too much air in my eyes

[rux1960]

I am really bothered by the air that gets into my eyes while I am sleeping with my nasal mask. I use a blind under the mask but I am so sensitive that I feel the air right in my eyes. I even have days when I have a blurred visions for hours sometimes ( I assume is from the machine). Any ideas? Should I try another type os mask?
thanks
Rux

[SleepyJoeMS]

I was using a comfort gel - Medium. I was getting a lot of eye leak. More than I had to, I felt. For my nose (longer but a narrow bridge-fairly shallow between my eyes), on the nasal masks, it seems the cut out for the bridge is too deep, imho, causing the the upper part of the mask near the eyes to rely too much on the second seal. I went to the Small and that portion of the mask over the bridge sits abit lower and I think, meets the bridge better. It is also not right under or between my eyes so much. I do get less eye leak with the Small. Still, about a month ago I went to the ResMed Activa, Large. Right off there were less eye leaks for me. However, it seems the Activa runs larger than the comfort gel and I am now trying to get the Activa Shallow, which also brings the bridge cutout lower on the nose. I think this will help, since I've noticed when I position the Large lower on the bridge it reduces eye leaks even more. The downside is the Large, for me, has to be positioned just right, since the lower part of the mask ends up resting right on top of my upper lip (i.e. not above the lip/below the nostrils). But when I find that balance, it works best. Another observation between the two masks: on the Comfort Gel, I have to set the forehead adjustment out, so the upper mask is closest to my bridge. On the Activa, I have to set the forehead adjustment in, so the upper mask is furthest from my bridge. The latter seems counter intuitive for stopping eye leaks, but it works for me.

Also regarding the Activa: because it uses the build up of air pressure in the mask to fill a bellows sort of chamber (best way I can describe it), which then in theory with mask movement aids in keeping it sealed to the face, you do feel an in and out sort of movement with each inhale and exhale. At first it's a bit strange, but after awhile don't notice it. Think of it as a gentle heart beat every time you inhale/exhale to lull you to sleep. Well, that's what I tried to do. I think ultimately I just got used to it.

Finally, the headstraps on both masks are very similar. The Activa's are slightly lighter weight I believe. Also, for me they don't have to be tightened so much since the "active" aspect to this mask does seem to work to large degree. The head gear issue is important to me since I seem to be quite sensitive to the chaffing/burning they cause during prolonged wearing (unless I can stay asleep and not notice-which is still the exception for me.)

Right now (caveat) I consider the Activa my main mask. I still like the comfort gel too though as it does have a smaller profile and seems a bit less obtrusive. But if wearing a mask is not a problem, the Activa's overall larger size, in my opinion won't matter.

Hope my experiences helps you in some way Rux. Good luck

Joe