Help with my Liberty mask

[LisaEileen]

I've been using my Liberty mask a few weeks now. I have been tweaking it trying to get it to fit right. I thought I finally got it on Friday night. No leaks, no digging into my face anywhere, the nasal pillows stayed in place. But, last night was pretty horrible. It must have shifted at some point and dug into my upper lip right below my nose. I have some nice dents there and it hurts something fierce. I'm thinking I may have to switch back to my Mirage Quattro until it heals up.

Here's the thing. I really like the idea of this mask because my Quattro left a HUGE red mark on my nose all the time. That mark finally went away and it's nice to not walk around with a red nose. When it worked perfectly on Friday, it was dreamy. I slept like a rock. The main issue I have is not being able to get the piece around my mouth to not leak. I'm thinking it's too big? I looked online and it looks like that piece comes in small and large. It leaks at the left and right sides all the time. Not to be gross, but I drool a lot and if I drool at all, I have NO seal. I never had that issue with my other mask. I'm thinking if it was a bit smaller, maybe that wouldn't be an issue?

Another thing is sometimes the right nasal pillow gets moisture in it and won't stay in place. I have some kind of deformity in my right nasal passage so I'm sure that's part of the issue. I have my humidifier on 2. If I set it any lower my mouth gets way too dry. It's still dry, but I can't set it any higher or I get too much moisture in the whole mask.

My insurance company has NOT been nice about this whole bipap issue and they are not good at switching things for me so I really don't want to switch masks again if I can get this to work. Any ideas to help would be appreciated. I know it can work because I had that one night where it was perfect.

[LisaEileen]

No one has any ideas for me?

[LinkC]

It's clear the Quattro isn't for you. So let's work with the Lib. Yes, it sounds as if your mouth cushion is too big. Call your DME and ask if they can get you just a Small cushion. Even if you have to foot the whole bill, it won't be nearly what a whole mask costs.

It may be you need different size nasal pillows (different size for each side). That's not as uncommon as you might think...and especially if you know your nostrils are different.

If you haven't already, you might try a small dab of Lansinoh rubbed on one or both pillows where they contact your nares. It will often give you a better seal. You can also try a little on your mouth cushion as a temporary fix until you get a small one.

(If you aren't familiar with it, Lansinoh is lanolin salve intended for nursing mothers with chapped nipples (no, I'm not making this up!) Look for it in the "baby" section. It's a light purple/violet box. Runs about $10 but that's a lifetime supply! Search here for Lansinoh or "nipple grease" for several discussions.)

[xenablue]

I use a Mirage Liberty, and occasionally have a similar problem. Most of the time no issues, then once in a while the nasal pillows and mouth part move around all over the place. I put this down to humidity, even though I use a climate hose as it seems to happen when there is more humidity in the room but there could be a number of reasons for this.

I agree though, you might need a smaller mouth cushion/mouth part. I have both a large and small as I seemed to have the small so tight it made my lower teeth hurt, but the large just blew lots of air out the sides and was like a wind tunnel LOL. So, it's back to the small and just adjusting carefully so it's snug but not too tight. Also, disconnecting the nasal pillows and trying different sizes in each nostril is a good idea if your nostrils are a lot different.

Cheers,
xena

[sleepnationtv]

To get the small liberty you actually have to get a whole new mask because the small cushion will not fit. If the Quattro works ok besides the irritation on the bridge of the nose try getting a gel pad that goes on the nose to create extra cushioning.

[LisaEileen]

To get the small liberty you actually have to get a whole new mask because the small cushion will not fit. If the Quattro works ok besides the irritation on the bridge of the nose try getting a gel pad that goes on the nose to create extra cushioning.

Really? When I was looking online, it looked like both the small and large mouth cushion fits in the mask? I'll have to call my DME and see what they say about this. As far as the "nipple grease", I've nursed 4 kids so I'm very familiar with it. LOL In fact, I have some in my medicine cabinet that's been there forever, but good thing it lasts pretty much forever. I'll try that tonight.

[sleepyb]

To get the small liberty you actually have to get a whole new mask because the small cushion will not fit.

That's interesting. I have both the small and large cushion for my liberty and they both fit. I originally had the large cushion but it was too big and farted all the time. The DME gave me the small cushion which is better but he didn't change out the mask. I wonder if that's why I occasionally get leaks from where the cushion fits into the mask?

I had a sore nose so I tried some of that cream so highly praised in this forum. Found that I couldn't keep the nose pillows in my nose for the life of me. They kept slipping out. Did make my nose feel better though.