HELP! Is my face too big?

barry9999 · Post by **barry9999** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:07 pm

I need help! Just diagnosed three weeks ago, I am having trouble finding the right mask. It is very frustrating and my tech is no help what-so-ever. So far, I’ve tried:

- Swift nasal pillows (hurts the inside of my nose)
- Ultra Mirage II (the best so far but after a couple of hours, it hurts between my nose and mouth)
- Everest Aura Twilight NP Nasal (hurts the inside of my nose)
- Hybrid Universal (love the mouth breathing but hurts the inside of my nose)

From reading other posts and the forum FAQ, I was thinking that a full face mask might be best because:

- I am a mouth breather
- I am having trouble with anything inside my nose
- The Ultra Mirage works well for me except for it hurting my face between my mouth and nose

The problem is that when I use the sizing guide at CPAP.com, it says that I am not appropriate for the full face masks and it only recommends pillow-type masks (which I have a lot of problems with).

Did anyone else experience this? Any recommendations? I was thinking of the Ultra Mirage or the Flexifit HC432 full face masks.

My specs are:

- Pressure: 12
- Machine: Fisher Paykel HC234
- Sizing question #1 Length measurement: 2 1 / 4 “
- Sizing question #2 Diagonal length measurement: 2 1 / 2 “
- Sizing question #3 Width measurement: 1 7 / 8”
- Sizing question #4 Nose depth: 1 1 / 4”
- Sizing question #5 Full face length: 5”
- Sizing question #6 Gender: M
- Sizing question #7 Nose shape: round nares

Any help would be appreciated.

- Barry

Sleepy Dog Lover · Post by **Sleepy Dog Lover** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:14 pm

It can take a while for your nares to toughen up. Try using some Ayr saline gel to get you through it, it helps quite a bit with the irritation. I had to use it for a few weeks, but haven't needed it since.

The people at cpap.com are pretty good at helping you out, perhaps a call to them might help, they can help you find a mask that should fit.

Best wishes

_________________

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oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 1:36 pm

Swift nasal pillows (hurts the inside of my nose)

Hybrid Universal (love the mouth breathing but hurts the inside of my nose

All nasal pillow masks will tend to irritate the places where the they contact
your nares. Most of use use some kind of ointment, every night. I use
Bag Balm. Anything with lanolin oil is good. Ayr Gel, and even KY Gel have
been used.

All Full-faced masks, except the Hybrid, make the bridge of my nose sore.
However, many people on this board can use them.

First you need to decide which type of mask you can deal with:

1) Cover-your-nose type (Activa, UMFF, CL2/Simple Cushion, and etc.

2) Nasal pillow (up-you-nose) type. (CL2/nasal pillows, Swift, Breeze,
Hybrid, and etc..

I use 3 masks. Two are nasal pillow type, and the other one is a
cover-you-nose type. I can only tolerate the cover-you-nose about
two nights a month.

barry9999 · Post by **barry9999** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 2:29 pm

Thanks you both oldgearhead and sleepydoglover. I'm going to try some ointment tonight and see how it works.