Blisters on top of nose

Since Day 1 of using my full face gel mask, I have had extreme soreness/blisters on top of my nose. Anything I have tried hasn't worked: ointment, bandaids, moleskin, duoderm, and even "time off" from the mask to allow for healing. Has anyone had this problem and found a solution? My doctor seems to be unfamiliar with this issue and has no solutions. My medical equipment supplier suggested the moleskin. Didn't work. I'm desperate! HELP HELP HELP HELP!

Welcome to the forum.

If you REALLY want HELP, HELP, HELP, HELP.......it would help US to know what mask you're talking about.....also, your machine and pressure.
Please take the time to join the forum and fill out your profile so we'll know what you're dealing with.
What you're describing usually has to do with the mask being far too tight. It could also be that the mask is the wrong size or it could be that it's a really lousy mask......some of them are.


Den

Thank you for responding. I am brand new to this kind of site. I registered, but I didn't get to a place that asked me to fill in a profile. My machine is a ResMed VPAP Adapt SV, and the pressure varies with my breathing, ranging from 5 to 15. My mask is a Respironics Comfort Gel Full Face mask, size small. I had a ResMed mask for a few days (size small), but my nose developed an open wound right away, so it was replaced with the Comfort Gel. If I loosen the straps even a little, I get major air leaks by my eyes. Even as tight as it is, I occasionally struggle with leaks. (I am under an opthalmologist's care for extremely dry eyes, so the eyes trump the nose when it comes to the mask fit.) I have experimented with the strap adjustments a lot, and had the sleep doctor's nurse try to fit it better. I have a small face with a very slender nose, so I think that has made it harder to get a comfortable fit without leaks. (That's just a guess.) At any rate, I am hoping I don't have to be resigned to pain every night and a red blistered nose every day for as long as I need to use the VPAP. I can't help but think someone else must have experienced this. So a friend suggested I look for help at a site like this.

I started with the Respironics Swift LT nasal pillow but couldn't work with it. It sits in my bedside table. Every time I smooshed my nose against the pillow it smooshed the nozzles that went into my nares and cut off the air supply. N/G

I went back with daggers in my eyes as I had been charged $300 for this contraption (if you can imagine that) at MediGas. They INSTANTLY said to try the Mirage Activa LT Large and gave me one to try for a week (whereupon they were going to charge me another $300 or so I am sure). Well, what a difference!

BTW, I had also been provided with a basic nose mask that sat on my nose and after a few days I had open sores on the bridge of my nose. Great mask eh?

I went back with daggers in my eyes. The sales associate took one look at me and ran for the manager who gave me the Mirage Activa LT Large to try for a week. Well, what a difference! I came home, plugged it in, put it on and promptly fell into a deep sleep for hours. No leaks. No nose pain. It has a forehead support and is a bellows type mask that balloons out and feels like a feather on my nose. I have since discovered cpap.com and ordered a Large WIDE version, which sits on my face, wider than the creases between my nose and cheeks and seals well.

The ResMed S8 Autoset II has a provision for when you first put the mask on. It pumps out air at full pressure and gives you a graph and readout of the fit. Ten seconds and the mask, which is bellowed out, is sealed. And I push the on/off and go into normal mode and off to sleep. It works extremely well and I love the Autoset as it uses the minimum pressure within the range you have set. Mine is set to 7 - 15 cm O2 at the moment and I average around 9 cm on an ongoing basis. This is a boon to hoseheads as for one thing it cuts down on mouth breathing as it does not blow your mouth open. It also reduces dramatically the amount of air that might be swallowed and is more comfy in that regard as well. I use the accompanying H4i heated humidifier and even with a cold this week, it has been a marvel by blowing warm moist air through my nose, keeping it open and unplugged. Love it.

