Newbie with Liberty mask causing lip irritation. Help?

[WearyJen]

I've had my CPAP for three nights now. I've got the Liberty mask and a Mirage Swift nasal pillow mask.

I'd prefer to wear the Liberty since I've got a mouth guard for my bruxism, but when I wear it, I can't close my lips around it. I wore it the first night, but ended up having to take it off after four hours because it caused so much irritation right above my top lip. If I'd worn it any longer, the irritation would have caused blisters (unfortunately, I get herpes blisters on my lips and nose - lucky me). The redness and swelling lasted about 18 hours.

The past two nights I've worn the nasal pillow mask. It's fine, but I have to wear a different mouth guard which doesn't really help my teeth grinding. Plus, even with the useless chin strap, I can feel air escaping from my lips. I've been reading about tape and polygrip and wrap and I'm willing to try, but with such sensitive lips I'm a bit worried that it will just cause more irritation.

So here's my question - can anyone show pictures of how to apply moleskin or any other fixes to the Liberty to keep it from irritating my upper lip? I was looking, saw plenty of other fixes, but I didn't see any of those. I want the mask to work, but I just don't know how to do it.

[DreamDiver]

WearyJen,

Welcome! I don't have a liberty, sorry. I just thought I'd say welcome.

[wjp]

I have also had trouble with the Liberty putting too much pressure on the upper lip. I didn't break out, but I found my upper teeth to be sore in the morning.

I also found the design of the Liberty to actually push my mouth open during the night.

I hate to recommend that you go out and buy another mask, but I have found the Hybrid mask to work much better for me than the Liberty. Similar concept as the Liberty, but with the chin support it does not force my mouth open, and the added stability under the chin lets me keep the upper straps looser so there is less pressure on the upper lip.