Contact allergy with rubber seals.

[RGW]

Hello
I became a CPAP user in November of last year. My first morning after using the CPAP, I looked in the mirror, and
discovered heavy red marks on my face. Every where the seals touched my skin reacted and the marks took three
days to go away. I talked with the people a the study center, sellers of the equipment, and the staff at my allergist
office. No one knew of a barrier cream for this problem. I tried a barrier cream used to protect hands working with
paint. This product was very thin and absorbed into the skin so much as to be ineffective. Thinking of rashes on
babies, I explained to my local pharmacist my need for maximum protection. We started checking the ingredeants
in the different makes of diaper rash cream. I choose DESITIN MAXIMUM STRENGTH paste. The zinc oxide level is
40%. Well It has worked great and has a side benefit of improving the seal. I need 19# of pressure and the heavy
paste improves the bond.
I have found with a nose and mouth mask it only requires about two pencil eraser size dabs to spread out around
the sides of the nose bridge, sides and bottom of mouth.
I hope this information will help people who have suffered from irritation or sealing problems.

[BlackSpinner]

Fabric liners from Padacheek work well, so do home made liners made from well washed 100% cotton knit undies.

The seals are made of silicon - make sure any cream you use has no petroleum products.

[nanwilson]

Ditto what blackspinner said.
Go to padacheeks.com, Karen makes liners to fit our masks so that no silicone touches our face. She is a member here so may chime in to help out.

[chunkyfrog]

It sounds like contact dermatitis, as silicone allergy is very rare.
Contact dermatitis is not an allergy, but looks like it.
Any substance can be the offender; and the reall irritant is constant contact,
cutting off air circulation and trapping bacteria and misc. airborne allergens
in the perspiration present and allowed to incubate.
Many people who think they are allergic to jewelry, don't realize their skin is sensitive to
anything that seals it off from the air, but blame it on otherwise non-reactive materials.

[Nemo48]

Hello
I became a CPAP user in November of last year. My first morning after using the CPAP, I looked in the mirror, and
discovered heavy red marks on my face. Every where the seals touched my skin reacted and the marks took three
days to go away. I talked with the people a the study center, sellers of the equipment, and the staff at my allergist
office. No one knew of a barrier cream for this problem. I tried a barrier cream used to protect hands working with
paint. This product was very thin and absorbed into the skin so much as to be ineffective. Thinking of rashes on
babies, I explained to my local pharmacist my need for maximum protection. We started checking the ingredeants
in the different makes of diaper rash cream. I choose DESITIN MAXIMUM STRENGTH paste. The zinc oxide level is
40%. Well It has worked great and has a side benefit of improving the seal. I need 19# of pressure and the heavy
paste improves the bond.
I have found with a nose and mouth mask it only requires about two pencil eraser size dabs to spread out around
the sides of the nose bridge, sides and bottom of mouth.
I hope this information will help people who have suffered from irritation or sealing problems.

I have sensitive skin and was having problems with my full face mask, and even with the memory foam was getting itchy skin and a rash. The itchy skin kept me awake. My dermatologist recommended Desitin, which this poster suggested 12 years ago. It has worked for me with no more itchy skin and no morning skin rash. And as stated by the Original Poster, only a pencil eraser size dab on each cheek is sufficient.