nose bridge pain

[craggerss]

i have tried many different masks with no success, currently I use the mirage quattro full face mask and I can only stop it from leaking if I wear it real tight, so far I perfer the full face mask but the bridge of my nose hurts and is always red, any suggestions?

[Janknitz]

Take a look at "Taming the Mirage Quattro" in my signature below. The Mirage Quattro has an AIR cushion, and the air cushion won't work if it's mashed up flat against your face. The air cushion must be inflated and not held too tightly to the face. You have to learn how to let the air cushion do its job--there's a real art to adjusting it correctly--it takes time, patience and practice.

In particular, if the nose bridge is sore, you need to loosen the top straps and allow that cushion around the nose fill up very full. Compensate, if necessary, by tightening the lower straps a little bit, but remember you need air in that part of the cushion as well. The top of the mask should tilt away from your nose like this \{, NOT like this /{.

Make sure you are lying down in bed and the machine is ON when you are adjusting it--and if you are on an autopap, try to have the machine at it's highest pressure when you are doing the fitting.

Good luck.

[RomeinDNVR]

Sorry to hear you are having a pain issue, that is not fun.

I just started using a Hans Rudolph 7600 Series V2 Full Face CPAP mask and it is by far the best fitting and most comfortable FFM I have used. You might want to give it a try.

Rome

[azpilgrims]

I too have the same problem, tried the Taming the Mirage Quattro but still get a sore nose bridge. Now I just put a band aid on the bridge of my nose, then I put some NexCare Waterproof Tape for a cushion over the band aid, and so far this seems to work and keep the bridge of my nose from getting raw and hurt.


http://www.amazon.com/Nexcare-Absolute- ... B001H54S82

[Wulfman...]

i have tried many different masks with no success, currently I use the mirage quattro full face mask and I can only stop it from leaking if I wear it real tight, so far I perfer the full face mask but the bridge of my nose hurts and is always red, any suggestions?

If you haven't yet, try the ResMed Ultra Mirage Full Face mask. It's a much better mask than the Quattro. It's my belief that they designed the Quattro to be similar to the UMFF but to make more profit (since there are fewer parts). The key to the success with these two masks is to keep the upper straps very loose......and most of the tension on the lower straps.

Another significant issue that many users seem to ignore (or are oblivious to) is their bed pillows. "Standard" (fiber fill type) bed pillows can push the masks out of alignment as the head sinks into it......and the leaks can be horrible.


Den

[Janknitz]

Quattro to be similar to the UMFF but to make more profit (since there are fewer parts).

OK, Wulfman, I've never seen an UMFF in the flesh, but the Quattro has like a million parts. I feel like a surgeon when I field strip the thing to clean it--I lay everything out in a specific order and I'm always triple checking to make sure I have everything (and that antiasphyxiation valve hasn't gone down the drain!) whenever I clean the thing. It's a process! I can't imagine a mask with MORE parts!

[Wulfman...]

Quattro to be similar to the UMFF but to make more profit (since there are fewer parts).

OK, Wulfman, I've never seen an UMFF in the flesh, but the Quattro has like a million parts. I feel like a surgeon when I field strip the thing to clean it--I lay everything out in a specific order and I'm always triple checking to make sure I have everything (and that antiasphyxiation valve hasn't gone down the drain!) whenever I clean the thing. It's a process! I can't imagine a mask with MORE parts!

I have both of those masks and the downloaded "components cards" (user manuals) for them. I don't have an absolute firm count on the number of components, but going through those "cards" and trying to count the components, the Quattro has approximately 14 pieces (counting headgear and clips) and the UMFF has closer to 20. The UMFF has two extra headgear clips for the upper straps whereas they eliminated those with the way they attach them on the Quattro. However, most of the extra components are in the elbow/anti-asphyxiation valve assembly.

For the first several years of their production, the Quattros had a nasty defect in the elbow becoming loose (where it fits into the front of the mask) and it leaking like crazy there. The "fix" was to pull the elbow out, make several wraps of plumber's Teflon tape around both ends and shove them back together. If you want to do a forum search on "Teflon", there will be 45 pages of posts using that word. It's been rumored that they made improvements to the Quattro in recent years regarding that issue. I can't verify it because mine is a 2007 vintage mask (purchased from a forum member who decided he didn't want it after all).

I've never taken either one of those masks completely apart. I've (almost) always left them assembled (except the headgear) to clean them.....especially the elbow assemblies......I've never seen a need to do so. I've always used a Dawn dishwashing liquid solution to clean (soak) them. Hot soapy water to wash, rinse in hot water, then another (final) rinse in cold water (seems to put a little more spring back in the seal).

For what it's worth, I'm still using the same (UMFF) mask I started with in May of 2005 (I have a total of four of them and two that I purchased back in 2006 are still sealed in the original boxes). My "backup" UMFF mask was purchased from a forum member back in 2007. I got four years out of the first headgear (swapped it out for the headgear on my "backup" mask). Even though the original seal was still giving me very low leak rates, I finally swapped it out for a new one in April of 2011 (cleaned and packed the original away for posterity).......so, I got six years out of the original seal. The main reason I installed a new seal was because I had stockpiled numerous spares (including headgear) and figured I'd see how a new one compared.......actually, there was not that much difference. Beginning the first of this year, I swapped the headgear back to my backup mask and put a new one on my original mask.


Den

[Wulfman...]

i have tried many different masks with no success, currently I use the mirage quattro full face mask and I can only stop it from leaking if I wear it real tight, so far I perfer the full face mask but the bridge of my nose hurts and is always red, any suggestions?

One final thought/question........
Are you sure your mask is the right size?
This has been another issue with those (Quattro) masks......they tend to run slightly bigger/longer than the same size in a comparable full face mask (like the UMFF). Consequently, the users found that they had to cinch them down to try to stop the leaks. They found by going to a size smaller that it worked better (less leaks).


Den

[craggerss]

Thx for the suggestions,I will be sure to try some out

[LSAT]

I agree with wulfman on the size issue...I was measured as a large on my Quattro. It leaked terribly aroiund the nose. I exchanged it for a medium and it has been great...Size matters!

Also ...I found that if you move the mask down about 1/4", the top of the mask rests on a wider part of your nose. This moves the lower edge lower on your chin, but that doesn't seem to cause any problems. This eliminates some 'air in the eye' issues.

[napstress]

I find the Pad-A-Cheek mask liner works well, with extra padding. You can also wear a band-aid until the sore goes away. The thing with the PAC liner, though, is that you will probably want to make the nose/mouth hole bigger. This will involve delicate scissor work. If that's something that's not easy for you, maybe you can find someone who can do it. The good thing about the PAC liner is that it's washable, dries fast, and will last a long time. It is definitely worth the money.