How to Prevent N30i Nasal Pillow from Sliding Up During Use?

[donsburg]

I actually found (after a few nights of difficulty) with both the p30i and N30i that I needed the strap at the back of the head quite a lot looser than I initially thought. It almost feels a bit too loose when putting it on, but trial and error showed that this gave me the best comfort and lack of leaks

[Lucid]

With the n30i, I also had more trouble with the silicone irritating my skin.  I persisted with the p30i and have managed to get it to fit so that it doesn't make too much noise.  Or maybe the shape of my nostrils change, lol  I also use a white noise machine sometimes.  

I wouldn't hesitate to keep trying other masks, though, in order to find the right one.  That's one of the best things you can do in order to adapt to CPAP and get a good night's sleep.  

I'm on Medicare, and my DME sent me a different mask free when I let them know within 30 days that the one I had wasn't working well.  I didn't have to send the used one back to them, so I was able to retry it again later, too.  Many suppliers have a similar policy, but be sure to check the fine print.

Good luck and I hope you'll report back on what finally worked for you!

[Chase326]

It's tough lessgroggy because the holes are like almost exactly my nostril size, but that means if it shifts or moves at all at night it's instantly misaligned in a way that disrupts breathing. Possible I could size up to medium, but not sure if the piece being so much bigger would cause fit issues if it's almost "just right" atm with small.

Thanks Lucid, I'll be looking at trying out some other masks to see if something fits better. Looking at the Mirage FX, N20, and the Philips DW nasal mask recommended earlier by GSzabo. Going to see if there's some reviews here for those and then decide.

Are full face masks generally not recommended?

[lessgroggy]

I had another thought about why the N30i mask may slide up one's nose. Since your main hose attaches directly at the top of the head with this mask headgear, and this hose can be kind of heavy especially if you're using a heated tube with a tube cover, the weight of this mostly rigid tube if it's not supported by a pillow or something will tend through gravity to pull the hose connection down toward the back of your head causing the rest of the mask assembly to be pulled upward on your nose and out of place. Angling the elbow at the top of your head so that the hose is pointed down can help the assembly be better supported.

I've decided the N30i AirTouch doesn't fit me well anyway because it's too wide for me and the sides hit my cheeks causing sores, but before I determined that I ordered a Featherweight 18" tube extension because when I set up a rig to hold up my hose, I hardly had any hose length left to move my head around very easily to say, turn off my machine. 

I haven't tried how it feels with the tube extension installed yet because the part hasn't arrived in the mail yet, but attaching a lightweight hose extension like that with the extra freedom of movement, extra pliability and length it provides, and supporting the heavy main tube through some kind of rigging or placement on your bed so that the weight of it isn't pulling the top of your headgear down toward the bed when you're lying down, might do the trick for you to prevent your N30i mask from getting shifted out of place so easily. I'm planning to place a homemade wool tube cover on the extension to prevent rain-out which will add to the weight of the extension some but should still be lighter than my main hose with its cover.

[G. Szabo]

A tube hanger available on Amazon eliminates the weight of the heated tube and will not affect the mask position. I constructed my tube hanger myself. It contains a counterweight, which balances the tube's weight precisely so my mask is not disturbed, and the tube follows your position without any problem.

[lessgroggy]

sounds complicated. My $3.00 tube hanger is "Cord bundler" strap by 3M that one attaches using an adhesive square. I don't have a headboard, so I stuck it on the bottom part of my wooden window sill which is about 1 ft from the head of my bed, mounted at an angle because that's the only way I could get it to fit. Took just a few minutes, press down firmly for 20 seconds and then let cure for at least an hour, and done. It's working well and it's easy to remove or secure the tubing as needed. The strap is just long enough to hold a ClimateAir tube with tube cover on it.