Amara view - how to adjust for best breathing?

[stephenn]

Hi all,
Just bought a new Amara mask, and have just started CPAP in the last week. I am wondering when fitting the mask whether the nose should be hard up against the plastic where the hole is or whether to leave a gap. I noticed last night with my nose hard up against the hole I seem to get less air to breath and felt as if I struggled to get enough oxygen. When I left a gap between the nose and the plastic it seem to be better. What is the recommended fitting? I have also read that some have suggested cut to open the opening wider. I think the hole open up wide enough to get full oxygen to the nose. I was measured to have a medium size nose, tried large air leaked.
Any thoughts would be helpful.
Cheers
Steve

[ChicagoGranny]

I noticed last night with my nose hard up against the hole I seem to get less air to breath and felt as if I struggled to get enough oxygen. When I left a gap between the nose and the plastic it seem to be better.

Do what is best for YOU.

In any case, avoid leaks.

What is your pressure setting? A low pressure setting might make you feel like "struggled to get enough oxygen".

[Snowleopard28]

Welcome to the world of CPAP. I've been using the same mask for about 2 weeks. What worked for "me", is that I needed a liner but only for the mouth area.(Which I made myself) I also switched headgear. I use the headgear from the Hans Rudolph 7600 V2 Full Face because it seems less stretchy than the headgear that comes with the mask.
As for the nose, after I connect the air, I do 2 things, first, if it feels like my nostrils are partially covered, I use a finger on each side of my nose to stretch and align the opening. Then I slide a finger over the inflated part that goes around the nose to make sure it's inflated good.(kind of like sliding a finger over a balloon)

It doesn't eliminate all leaks but it minimizes them, which is fine. I hope this helps.

Snowleopard

[Pugsy]

Don't snug it up against the nose too much because it gets squished and then the air can't move as well and that's why it hard to breathe. It doesn't have to be squished up against the nose to get and keep a good seal.

[stephenn]

Hi,
Thanks for your feedback, better success last night. More air as a result of the adjusments.
Cheers
Steve.