Each to his or her own but this is what is working for me at the moment and I intend to return the mask that they gave me with the unit as a piece of garbage. Truly something that should not even be on the market.... simply a sales tool to talk you up to a better mask and they did it with great mastery. They reefed down that mask until my nose turned purple and then said "escuse me I have to take a call" and left me until my nose about fell off. Then came back and sold me a better mask for $300 but still not the one that was going to work for me.

hurtingnose wrote:Thank you for responding. I am brand new to this kind of site. I registered, but I didn't get to a place that asked me to fill in a profile. My machine is a ResMed VPAP Adapt SV, and the pressure varies with my breathing, ranging from 5 to 15. My mask is a Respironics Comfort Gel Full Face mask, size small. I had a ResMed mask for a few days (size small), but my nose developed an open wound right away, so it was replaced with the Comfort Gel. If I loosen the straps even a little, I get major air leaks by my eyes. Even as tight as it is, I occasionally struggle with leaks. (I am under an opthalmologist's care for extremely dry eyes, so the eyes trump the nose when it comes to the mask fit.) I have experimented with the strap adjustments a lot, and had the sleep doctor's nurse try to fit it better. I have a small face with a very slender nose, so I think that has made it harder to get a comfortable fit without leaks. (That's just a guess.) At any rate, I am hoping I don't have to be resigned to pain every night and a red blistered nose every day for as long as I need to use the VPAP. I can't help but think someone else must have experienced this. So a friend suggested I look for help at a site like this.

From what I've read from the people who have used that mask, it's a piece of crap......leaks like a sieve, no matter what you do with it. Most Respironics masks with the word "Comfort" in them are NOT.

Not knowing which ResMed mask you had, it's hard to say what was wrong with it. Generally speaking, the ResMed Ultra Mirage Full Face and the ResMed Quattro have been good masks for many......assuming they're the proper size and properly adjusted. Unfortunately, far too many people (who work in that profession) don't know how to adjust the masks for/on the users.

NO mask should injure the user......period! If it does, there are reasons why.......wrong mask, wrong size or not properly adjusted. They usually fall into one of those categories.


Den

Obviously the mask just doesn't work for you, it won't be the last, move on to a new one!!

With a slender nose you may want to check out the Profile Lite (but this is a nasal), or the ZZZ-Mask (they make nasal & full versions). Go to the manufacturers' website & download the size guage, print it, cut it and see what size you need. The ZZZ nasal is only $50. The Profile Lite has several different sizes/shapes to choose from.

You'll find if you read the boards here that finding the mask that fits your face the best is (usually) an ongoing adventure. I don't know how long everyone else tries out a mask, but I can usually tell within a few hours (nap) if a mask is going to be a contender for me, or if it hits the 'maybes' or the 'reject' pile.

If you can afford it, get a few to try. Check out cpapauction.com for ones that others tried once (or not at all) for less $. If you don't want to go that route, learn your rights as far as your DME is concerned (search the archives for posts on this). I don't use a DME but I've heard that you should be able to bring any mask back for a different one after a few days of trying it out.

Hang in there!! Not all masks will hurt, and its definitely worth it!! Welcome!!!

That Respironics full face mask gave me a horrible pressure sore on the bridge of my nose, too. Like someone above said, it is a piece of crap. However, the bandaid is helping the sore heal, once I changed mask. I cut it to shorten both ends so it fits between my eyes (and across the bridge of my nose). I medicate the sore unneath the bandaid pad with Campho Phenique. The bandaid should protect the sore from the pressure of a mask and it puzzles me why it did not work for you. Try not to fasten your mask so tight.

Add me to the list of those who cannot wear the ComfortGel full face mask.

The ResMed Quattro full face mask is very popular, and while it isn't perfect on me, I can at least wear it mostly successfully if I need to.

I still get them from time to time, and using the moleskin works wonders. Learned that here a few years ago. Good luck with your therapy and compliance.

When I first started therapy, the bridge of my nose blistered. This, I have since discovered, was because I had the mask on too tight. Once that blister formed, wearing the mask was painful, even though I was wearing it looser (thanks to the lovely folk here and their advice on fitting / adjusting etc!)

