Help!Newbie with skin sores and blisters after second use!!!

[Bassman8416]

First of all hello folks. I am new here, I was recently diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. I was prescribed the use of a cpap. Hopefully you all can see the equipment that I use. Specifically the ResMed Mirage Micro Nasal mask with gecko Nasal Pads. From doing searches on here and on the internet it appears that my mask was too tight, that the dial on my forehead was way to close and the headgear straps were too tight as well. I did pick this up a a medical supply place and a tech went over this stuff with me, but who knows until you actually try. I did two evenings if good sleep....but had some soreness and swelling after the first night, I then loosened the straps, this morning I woke up with alot of swelling and whitehead blisters and pain. I can not use this until this skin issue on the nose heals, thats what I have read at least....makes sense. What is the best way to aid and speed up the healing process. Thank you for your time and help.

[Thewino]

I had the exact same issue the first few days I wore my mask. I developed bleeding and excoriated skin on the bridge of my nose. It was pretty painful. I ordered a mask that hit my nose a little lower while I worked on healing this sore.

I am not dispensing medical advice but, for me, I simply used a band-aid with Polysporin. The spot healed in a week.

Best of luck,

Thewino

[Sheriff Buford]

Use a strip of moleskin or many cpap suppliers will offer a silicone nose pad for the issues you have. Until you decide or until they are delivered in the mail... I would use a bandaid .... then cover the bandaid with a small strip of duct tape. Also, your mask should "float" on your face. My mask will slightly "lift" when I turn my machine on. If yours has a cushion, it needs to inflate similar to a beach ball. It is natural to want to tighten down on a mask, but a mask that is too tight will leak as much as one that is not tight enough.

Sheriff

[Bassman8416]

Thanks for the input. This nose has to heal, for now, I an keeping it clean and using neosporin. Should it be kept covered with band-aides or let the air hit?
Thanks again. Looking forward to better sleep.

[BlackSpinner]

Get an old t-shirt, lay the mask on it and trace around it leaving a inch or so extra fabric. Cut it out, fold in half and cut out a small triangle for your nose, try it on and adjust the size of the triangle until it fits comfortably. Use this to make a pattern on a piece of paper. Use these until you can order some mask liners from Pda-a-cheek

[Pugsy]

This nose has to heal, for now, I an keeping it clean and using neosporin. Should it be kept covered with band-aides or let the air hit?

During the day??? We used to tell people to keep wounds clean and dry and let the air get to it whenever possible...
Especially true with fingers and extremities...ever pulled off a bandaid that has been on the finger for a little while and seen the moist wrinkled skin?
Bandaids are really to keep dirt out of a wound and lessen chance of infection.
Now to use one at night to protect the skin from becoming more abraded is a different story..yes use it under the mask to prevent more tearing of the skin.
During the day while awake...unless doing something that is potentially going to get a lot of dust or dirt on the wound then I would leave it out in the open to heal and dry. Ointments to a minimum especially if using a covering of some kind. Too much moisture slows down healing.
The face is normally very vascular and will heal rather quickly due to increased blood flow but the skin over the nose is very thin (for some people much more than others) and tears easily and thus healing time increases due to repeated chaffing and rubbing.

Can you contact your supplier and get a nasal pillow mask? That way you can still use your machine and won't have anything over the sore area and can allow it to heal without being repeatedly damaged.