Does more pressure help with stuffy nose?

[Apappy]

This morning I woke up with labored breathing due to a stuffy nose. With some salt water nasal spray, after a half hour or so my nose was clear again. I know that one should attack nasal stoppage or stuffiness directly, with sprays and humidifier, and possibly consider a full-face mask, but my question concerns the machines themselves. I have heard that the ResMed S9 AutoSet does react to stuffiness in the nose, since that causes labored breathing (i.e., reduced air flow?), and increases the pressure. (My Weinmann does not.) Is this true, and does it help? I am talking about APAP machines, of course.

[Stormynights]

I think at times it does especially with the pillows. If the stuffiness is severe the answer is no.

[Jersey Girl]

I think that it depends upon the individual. I don't think that the pressure makes any difference - the pressure setting is important because ideally, your machine is set at the lowest possible pressure or pressure range to keep your airway open. I have found that using a saline rinse like AYR and a nasal spray can help along with raising my humidity just a bit. When I get a sinus infection, my nose can sometimes be too irritated to even use my nasal pillows and I have to resort to my nasal mask.

Best regards,

Jersey Girl

[BigNortherner]

I switch to full face mask, such as they are, if I have significant nose stuffiness.

CPAP will make stuffiness worse, I think.

Granted, mouth breathing will also.

[BigNortherner]

Hmm. A very stuffy nose is a flow limitation.

Personally I’d switch to a full face or mouth-only interface when my nose is significantly stuffy, as I did last week due to a cold and sinus drainage.

Besides wanting good airflow, I don’t like the idea of pressure in my nose and sinuses, albeit it’s there anyway with a full-face mask.

(And a bit of a quandary is that mouth breathing as will occur with a full-face mask tends to increase nose congestion.)

As to whether or not more pressure would improve airflow I’d want the opinion of a nose specialist as s/he understands anatomy.

[BigNortherner]

One thing that might help keep nose passages open are the adhesive springy strips, like BreathRite make.

At a cost since you may have to use a fresh one each nite (with oily sking I find the adhesive won't stick well enough for a second night).

OTOH any adhesive may be hard on sensitive skin.

The strips go on the outside of the nose of course, so are compatible with interfaces that fit against the end of the nostrils (as "pillows" do, projecting somewhat inside, and a few nose-end ones like the ComfortCurve or successors).

[EricinNC]

This morning I woke up with labored breathing due to a stuffy nose. With some salt water nasal spray, after a half hour or so my nose was clear again. I know that one should attack nasal stoppage or stuffiness directly, with sprays and humidifier, and possibly consider a full-face mask, but my question concerns the machines themselves. I have heard that the ResMed S9 AutoSet does react to stuffiness in the nose, since that causes labored breathing (i.e., reduced air flow?), and increases the pressure. (My Weinmann does not.) Is this true, and does it help? I am talking about APAP machines, of course.

High humidity is what helps a stuff nose. That "climatecontrol" S9 electrical hose is a joke and is not high humidity. Get a plain old slimline hose and just crank it up to 6 every night, maybe turn it down to 3 to 5 this spring and summer when the humidity levels go back above 50% regularly. I tried that electrical S9 climate control hose and that is the biggest POS I ever used and after three or four days I was having a stuffy nose and I never get stuffy noses from CPAP.

Steroid sprays (Nasacort is also really good for CPAP stuffy nose). Also keeping your gear clean is really good, that humidifier pot gets really nasty after a week or two.

Eric

[Muse-Inc]

Does for me. In the midst of the annual tree orgies here in Atlanta, the worse my congestion, the higher my pressure goes. Oh, and my leak is stable and minimal.

I find saline rinses like with the canned Ocean or my nasal irrigator a few hrs before maskup works well to reduce congestion.