OptiLife - Pain in the nose!

twitch · Post by **twitch** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 10:01 pm

I'm new to CPAP and I'm still adjusting but one thing I'm finding really hard to deal with is with my OptiLife mask. It's giving me fairly major pain at the opening of my nostrils that won't seem to go away - even during the day. I put my mask on tonight and I don't think I'll be able to wear it. It hurts too much to fall asleep! I've tried a couple of different sizes of cushions and tried to adjust the headgear but if I loosen it at all, I get leaks.

Has anyone else with an OptiLife experienced this? Does it go away or should I look at another mask and deal with the fact that I have extra-sensitive nostrils

I'm frustrated and feeling that I'll never find a mask that works! I've tried the ComfortLite and it gave me bruising on the bridge of my nose that lasted a week and also made me feel REALLY claustrophobic. I was hoping the OptiLife would be the answer but it doesn't seem so. Does anyone have any wisdom they could share?

Thanks. This site really is a life (and sleep) saver!

blarg · Post by **blarg** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 10:30 pm

What I would do in your situation:

I would use a nasal (not nasal pillows mask) for a few nights to let my nares heal.
I would then try again with the optilife using Ayr gel. You can find this stuff in with the allergy sprays at your local pharmacy. It acts as chapstick for your nose and lets you adjust the headgear a bit looser since it's wet and all. Basically it has aloe and lubricates the seal and generally helps your nares deal with it all.
If my nares acted up again after they've been through the above regimen then it would be time to ditch the optilife for me.

dieselgal · Post by **dieselgal** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:40 am

I had the same thing with optilife but I have that generally with any mask that has that kind of pillow. You need to adjust it as loose as you can and still keep the seal, but I would do just what Blarg suggested.

twitch · Post by **twitch** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:56 am

Great! That's what I'm going to try.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:57 am

Try the Ayer Saline Gel with Aloe. When I first started, I too had the same experience with about 3 days of painful nares. I actually went without treatment on the third night because of it ... bad mistake for me as the effect of going without treatment was much worse than the painful nares (I have been compliant with PAP treatment every night since)

Your nares will get used to it after a few days ... stick with it. Blarg has a good suggestion -- if it is too painful, use a nasal or full face mask to give your nares a little time to heal. I really think the Aloe helped mine to heal very quickly.

Best of luck and welcome to the PAP gang!

mecocosm · Post by **mecocosm** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:52 am

twitch wrote:I'm new to CPAP and I'm still adjusting but one thing I'm finding really hard to deal with is with my OptiLife mask. It's giving me fairly major pain at the opening of my nostrils that won't seem to go away - even during the day. I put my mask on tonight and I don't think I'll be able to wear it. It hurts too much to fall asleep! I've tried a couple of different sizes of cushions and tried to adjust the headgear but if I loosen it at all, I get leaks.

I experienced the same kind of pain at the nostrils opening with the OptiLife. But I did not experience that with the nasal pillows of the Hybrid. In my opinion, it is because the Hybrid nasal pillows seem much softer than the OptiLife pillows. But the Hybrid is designed to address mouth breathing...

I wish the manufacturer of the Hybrid comes up with a nasal pillows only interface with the same soft silicone, can't stop wishing for better and better alternatives...

zzzzzz!! · Post by **zzzzzz!!** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 1:19 am

I had similar pain in the nares during about the first two weeks of use, though it disappeared every day within about an hour of waking up. It seemed like it was just from the pressure of the cushions. As a side sleeper, I find that if I have my head at certain angles it tends to push the cushions harder up against my nose, so I try to position myself accordingly to avoid that and also have adjusted the chin strap so that, while not tight, it's snug enough to avoid the mask moving too far upward. I also used the AyrGel during my first couple of weeks with the mask; as previously suggested, you may find that that helps.

Good luck!

yorkielover32 · Post by **yorkielover32** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 4:37 am

Welcome and good luck. I can only speak from personal experience. Have opti life petite nasal and After a few rough nights I am slowly adjusting. It will be a week tomorrow since I started. Do not get upset, but do the reading. Had I do not found this sight...mine would be in the closet collecting dust. I never realized that the chin strap was not working for me. I went and got a roll of very light weight tape from the pharmacy and have been taping my lips(thank god no loss of skin or lips as I am getting married with in a month!) If you have a humidifier try adjusting it to a higher number. They told me to try one. I felt like I could not exhale, so turned it to a 4 and sleep better. I think part of mine was the cold air!

