Nasal Congestion during therapy

[freshair]

I've squirted, i've sprayed, nose strips, nostril expanders, Ayr gel, neti pot,turn up humidifier, turn down humidifier all this while in snowbird florida country, still have problems later in the night with nasal congestion..Has anyone tried essentail oil around the filter area with a sterile menthol aroma to help breathing..

[Pugsy]

A lot of forum members use some sort of essential oil either because we just like the aroma or maybe to help open the nasal passages.
I have used a simple cotton ball with some essential oil on it lots of time. Just place the cotton ball on something to protect the table top surface and place it close to the air intake at the back of the machine. That way if you get too much of a good thing on the cotton ball you can simply move it away from the air intake a little to reduce the strength of the aroma.

There is also a store bought essential oils with little discs to put the oil on.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/cpap-a ... aster.html

and various other scents available.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/Pur-Sl ... -Pack.html

there are more available under aromatherapy at cpap.com.
I have tried both the Pur Sleep brand and the Snugglescents brand. I prefer the Pur Sleep brand as it seems to last longer.

[teachcsg]

Thanks for the advice Pugsy. I get this question on occasion with pts asking me if they can put something in their humidifier chamber (vick, etc.) and I always tell them no but I dont have a good suggestion to offer. This will help...
Regarding the congestion issue....some pts that have tried all the remedies you have and still suffer from congestion will move to a full face mask or on some occasions the problem will start to lessen after your nose gets more acclimated to the higher air flows from the cpap.

Good Luck!

-Cesar

[freshair]

something else I tried and failed to mention, I took the lid off the Vicks jar, filled the lid up with the salve and shaped a dome..placed the lid in front of the filter and....NOTTA...didn't help at all, couldn't get the first whif of the salve....

[kteague]

Any chance your mask sitting across the bridge of your nose is blocking the sinuses? I had trouble with a nasal mask for that reason, but with a nasal pillows style there's no congestion. If you are a mouth breather and need a full face mask, maybe one of the hybrid styles would be better, don't know enough about them to say for sure. Even if you are a mouth breather and couldn't routinely use a pillows style mask, if you could at least trial one you'd find out of the external compression is your issue or not.

[Islandwoman]

I have used aromatherapy for years. First when suffering from chemically induced asthma. Nothing the doctors did helped and anything in the air sent me into violent coughing for over a year. I had read about aromatherapy and found a found a certified aroma therapist not too far away. She questioned me for a long time and then recommended a blend of THERAPUTIC GRADE oils. It was the only thing that stopped my coughing. I have been "CPaping" it for just a month but I put two drops on a cotton ball and place it an inch or so from the air intake filter. I only use therapeutic grade oils which are more expensive but made for medical treatment. In Europe and many other parts of the world aromatherapy respected and used regularly. It has made my CPap experience a much more pleasant and health giving experience. Bad oils and "good smells" can do bad things I have read that "room fresheners" actually cause asthma in children. Read about real aromatherapy. I have taken several classes at a local medical college and only use the safest oils.

[BlueSky72]

Your congestion might be caused by a structural issue inside your nose. Not all congestion is caused by a functional issue like allergies or CPAP use. A referral to an ENT specialist might help. I explain it in this thread:
viewtopic/t94733/Nose-congestion.html