In an earlier post, it was explained that sometimes you can leak air out of your tear ducts (which I think was happening to me).  Does anyone know if these masks will tend to dry your eyes?  I have a concern because I had a cornea transplant (yeah, I'm just falling apart!) a couple of years ago and it's really important that I keep that as hydrated as possible.  Also another question - I'm using the Mirage Swift and the last couple of nights, my nose is so sore it's just killing me!!  I've read that I shouldn't put anything on it (the soreness is towards the bottom where the nasal pillows are) and then where it's ok.  I'm debating if I should not wear the CPAP tonight and give it a day to heal.  Any help will be so appreciated.  I truly love this site - I was feeling very much alone.

Hi there momma,
my dme respitory therapist suggested that i dab a tiny bit of aloe vera gel around the edges of my mask==where the nasal pillows go slightly inside the nostril.  i use aloe vera gel with lidocaine==just like you use for sunburn.  she said that works great and i have found that it does.  she said that anything with oils, petrolium products can cause the silicone of the mask to deteriorate and leak.  

i have the same mask and just love it, been wearing it for 6+weeks now.  Only missed out on one night so far.  Usually wearing it 6 hours and as long as 9+ hours.  

keep in mind that you shouldn't put the aloe vera up into the nose, just sort of around the edges.  mine has been sort of tender and this works great.  

best wishes for a good night's sleep!
hoosierkitkat

momma,
i have not had any problems with the mask where my eyes are concerned.  keep in mind that when you have it on you can swivel the nasal pillows up and down to adjust what feels right for you.  hope this helps.
hoosierkitkat

Hi there momma,
my dme respitory therapist suggested that i dab a tiny bit of aloe vera gel around the edges of my mask==where the nasal pillows go slightly inside the nostril.  i use aloe vera gel with lidocaine==just like you use for sunburn.  she said that works great and i have found that it does.  she said that anything with oils, petrolium products can cause the silicone of the mask to deteriorate and leak.  

i have the same mask and just love it, been wearing it for 6+weeks now.  Only missed out on one night so far.  Usually wearing it 6 hours and as long as 9+ hours.  

keep in mind that you shouldn't put the aloe vera up into the nose, just sort of around the edges.  mine has been sort of tender and this works great.  

best wishes for a good night's sleep!
hoosierkitkat

To HoosierKitKat - thanks a bunch.  I'll try the aloe vera and see what happens.  Yes, this nasal thing is much better than the nose mask!!  I know this sounds stupid, but this is the first message board I've ever used.  I don't know how to just reply to one person so I'll do it this way.  Anyway, thanks so much for your help!!

Momma22 wrote:

In an earlier post, it was explained that sometimes you can leak air out of your tear ducts (which I think was happening to me).  Does anyone know if these masks will tend to dry your eyes?  I have a concern because I had a cornea transplant (yeah, I'm just falling apart!) a couple of years ago and it's really important that I keep that as hydrated as possible.  Also another question - I'm using the Mirage Swift and the last couple of nights, my nose is so sore it's just killing me!!  I've read that I shouldn't put anything on it (the soreness is towards the bottom where the nasal pillows are) and then where it's ok.  I'm debating if I should not wear the CPAP tonight and give it a day to heal.  Any help will be so appreciated.  I truly love this site - I was feeling very much alone.

What size pillow are your using, Small, Med, Large? I was using the MED and felt the pain similar to yours, after reading some, I determined that the size was too small and moved up and no problems.

The pillow should barely enter the nose, it should just seal around the inter rim of the nose -- as least for me...


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I didn't read your message until later last night so didn't try the new pillow.  When I got it, it had medium attached - of course not knowing exactly what I was doing, it felt too big so I swtiched it to the small.  I tried the medium earlier this morning and it does seem more comfortable.  I guess this is just a lot of trial and error.  I've also loosened the straps - I think I had them way too tight so that helped my comfort level last night.  I only had a medium on for a few minutes today, just to see what it was like so hard to tell until I use it a full night.  Anyway, thanks for the help - I'll post and let you know after a few nights if it helped or not.

M22-

I'm sorry you are having the tear duct problem but at least you know what is causing...and that you're not immagining it-lol. As for your sore nares- that's pretty common when starting with nasal pillows but after a while you nose gets use to...I can't bring myself to say I have caluses in my nose or anything but you know what I mean. Best situation would be to switch to a regular nasal mask for a couple nights to give your nose a break- some people will wear nasal pillows part of the night then switch to nasal mask for the rest of the night until they can sleep all night with it. Unfortunetly you are new hosehead so you probably don't have another mask to switch to so we have to work with what you have. Switching pillow size can help- I use small & medium...mostly small but every once in awhile I need to switch to the mediums for a few nights. Sometimes its just that a different size hits different pressure points to give your nares a chance to heal. Also you can play with rotating the barrel on your Swift a little to change the distirbution of pressure.

You can help reduce the friction & irritation by lubricating your nares- Ayr saline gel or any other saline gel like Little Noses they sell for kids; you can also use KY Jelly type personal lubricant. Rub a little just inside your nares before you put your mask on at night.  Both saline gel & KY-like personal lubricant are completetly safe to use with your mask and you- rub a thin layer just inside your nares. You do not want to use anything that is petroleum based or silicone based (high end personal lubricants) as they can damage the silicone in the pillows and there is an extremely small risk of an oil or petroleum based ointment getting into your lungs & causing an infection- it is a rare occurance and no more risky then eating an oil based salad dressing & possible inhaling it. During the day you can put a little antibiotic cream or other type of cream you prefer...I was so desperate when I was away from home one time that I rubbed a little chap stick on my finger and applied it. As long as you use just a little it shouldn't matter if it has petroleum or oil in as long as you don't put it on close to bed time- if you are concerned you could wash any residue off. When I had problems with nose bleeds years ago my doctor had me put a little A&D diaper ointment on a q-tip and rub it inside my nose a few time a day so I don't think it something doctors worry about too much.

As for air on your eyes, you are less likely to have problems with nasal pillows then regular nasal masks or full face masks that go accross the bridge of you nose because they have a  high potential for air leaks really close to your eyes. If you decide to get a nasal mask I would recomend somthing like ComfortCurve or ComfortLite that only cover the tip of your nose or the underside of it to reduce the risk of air leaks. Have you been able to stop the tear duct air problem? That could be an issue if it happens all the time- you would need to talk to your eye doctor to see if he has any suggestions. Another thought I had was if you use any prescription nasal sprays for allergies? I notice when I've had the tear duct problem it was when I went off my Nasonex for a while...it might be somthing to look into, especially with your eye problems.

Thanks, Christine - your info sounds really helpful.  The last post, I said I'd let everyone know how things were going.  Well, on Friday a guy came to deliver my humidifier.  I had the thing all torn apart because we were leaving for a wedding for the weekend.  I don't plan to use the humidifier until the air gets drier (like when we have to start running the furnace this fall).  Anyway, I drag this thing through 2 states, go to set it up in the hotel room Friday night and I can't get the hose to stay in the unit.  There's some kind of plug in there.  I couldn't remember it being there before but I don't always pay close attention to things - I had taken it apart to wash the hose, etc. and had no problem getting it back together.  So I didn't use it for the whole weekend.  Called the medical supply girl today - the guy who brought the humidifier had put that in there - I guess it's to be in there if I use the humidifier.  Oh boy, am I really feeling stupid!!  LOL!!  So I'll start using it again tonight and will let you know how I do.  I kind of thought that maybe my nose will just have to get "toughened" in like you said.  But I sure will try all the creams, etc to see how it works.  Anyway, I'll write again in a few days with an update.  Thank you all so much!!