Good Luck

Terrie

OwlCreekObserver · Post by **OwlCreekObserver** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:54 am

twitch wrote:I'm new to CPAP and I'm still adjusting but one thing I'm finding really hard to deal with is with my OptiLife mask. It's giving me fairly major pain at the opening of my nostrils that won't seem to go away - even during the day. I put my mask on tonight and I don't think I'll be able to wear it. It hurts too much to fall asleep! I've tried a couple of different sizes of cushions and tried to adjust the headgear but if I loosen it at all, I get leaks.

Twitch, you may also want to consider trying the Respironics Comfort Curve mask. Your nose rests on the cushion and there is nothing pressing up into your nares. I've always gotten decent results from it, though there are a number of people here whose experiences have not been as positive. You could check with your DME to see if they might have a "loaner" that you could try out for a night or two.

OCO

bdp522 · Post by **bdp522** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:26 am

Asmuch as I like the optilife, I have trouble sleeping with it. When I sleep on my side the wings dig into my cheek and leave nasty marks. Side sleeping also puts enough pressure on the wings to make the pillows rub on my nares leaving blisters(also pushes the pillows against the nares more). I do fine with it for a night or two, then the blisters start and the cheek marks become very noticable and last all day. Padacheek is trying to find a way to pad the wings, until then I can only use this mask occasionally.

Brenda

zzzzzz!! · Post by **zzzzzz!!** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 6:50 am

bdp522 wrote:Asmuch as I like the optilife, I have trouble sleeping with it. When I sleep on my side the wings dig into my cheek and leave nasty marks. Side sleeping also puts enough pressure on the wings to make the pillows rub on my nares leaving blisters(also pushes the pillows against the nares more). I do fine with it for a night or two, then the blisters start and the cheek marks become very noticable and last all day. Padacheek is trying to find a way to pad the wings, until then I can only use this mask occasionally.

Brenda

I agree with you about the wings; that's one of three things I don't like about the OptiLife:
1) plastic wings dig into cheeks
2) hose doesn't have a swivel connection
3) headgear doesn't detach easily (would love for it to be simple like the clips on the UMFF headgear)

Other than that I'm pretty happy with it, but it did take a little time to get used to.

_________________

CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): hose

RichCMH · Post by **RichCMH** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 7:39 pm

I love the Opti! I sleep with the hose down at my side - search for my other posts here regarding exact hose placement. When the bed pillow shifts the wings, pushing the pillows up my nose too hard, I give the hose a light tug and the pressure on my nose is relieved.

I also never had an issue with sore nares with Opti or Opus.

MissDozer · Post by **MissDozer** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:42 pm

I really don't like the Opti. I bought it because it looked great. My first problem was that the headgear made me itch. Even after several washings, I itched. After wrapping the offending headgear, I discovered that the hard plastic wings on my face really annoyed me and were uncomfortable. Finally I managed to go to sleep one night with the Opti on, and was rudely awakened a couple of hours later with a pain at the base of my nose, between my nostrils. I've adjusted and re-adjusted, but it's just not the mask for me.

Strangely enough, the mask for me is one that very few people seem to like, the Infinity.

krousseau · Post by **krousseau** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 9:52 am

The Opti is great for me-though I did get sore nostrils. Ayr gel does nothing for me so I use a very thin coating of badger healing balm around the rims of the nostrils. I seems to let the pillows reseat themselves without pulling at the tender skin at the nares. The next statement is my opinion-much of the irritation at the nares is due to "shear effect" of the pillow silicone pulling at the skin-NOT pressure alone.
A little of the ointment on my upper lip also keeps the silicone from sticking to the fine fuzz on my facial skin-that was the source of facial burning I've had since starting to use CPAP. No rash-no reddness just burning-finally figured out that any mask seal can pull at that fine facial fuzz.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:38 am

Wow - all of this is great!
I've been using some lanolin cream to try to clear up the redness and bought some "gel". It doesn't seem that Ayr is available here in Canada but I think the stuff I'm using is helping.

When I got my mask, they only gave me the small, medium and large pillows, saying the petite was only for kids. Having read this forum, I'm realizing that they were off. I think I'm going to call them and get a petite to see if that helps. I have quite uneven nostrils and it seems that it's the smaller one that's causing all the problems.

Thanks to everyone!

Jessica

OptiLife - Pain in the nose!

OptiLife - Pain in the nose!

Re: OptiLife - Pain in the nose!

New At this....OPTI

Re: OptiLife - Pain in the nose!

Mask