Mask & Facial Hair

[jabman]

Hi all,
I have a beard and am wondering if there are cretin masks that work well with facial hair?

[deerhound]

Jabman, I am a cretin who happens to have facial hair. I never found a full face mask that allowed me to keep my beard. I did obtain a Swift II nasal pillow mask and trained myself to stop mouth breathing by wearing it, hooked up to my machine, while watching TV. I now have my beard and excellent therapy while I sleep. I have never found a specific mask for us cretins.

Dale

[Patrick A]

I use a Swift Mirage II most of the time. I also have a Opti Life . Most of the time I have a beard and both of those masks seem to help. I also have used a Comfort Gel Mask, I like the Opti-life best.

[Roman Hokie]

My photo is in my avatar. I've got the ResMed Activa LT Medium. Virtually no leaks. 12 nights of use so far. Most of my nights have been 0 l/m leak rate (the S9 measures 95th percentile, so I'm pretty confident when I get that readout).

Nasal pillows ARE highly recommended for us cavemen. (my beard is over 3 years old. I keep it, generally, between a 2 to 3 comb attachment on the clippers. Most of my leaks, BTW, are around the eyes, not the stache.

[sunnyway]

Unless you look like one of the ZZ Tops, one of the total face masks may work for you. Both are by Respironics: Total Face Mask and FitLife. I obviously don't have a beard, but I really like both of the masks. Both are available on CPAP.com.

[jabman]

Thanks, all, for your replies.
I don't have a full beard only a goatee and I usually keep it short it is nice to here that it won't be to mush of a problem.

[vipertec]

I also have a goatee ,I use an optilife every night but when those super congested nights come and even the flonase doesn't work I use a comfort gel ffm works real good ,If I do get any leaks it usually around the eyes but that is fixable!

[bearded_two]

I have a full Santa Claus beard and 'stache (some people say that it is a ZZ Top beard), and it has never caused any problems with any of the nasal masks that I have used in the past 15 or so years. Of course, as other people have noted, nasal pillows work beautifully with beards and 'staches.

[Bookbear]

I have a full, thick beard, and I'd second the comments about nasal pillows. I've not had any success with full face masks, and I haven't tried a nasal mask, since the Breeze nasal pillows work so well for me. Others on the forum swear by the Headrest or one of the Swifts. I would seriously consider a nasal pillow interface. Good luck!

[sheepdog]

I now mostly use a comfort gel with so-so results. I sleep on my left side mostly and at 20cm/h2o it may be that I cannot use nose pillows. I am not sure but hate to spend the money on a hope. Im unemployed since April so any dollar not spent is a dollar for food or mortgage!

My beard is short but has caused leaks with the Comfort Gel. I cinch up way too tight and push thru it. Here's hoping your result is good. I didnt catch your pressure setting but hopefully you can try the nose pillow system. When my pressure was lower I loved nose pillows.

[jabman]

I now mostly use a comfort gel with so-so results. I sleep on my left side mostly and at 20cm/h2o it may be that I cannot use nose pillows. I am not sure but hate to spend the money on a hope. Im unemployed since April so any dollar not spent is a dollar for food or mortgage!

My beard is short but has caused leaks with the Comfort Gel. I cinch up way too tight and push thru it. Here's hoping your result is good. I didnt catch your pressure setting but hopefully you can try the nose pillow system. When my pressure was lower I loved nose pillows.

Sorry to hear about being off work, I’ve been there and done that and it sucks.

I don't know my pressure as I haven’t had (officially) my results yet, I go tomorrow to find out. I want to be prepared and at least have some idea of what’s going on and things i will need to help me. Everyone on this forum has been amazing I thank you all.

[jmelby]

Activa LT has worked great for me--no leaks most of the time. I tried full face masks at first, but those are another story--even with a very trim goatee or beard, it was hard to find one that didn't leak profusely... I use the ComfortGel FFM when I need a full face mask due to congestion. I don't like to wear it though because I have to keep it pretty tight to stop leaks, so I only do so when necessary.