Nostrils sore

[kempo]

Try moving up a size with your pillow. I started off with medium and moved to large after a week. Made a big difference. The pillow should rest on the outside of your nose nares.

[lars4life]

.

[Pugsy]

Is this a common problem for nasal pillow users?

No, not common.

I have been using nasal pillow mask for nearly 2 years and the worst I have had was only a very minimal tenderness and that was because I tightened the back strap too tight and then slept with face stuck in my bed pillow squishing the nose into the bed pillow more. Just a little pressure tenderness. Lasted couple of hours at the most.

[SleepingUgly]

Thanks. On phone so brief...the top strap is loose enough that it's bothering my ears on he sides and I could use the top tightened just to lift it off my ears.

[Slartybartfast]

ALL TOGETHER NOW: K-Y ... K-Y ...K-Y!

[Slartybartfast]

Seriously, the K-Y is so soothing ...

Seriously... you already cast that vote.

I'm an investor.

[dukemom1]

I'm about a month into CPAP and only know my Swift FX nasal pillows. I was fitted incorrectly in the beginning, and developed a very raw area at the end of one nostril.
I ordered the barrel cozy and no more pressure or irritation. I am a very happy sleeper!

http://www.padacheek.com/PACSwiftII_Barrel_cozy.html

[SleepingUgly]

I'll have to see if same padacheek barrel cover works for swift lt and fx'...not sure which 1 I will end up with

[-SWS]

Seriously, the K-Y is so soothing ...

Seriously... you already cast that vote.

I'm an investor.

But seriously....

Why does the fine state of Kentucky get namesake honors for this fine Utopian jelly? Non-investors want to know...

[Janknitz]

Not usually a common problem but as the pillows wear out and start to leak the natural tendency is to tighten them and that can cause pain. Also if your nose is irritated from something else like a cold or allergy.

[robysue]

Slartybartfast,

Yep, lots of folks can do the K-Y Jelly. But I can't: Seriously, it makes me itch big time and if I leave it on my sking long enough (several hours), I get a rash. Weird but true.

SleepingUgly,

It's not a direct fix, but keeping yourself properly hydrated will help some with this problem. The barrel cozy should also help (some). And it does sound like you need to tighten that upper strap some to get it off the ears. At the same time, you may need to loosen the cloth back strap some. For me, it's the cloth back strap that seems to be critical in getting the pillows to both seal correctly and---just as important---getting the tippy-tips of those pillows to sit inside my nostril at just the right angle and just the right depth. When that strap is too tight, too much of the tip can get inside the nostril or---just as important---the tips are not at the correct angle. And when those tippy tips are not at the right angle inside my nostrils, there are all kinds of things that can happen including both nasty chapped lips (for reasons I can't figure out) and sore/tender bases of the nostrils.

[lars4life]

.

[Slartybartfast]

Slartybartfast,

Yep, lots of folks can do the K-Y Jelly. But I can't: Seriously, it makes me itch big time and if I leave it on my skin long enough (several hours), I get a rash. Weird but true.

SleepingUgly,

[snip].

Wow, never heard of that. All the ingredients in K-Y are as common in OTC products as are golf balls in a water hazard. There's Ayr Gel and Astroglide, though. I've used both in my nose. Astroglide was supposedly developed for for the Space Shuttle project. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astroglide

"Astroglide is a brand of personal lubricant manufactured by BioFilm Inc of Vista, California. The inventor of Astroglide, Daniel Wray, formulated it while working on the cooling system of a space shuttle at Edwards Air Force Base in 1977."

One wonders if he was bored with his job.

Re: SWS's comment about K-Y, you can read about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K-Y_Jelly

Quoth: "K-Y Jelly is a water-based, water-soluble personal lubricant produced by Johnson & Johnson. According to the company, "The origins of the brand name 'K-Y' are unknown. Two popular myths are that it was created in Kentucky, hence 'K-Y', or that the letters represent the key ingredients used to make the lubricant. Neither of these are proven."

I always wondered why they called them Johnsons.

[robysue]

Slartybartfast,

Yep, lots of folks can do the K-Y Jelly. But I can't: Seriously, it makes me itch big time and if I leave it on my skin long enough (several hours), I get a rash. Weird but true.

Wow, never heard of that. All the ingredients in K-Y are as common in OTC products as are golf balls in a water hazard. There's Ayr Gel and Astroglide, though. I've used both in my nose.

And you'd be shocked at how many OTC products make my sensitive skin itch like I've been dipped in itch powder .... And I've never worn make up either because even the hypoallergenic stuff can make my skin itch like mad. Forunately I seldom actually break out in rashes from any of this stuff. (Although I have---and KY was one of the things that did it too---and that's really miserable.)

It's actually a real problem for me: There are so many common ingredients with really long, complicated names in so many products that make me itch, that I haven't the foggiest idea what chemicals I'm actually sensitive too. As a consequence, when I find a product that doesn't make me itch, I'm a loyal customer until that dreaded day the NEW AND IMPROVED version of said product comes out.

Pre-CPAP plain old vasoline was my skin product of choice for dry, chapped skin. And for itching? Well, benadryl cream, campho-phenic, and chamomile lotion (for poison ivy-type rashes only) were my standbys and if those didn't work, I'd reluctantly go to OTC hydrocortisone cream.

[SleepingUgly]

You won't believe that I couldn't mind regular old KY jelly at the drugstore. Just KY Liquid (which seems like it would exacerbate leaks), KY warming (don't need warm nostrils, thanks), and some other sexy versions, but not the regular old KY. I do have AYR nasal gel, and I'll try it, but it just seems so much more slippery than the Lansinoh, that it seems the Lansinoh would help with sealing and the Ayr wouldn't, but I guess I won't know until I try.

I will have to find out whether the barrel cozy can be used for both the Swift LT and the Swift FX, as I haven't entirely committed to one over the other yet.