Mask fit issues - wide mouth

[michael7]

New user here, and I just cannot get the mask fit right. I nose breathe during the day, but at night (like during my hypopneas) I wake up slightly and my mouth is open. I had horrible snoring issues before the CPAP and I think I have a deviated septum. All this means I've opted for the full face mask. If anyone thinks I should try a nose mask even with all that let me know.

My problem is that with the full face masks I've tried, if I move my mouth at all during my sleep, I get a massive leak and it wakes me up in the middle of the night. It seems that if I smile, the corners of my mouth extend past the masks giving the air a route to escape - even with the large masks. I find this absolutely crazy, I've worn N95 masks during the pandemic and they have such a better fit than these masks! I've looked into mouth tape but the idea that I might be opening my mouth because I need more oxygen and the mouth tape would prevent that concerns me.

Eventually I tightened my mask (Resmed Airfit F20 large) as far as it will go and it kind of prevents that but is not comfortable. It's also completely counter to what the guide here says to do. Today I tried my second mask (Phillips Dreamweaver) with both a large and a medium wide and they both also have this problem but even worse. This is driving me crazy, does anyone else have a wide mouth and moves their mouth in their sleep? Are there any masks in particular that work for people with faces larger than the large Resmed and Phillips masks?

[OpalRose]

michael7,
I hope you receive some answers or advice soon.

The only thing that came to my mind was trying a mask liner. They are made to basically protect the skin from the silicone, but they have also been known to stop leaks from the mask. They are expensive though, but you could order one pack, then use a liner as a template to craft one yourself.

[wickedsleepy]

Michael7, did you ever get anywhere with this? I’m experiencing similar things with my Evora ffm, which I otherwise love. When laying on back and under higher pressure, when my smile relaxes during sleep I get leaks at the corner of my mouth because they widen beyond the seal edge.

I shaved around my mouth, I wash my face and the mask cushion nightly, which helps, but it still happens. I wonder if higher humidification (I use 7 or 8 on my AS10) sort of lubricates things and hinders the seal. Hmm

[michael7]

Hi, yes I did! I discovered two things that helped a lot.

First, my big breakthrough was that I had been putting the mask on by positioning the top of the mask with the top of my nose. Instead, I now put the mask on by positioning the bottom of the mask with my chin. This means the mask sits higher up on my face, which I think means my mouth matches up a bit better with the largest part of the mask.

Second, I had been wearing a large size, as I figured I needed all the space I could get. However, I realized that the sizes don't really change width all that much, they are more about the height of a mask. Going down to a medium actually helped, as the mask height fit my face better. With the large, if I lined the bottom of the mask up with my chin, the nose was so loose that it would leak. With the medium I don't have that issue.

These days I still get a mask leak if I smile wide but fortunately I don't do that much in my sleep. On the other hand, if I wiggle my mouth a bit I don't actually get a leak. I still can't follow the mask guide though and have to wear my mask on the tight side, against the recommendation of the guide that says to wear it loose. I'm not sure if that's to do with the mask width though or if it's because I'm a side sleeper.

I still think the mask width is horrendous design. After Covid I got used to wearing N-95's a lot and I still don't understand why these masks aren't a similar width, or at least come in varying widths. However, at this point my mask is actually comfortable to wear at night and I'm getting great sleep.