Full face masks & beards

[racefan]

I'm using nasal pillows now but would like to try a full face mask.Any bearded hoseheads use a full face mask without leak issues? I don't really want to have to shave just to use a full face mask.

[fuzzy96]

sorry bud but from what i've read here anything over a long stubble will not seal well. i keep mine trimmed close and still have leak issues.

too much leak=bad therapy and ya feel like crap.

if you can stand the pillows that really will be your best therapy

[mars]

Hi

My beard is usually between a 1 and 3, sometimes a 4. I have only been using cpap a month, quickly got rid of the nasal pillow mask and got a quattro. Great. No problem. The occasional leak just needs me to twist my face or simply press the mask onto my face. I do think I have the lower straps pretty tight, but that is not a problem.

Fisher and Paykel do a full face which fits under the chin. I tried this out and it fitted even better than the quattro.

I have had my beard for 50 years, and I am going to die with it on.

What is it they say - a man with a beard is not afraid to show you his true face.
Actually they don't say it, I say it.

cheers

Mars

[Diver71]

I am a bearded bastard and using the quatro dont seem to have much of a leakage issue (although not 100% on what acceptable leak figures are for the quatro)

[dkeat]

I keep my beard trimmed to about one to two millimeters. I don't have a problem there. But longer beards will be a problem. The best solution would be to shave it off or go with a nasal mask. Most people use nasal pillows. There is another nasal interface not offered on all nasal masks. Respironics calls it the "Direct Seal" cushion. You can look at it here: https://www.cpap.com/viewImage.php?PNum ... _RGBLo.jpg. For me, this is the only way to go. Every other cushion leaks or hurts. When you get this one right you can use it every night without switching.

Dave

[Bigburd]

FFM & FFB, no problems.

[Handgunner45]

UMFF and full beard. My leak is more than the mask vent rate, but does not compromise my therapy.

[Debjax]

I don't think there is a "standard answer".. Hubby had to shave his beard, leaks were too bad with both the UMFF and the Quattro. Others here have made it work. Your mileage may vary.

[dduttonnc]

sorry bud but from what i've read here anything over a long stubble will not seal well. i keep mine trimmed close and still have leak issues.

too much leak=bad therapy and ya feel like crap.

if you can stand the pillows that really will be your best therapy

No exactly true

I use a large resmed airfit 10
Other I put these pads under the mask: https://www.cpap.com/productpage/remzzz ... iners.html
They virtually stop leaks and nose bridge irritation and face irritation, and are EASY

Or you can go with a full head mask. It seals are above the eye brows. Right by your ears. The below your lower lip. I have that one too. I just make the lower straps extra tight. Due to the large size of the mask, If your cpap or autoset cpap, or bipap is 7 or 7-11 pressure. This mask needs it to be 17-21. Being so big, and bop

That's another option: over tighten the straps. I know all these instructions say not to or or causes more leaks...but those are for clean shaven people

I've found the shorter the facial , the worse the issue : it is not soft, won't bend, irritates the skin, and chews the mask , lining

Longer hear doesn't do this, but is harder to seal. If you plus the straps TIGHT then no leaks. On a standard airfit 10, no pads as mentioned above, with my cpap set to 11 ramp, 15 min and 23 max, my max leak is 15-20L/min. But that exhaust leak is intentional. My exhaust leaks 10-15L/min at pressures over 15. I use a resmed s9 vpap bilevel auto

Now if you have a SUPER bushy beard, I'd recommend trimming it down to 1-2"

[RogerSC]

You're talking to people who were having this discussion 5 years ago...wonder if they're still looking at it *smile*? Kind of like having a time machine.

One good idea in this forum is that when you find a thread via searching, before commenting check to see that it's a current thread. There's a lot of old threads out there, where the participants have undoubtedly moved on *smile*. At least one would hope.

[dduttonnc]

Lol I just noticed a that. For some reason I got it confused with another thread that was marked 2015

But there is still incorrect info in this thread and this thread came up when I did a Google search

So I threw in my 2c, to yes , an old post so current people search get a fresh perspective vs what was yrs put on here and technology has changed









,mvo

[NateS]

… For some reason I got it confused with another thread that was marked 2015

…,mvo

Yes, I agree that your suggestions were helpful, even replying to a 2009 post, but I'd like to see that post you saw from next year - 2015 - also!

Regards, Nate