding moms use.  Can be found in isles where they sell baby products.  Or any Lanolin cream might work.  A little goes a long way.

Also once the sore is healed, you can alternate the Lanolin cream with a nasal gel called Ayr nasal gel.

[Coffee Man]

I could not tolerate the Dreamwear nasal pillows. Tried different sizes and had same issue inside the one nare, with incredible soreness. I tried the Lansinoh and Ayr gel and a bunch of other stuff. I saw an ENT and he said I had a deviated septum, so the nasal pillow was always going to hit the one side and cause pain (or cause ulceration) due to pressure, ...so nasal pillows are out for me.  

I switched to the Dreamwear nasal cushion and everything has been great. If the nasal cushion was blowing air into your eyes, it might be worth trying a smaller nasal cushion size. If you have a fit pack, it would be easy to try the different sized cushions. Otherwise, you can find a sizing template online rather easily.

[holden4th]

Thank you Opal Rose and Coffee Man for your input, much appreciated. Research has told me that I can get the Lansinoh from a variety of pharmacies here in Australia.

I'm not sure what a deviated septum is and now wonder if I have one. The air in the eyes is minor and occurs sporadically. 

I'll get the Lansinoh tomorrow and work forward from there

[1holegrouper]

Dreamwear is what I use. It sounds like you have this riding a bit too high on your face and one side being sore may be due to your preferred sleep side. I had a similar issue that was mainly solved by more fine adjusting of the headgear in the back (especially making sure it was evenly adjusted for right and left sides). What made it even better was to use a stablizer strap from Pad A Cheek to help hold down the back headgear strap (which tends to slide up during sleep movement). that might be worth a try after adjusting your default headgear doesn't solve the issue. Hope your sore heals quickly. When that happens I use Neosporin but stuff mentioned above is probably even better.

[holden4th]

Thank you for that and it's made me reevaluate.

It's interesting that while my strap adjustment for the nasal mask is almost perfect, there are issues with the pillows. I have three mask frames and this has made me think that I should not just swap out the nasal pieces but use two different frames.

I bought the Lansinoh today and will use it tonight despite the fact that the sore hasn't fully healed.

[yrnkrn]

+1 for Lanolin cream

[holden4th]

A big thumbs up for the Lansinoh which has worked perfectly. Despite thefact that my nose had not completely healed I woke up the next morning with no soreness. Thanks for all the advice folks - much appreciated.