I simply smeared some Lucas' PawPaw Ointment on it and covered it witha small piece of paper tape every night before putting the mask on until it cleared up.... took only a few nights. Haven't had the problem since..... probably because I wear it nowhere near as tight anymore!!

Yeah, had that for the first month of cpap, then it went away. I had to clean out the blister a couple times a day with a qtip and hydrogen peroxide, and then smear bacitracin on it. Eventually my body got used to the mask and it stopped and has not come back.

hurtingnose wrote:Since Day 1 of using my full face gel mask, I have had extreme soreness/blisters on top of my nose. Anything I have tried hasn't worked: ointment, bandaids, moleskin, duoderm, and even "time off" from the mask to allow for healing. Has anyone had this problem and found a solution? My doctor seems to be unfamiliar with this issue and has no solutions. My medical equipment supplier suggested the moleskin. Didn't work. I'm desperate! HELP HELP HELP HELP!

Something else comes to mind. Perhaps you are allergic to the mask material at the bridge of your nose although placing a barrier there should have solved that. My guess is that it is just pressure and that you need a mask (like in my case the Mirage Activa LT nose mask) that permits wearing with much less pressure. Finding the right mask can be a chore and I was very lucky to have found one that works after going through only 4 of them (the one that they gave me with the blower, the Swift LT that got smooshed in my nose, the Mirage Activa LT Large that was a mediocre seal and finally, the Mirage Activa LT Large WIDE that missed the creases beside my nose and was a good seal and very comfy). Keep at it. You may need to try out a few before settling on one that works for you in particular but, please, do not give up. It is worth the effort and once found it will be your best friend for life. Well, maybe not for life. I am already thinking that I might find something even better. My Mirage Activa LT by the way, has a forehead 'brace' and this keeps the pressure off the bridge of my nose. I have not had an issue with blistering or soreness since. Good luck to you.

I have not been able to cure this problem of swelling, redness and broken skin on my nose. Nothing helped, duoderm, bandaids, neosporin with bandaids, moleskin, lanolin. The swelling and breakdown got so bad I'm having to take a full fifteen days off CPAP, I fought this tooth and nail, but it became obvious to me I had a serious problem that would only heal without further pressure. I was using a mirage Quattro which I really liked except for the hard plastic on my nose. At pressures of 18/22 it is difficult to stop leaks so wearing it comfrtably loose just didn't work. I have a new respironics comfort gel mask to try next and am looking into a total face mask. By the way, there are two total face masks available (that I know of), one is a one size fits all which makes to sense to me and the other is a FitlLfe mask from Respironics.
I have been on CPAP, now BPAP, for nearly two years aan this has been an ongoing problem. I have thin sensitive skin.
Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide to do.
Mary Z.

I am the queen of nose blisters, so listen to me when I speak

Order a nose protector from this site
http://padacheek.com/PAC_Nosebridge.html

It will protect your nose while you heal. I wear it every night and my bridge healed up, but I still have blisters on the side of my nose where the protection stops!

In the meantime, put Vitamin E oil, 30,000 units, on your blisters and they will heal much faster. The blisters might be from pressure or it might be from the silicone. Some of us are very sensitive to silicone. Did you soak your mask in hot soapy water for an hour or so before rinsing and drying? For me, the more I wash it the better it gets. I hate breaking in new cushions.

Good luck to you.

Bev

I really appreciate all the information and encouragement you guys sent my way. You gave me the resolve to pursue a change with my sleep doc. No more settling for nose pain ad infinitum. Now I have an appointment tomorrow with the Medical Supply Co. to try out a new mask. They say they have a mask that is actually a combination of nose pillows and mouth mask so that nothing will be resting on the bridge of my nose. I can't envision this yet, but I hope it works. Just hope I won't be trading a red blistered nose with a bump for flaring nostrils stretched out by nose pillows! I also plan to try some of the remedies that have worked to heal your noses. So THANK YOU ALL! I have hope!