puffy eyes and face

[whatrdreamsmadeof]

i am wondering if anyone is experiencing puffy eyes and or face in the morning, after using cpap. the first 2 mornings on auto cpap were o.k. these past 2 mornings i can hardly recognize myself in the mirror...if this is happening to others i would sure like to know....also any tips on how to reduce swelling would be great!!! thanks

[ldemmery]

I have the puffy eyes... got real bad for a little while and now, its only one usually. Had a bit of a problem with the skin on that one eye getting really dry and flakey. Used a little off the shelf cortizone cream and the skin clearned up well. Now, its only a little puffy in the morning and goes down before I leave for work in the morning. Doesn't bother me much, I just keep and eye on it (I know, bad joke).

Lynne

[TossinNTurnin]

[quote="whatrdreamsmadeof"]i am wondering if anyone is experiencing puffy eyes and or face in the morning, after using cpap. the first 2 mornings on auto cpap were o.k. these past 2 mornings i can hardly recognize myself in the mirror...if this is happening to others i would sure like to know....also any tips on how to reduce swelling would be great!!! thanks

[dieselgal]

I don't know about the puffy face (well not from CPAP anyway ) but as far as the eyes go I get puffy eyes if I have tiny leaks around the eye area. Sometimes the leak may not be to noticeable to you but your sensitive eyes feel it over time.

[BrnEyez]

I also had horrible facial swelling with my first full face mask...felt like the Pillsbury Dough Boy (girl). After two morning of being very, very puffy I promptly went back to the sleep doc....he said...and I am only repeating...I have no facts....that the swelling was because the pressure of the mask on my face was not allowing the lymph nodes to drain properly. My mask was not too tight, but that for me the areas of pressure were wrong; across the nose, under the eyes, down the cheeks. I have switched to Nasal Aire II where nothing is pressing on my face anywhere...and have not had one problem with swelling.

[Perchancetodream]

I have read that an overly tightened mask, as well as leaks, can cause puffiness around the eyes.

Guess that means that if we ever get a perfect fitting mask the puffiness will disappear.

(Good thing the machine doesn't allow me to hold my breath until that happens.)

Susan

[darthlucy]

I get the puffy face at times as well. I think BrnEyez's doctor is right about the lymph draining. It is more likely to happen to me if my mask is a little too tight and hits me in the wrong place. What I do is when I take my shower, I get the wash cloth nice and hot and place it across my eyes/cheeks for a few minutes. Sometimes just keeping my face under the hot shower water for a bit helps, too. The warmth makes the swelling go down pretty quickly.