What Changed?

[LFJ219]

I have been on CPAP therapy for 12 years with no problems. I have a S10 Autoset unit set at 11.2-18. I have been using the P10 headset with nasal pillows since it was introduced. I have never had a problem. Suddenly about a month ago the inside of my nose began to get sore and is continually worsening. It is really painful at night now. I have not changed sizes.

Any ideas?

[OpalRose]

Try sizing up on the P10 pillow. The pillow should not be inserted too far into the nostril, but just a little.
How often do you change your pillows? They normally get soft and become ineffective after a while.

Also, it’s important to use a lubricant in your nostrils, like Lansinoh cream found in the baby isles of most stores or a nasal gel like Ayr.

Finally, if your finding that you have sores that are not healing, see an ENT doctor. He/she could prescribe an ointment that will speed healing.

[Stom]

I'm wondering you should try a different type of mask for a while to let your nose heal?

There's an old joke "Doc, it hurts when I do this." "Don't do that."

Seems to me that if something is hurting you, you need to do something different at least for a while, and for me, nasal pillows tend to dry out my nose even with humidification, and especially if one of the pillows points towards my septum.

How often do you change cushions? They do lose integrity with use, and your fit may have changed, too.

[snorybob]

Opal Rose is probably right. The same thing happened to me, so I changed mask (amara view) for a couple of weeks & after the nose healed I went back to P10 but upgraded from medium to large pillows. No more problems ever since. 


                                                       snorybob.

[PaulaO2]

Could be totally unrelated to the mask. Could be a pimple or cold sore (which you get even without a cold). Go up a size as well as use a healing gel like Ayr's or try lanolin.

[mesenteria]

My feeling is that since your sores are new while your therapy is not, the sores require intervention and probably the attention of a physician.  They may be innocuous, but they may be an infection of the follicles or mucosa, ulcers, or they may be signs of a herpetic infection.....really quite a few possibilities that might respond better to immediate attention.

I agree with the others who suggest that continuing apace is not likely to yield good results...UNLESS...the therapy as you know and practice it is entirely unrelated to the sores, in which case you are still left with dealing with the sores as a separate issue.  Perhaps the therapy is best left alone, in other words, and it should be continued for its historical apparent suitability.   If an alternative delivery, different mask say, is something you know you can undertake for a short time, it couldn't hurt, provided you don't reduce the efficacy.