Nose mask vs nasal cushions and leak dry eyes

[silverdr]

Ive been having problems recently with very dry eyes. 
I started using my airsense 11 at the end of June and the pressures are higher than the 5 15 I had on my older machine DS2. They are now 6 and 9.
I switched to a resmed n20i nasal mask this year from a dreamwear nasal cushion and I think that I might be having a leak around the nasal mask which may be blowing on my eyes despite wearing a sleep mask.

Does anyone have any experience with these two mask type and have an opinion on the dryeye problem.
I can always get a new nasal cushion mask to try to see the difference but I am sleeping so much better and have much less fatigue during the day since using the nasal mask and as11.
I see from a recent post that many do not like the resmed n30i nasal cushion (new model) and I only have experience with the dreamwear model.

I feel the air blowing up into my left eye when I awaken. 
Now I have to use tearduct plugs , eye gel nightly and Complete PF eyedrops 2-4 times daily and eyes still dry.

[silverdr]

BTW the air leakage is not from the mask vent, its from around the side of the mask which may be  pulled to the side by the mask straps

[UnknownActor]

Hello. Just crossed my mind to log in and search for this, dry eye, eye injury, etc.

Was floxed last year without my knowledge and now have floater right eye. Okay, that's a separate issue, but somewhat linked. About three days ago, right eye again, pain on every blink, upper right corner. That eye obviously concerns me (always on the lookout for retinal detachment now), so I went to ophtalmology ER. Wasn't impressed by doc who checked and said it was "dry eye." Meh. Not convinced. Particularly cause palpation feels like it's the eyelid that hurts, not the eye. And different points on the supraorbital bone hurt when palpated wthout that much pressure. And all of this led me to thinking about....

my AirSense 10 AutoFit I think it is. Fullface mask, F20 I think, the triangle with the apex that jabs the sinuses. And I'm wondering if it can slide to one side when you're sleeping and injure/hit/crush the eye. I have also noticed the air seeping out and blowing into one eye or the other. But I think the CPAP indeed, the mask I should say, is probably the culprit for this eye pain I got.

The only solution that comes to mind at this point for me, is to try to get used to the nasal mask I bought whcih is sitting there. The F30i. Should've tried it first. I don't really like it. I just can't get used to the way it cups your nose from the bottom. Kinda like grabs it. And I don't feel a comfortable, unobstructed flow from the nostrils thru the holes of the silicon. But I guess I'm gonna have to put up with that, since it seems that pressure on the eye bones is to be avoided at all costs. Ultimately, I'm going to look into the masks that have two prongs, let's say, that go straight into the nostrils. They look very interesting, but in practice might also be a let down. Don't know yet.

[Dormeo]

There are mask liners out there for the resmed n20i. Just try googling and you'll find them. They might help to reduce leaks blowing air up into your eyes.

If they help you, you can use a purchased liner as a template and make your own out of old tee shirts or whatever.

[silverdr]

My son had a problem similar to that which you described when his mask slipped upward and hit his eye. He had seen an eye doc but had multiple problems with his treatment and had to go find a corneal specialist who finally helped him but it took about a year because after his initial visits with the original doc he developed herpies in that eye. 
So he was treated with an anti viral and steroids for about a year.
He introduced me to an Eye Mask which he wears every night to make everything dark because sunlight comes though his window shades and awakens him.


However I discovered after getting very dry eyes which interfered with my vision, my ophthalmologist told me that my cpap was contributing to the problem. I was to use special drops 4 times a day and a gel in the eye everynight.
He also put tearduct plus in both eyes.

I did get somewhat better with all of this . However I came across a youtube video by Uncle Nico (sleepHq .com) explaining how lowering the max cpap pressure helps prevent the mask from leaking upward and drying your eyes.
I followed his advice setting my minimum pressure to close to the average pressure seen on my Oscar reports (7.4) and the maximum to the 95% level. This reduced my discomfort , my AHI improved as did my sleep duration and with the eye mask I dont have to use all the drops and the gel. I awaken with some crust around the bottom lids but dry eyes are much better.
 
Hope this info helps.

[UnknownActor]

Thank you so much, SilverDR, for the info. This is all new to me, as I'm juggling a Flox Reddit and now here. Thought everything was warm and fuzzy with my Resmed, but now I see there are issues I didn't know of. Sorry to hear about what happened to your son. There's no justification for things like that (if a mask can hurt an eye, then it should be pulled), floxing me without my knowledge, etc.

This was my first experience with "dry eye", and I'm glad that today, yesterday actually, I woke up to some relief and saw what I had read, a little white dot at the end of the upper eyelid, I think the lacrimal fluid discharges there, something like that. Main thing is the constant pain with every blink was gone. I did notice that my upper eyelid was puffy, and the crustiness of what likely had been discharged throughout the night. So, that was good news.

The way I seem to have taken care of it, is that I nixed the F20 full face, can't have that apex jabbing me in the eye, and the air gushing into them. I'm finally determined to get used to the F30i and... hmmm, it's not bad. I certainly don't have a problem with air into the eyes, cause the vent is down by the mouth, no air makes it to the eye area. I do have to make tightness adjustment cause I'm getting the red bummer face in the morning. But, bottom line, I think I've taken care of any impact the machine may have on my eyes.

All the best!

[KeepingItSimple]

I had not heard of mask liners so thank you for this information. I’ve been going crazy with leakage around my eyes and I already had serious dry eye issues (Restasis, gel drops at night, and multiple drops a day from my dry eye specialist help but I also have to use heat masks and eye exercises). 

I use the Resmed N20 mask and a cushion is good (and I sleep like a baby) for about 5 days as long as I wash my face with soap and water and don’t use any moisturizer at bedtime. I still wake up with an oily nose and I suspect the oil is saturating the cushion.

My facial skin is wrinkling like crazy with no retinol moisturizer at night and the pressure of the mask. Breathing well at night is far more important than vanity issues surrounding wrinkles but it’s depressing to see the damage a mask is doing.

Thanks again!