Mirage Quattro - leaking - help please!

[pswnio]

Hi all,

I'm a newbie with 5 nights of complete failure to sleep whilst wearing my Quattro and thought I'd come to the experts for help.

My main problem is with leaks. They tend to occur in the same place - either left side of chin/cheek or right eye. If I sort out the eye leak, the cheek leak comes back, and vice versa. I've tried having the mask loose (in which case every time I move it starts farting at me) or tight (which seems to eliminate the leaks if I get my head in the right position but is most uncomfortable). I've adjusted the forehead adjuster in concert with different strap settings but still no luck.

I actually managed 2.5 hours of sleep with it on last night, but I then woke up, padded to the toilet, came back, put the mask on, and despite me changing none of the settings, it started leaking immediately. So I'm thinking that perhaps I'm getting the mask positioning on my face wrong also.

I've heard that (minor) leaks don't really matter because my ResMed Escape S8 will adjust the pressure anyway. Is this true? Is it just a comfort thing? If so, I could probably learn to live with cheek leak.

Does anyone have any tips for me? Tabula rasa, blank slate, I know nothing and will try anything!

Thanks in advance.

[carbonman]

I'm a newbie with 5 nights of complete failure to sleep whilst wearing my Quattro and thought I'd come to the experts for help. Thanks in advance.

Welcome! It's a journey.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34880

[GaryG]

Welcome to our forum.

It would help us to help you if you updated your profile with your equipment. For instance, on my ResMed Autoset machine, if I press the start/stop for 3 seconds there is a mask fitting feature. So I can check my mask fitting before I go to sleep.

[tonycog]

My main problem is with leaks. They tend to occur in the same place - either left side of chin/cheek or right eye. If I sort out the eye leak, the cheek leak comes back, and vice versa. I've tried having the mask loose (in which case every time I move it starts farting at me) or tight (which seems to eliminate the leaks if I get my head in the right position but is most uncomfortable). I've adjusted the forehead adjuster in concert with different strap settings but still no luck.

I actually managed 2.5 hours of sleep with it on last night, but I then woke up, padded to the toilet, came back, put the mask on, and despite me changing none of the settings, it started leaking immediately. So I'm thinking that perhaps I'm getting the mask positioning on my face wrong also.

I use a Quattro. I find that I can not avoid leaks when lying on my back, but when on my sides, I get none. It does frustrate me. When lying on my back I can have the Quattro leak-free until I fall asleep. Then I get "mask fart" at the cheek, just like you. While awake, I can move my face, cheek, chin, etc. in all sorts of directions and not get a leak, but as soon as I doze off, it begins. While lying on my side, I go all night without leaks.

When I do wake up to go to the rest room, I don't take my mask off. I don't want to wake up enough to need to re-apply it, so I just disconnect the hose at the machine, wrap it around my neck, and go do what I need to do. Then I only need to re-attach the hose and go back to sleep.

Also, I read here that some nasal mask users use Lansinoh, which is a lanolin salve for nursing mothers. It helps me keep my mask sealed. I put a small amount on my face where the seal goes every night - all the way around. I tried a night without it a couple of weeks ago and could tell a big difference; the mask stays in place better with Lansinoh applied.

Best wishes,
Tony

[Uncle_Bob]

You could try to push out the cheeks to make better contact with the mask by putting a ping pong ball inside each cheek