Beards and Masks

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
RipSnorter
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2014 3:47 pm

Beards and Masks

Post by RipSnorter » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:43 pm

Hi All,

Last night was my second night on CPAP. I am happy to report that the mask has stayed on both nights and this morning I have noticed a considerable drop in blood pressure, so I am truly stoked. It's not often you get to a root cause of a set of problems, so it is great to be able to take the one action to help sort out many symptoms, for a change.

My wife mentioned on the first night my skin looked better, which is interesting.

I am a mouth breather, using the quattro fx mask. It seals pretty well, but last night there was a small amount of leakage around the bottom of my lip where my beard interfaces with the mask. It was predominantly on the side closest to the pillow (dear I say it some drooling occurred)... Roll on the homer Simpson Jokes...

Now I have a short boxed beard, so the only area where the mask hits the beard is on the top of my chin, below my bottom lip.

My question is simply this - what is the least worst length of beard for a good fit that other people find is ideal? I'm hesitant to go down to stubble as I think this will end up irritating the skin.

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Cheers,

Machine: Resmed S10 Airsense Autosense
Mask: Resmed F10 Full Face CPAP Mask
AHI Details : 76 before treatment/Under 2 with Treatment

stratapastor
Posts: 33
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2014 5:23 pm
Location: Kansas

Re: Beards and Masks

Post by stratapastor » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:50 pm

I did a fund raiser where I agreed to go a day without shaving for every dollar donated to help find a cure for EB... a disease my nephew has. As a result I have a beard that hasn't been touched in almost 2 years. My L mirage quattro is a little big but still hardly ever leaks at the beard... at least not enough to notice.

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RipSnorter
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2014 3:47 pm

Re: Beards and Masks

Post by RipSnorter » Sat Jul 19, 2014 5:59 pm

Thanks Stratapastor,

So I take it that the seal must still work well with a long beard then.

I made a mistake above - I actually have the Quattro Air - not the fx. I must say the option of being able to unplug the host without stuffing around at night is good.

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MachineMask
Cheers,

Machine: Resmed S10 Airsense Autosense
Mask: Resmed F10 Full Face CPAP Mask
AHI Details : 76 before treatment/Under 2 with Treatment

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bwexler
Posts: 1507
Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 11:52 pm
Location: San Marcos, Ca. USA

Re: Beards and Masks

Post by bwexler » Sat Jul 19, 2014 6:02 pm

If my Stuble gets past 3 or 4 days, I begin to have problems with leaks. Doesn't matter weather I am using my Wisp nasal mask or my F&P 431 FFM. Haven't had a real beard or stache in almost 50 years.

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Mask: SleepWeaver 3D Soft Cloth Nasal CPAP Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: AurCurve 10 ASV Also using Sleaplyhead 1.1, ResScan 6 and CMS50i

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Jack_Russel_Fan
Posts: 104
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2014 2:45 am
Location: Ellijay, GA
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Re: Beards and Masks

Post by Jack_Russel_Fan » Sun Jul 20, 2014 8:49 am

I grew a full beard and found my mask stayed in place better with fewer leaks.

I think it is an individual thing!

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Mask: TAP PAP Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask with Improved Stability Mouthpiece
Additional Comments: CMS-50F Pulse Oximeter, O2 when sleeping, SleepyHead, Sleep Master
Author of Sleep Master wireless xpap data transfer program.
Machine: PRS1 760P

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CaptPat
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue May 20, 2014 4:04 pm

Re: Beards and Masks

Post by CaptPat » Sun Jul 20, 2014 12:40 pm

I've tried a Quattro a Quattro FX and a simplus, best results were with the Q FX. I only use a FFM when I'm congested, otherwise i use Swift FX- which has been great. I trim my beard to about 3/4 inches, REMZZZZ and Pad a Cheek did not help, made the leaks worse. YMMV

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glarnold
Posts: 84
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 12:55 pm
Location: Bellevue, NE USA

Re: Beards and Masks

Post by glarnold » Mon Jul 21, 2014 9:45 am

Am a mouth breather, with full face beard, and Quatro FX ff mask. I have found that the cpap foam pillow, the one with cut outs on each end, helps greatly in solving the problem of small leaks in that area. You can move your head just a little bit, and the seal is again intact. (It's available from our sponsor.)

Also, fitting the mask loosely (so it hangs while sitting up, with no air blowing), allows the silicon to balloon and seal against the face. Mine will leak slightly, until I lie down and fit my head into the pillow.

Hope that might help a little.

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Mask: Quattro™ Air Full Face Mask with Headgear
Additional Comments: SleepyHead Software, PR System One BiPap Auto DS750 Machine Package With Bi-Flex (Discontinued)