oral surgery

Just had some oral surgery ... both sides of my mouth ... two extractions - one upper right/one lower right ... and removal of cyst between teeth on lower left. Can't wear my Quatro full face mask ... and can't wear the Amaro that I had to use after skin cancer surgery on my nose ... luckily, I still have my NasalPillow mask, because that's the only one I will be able to wear for a little while until my mouth heals.

Had a difficult time getting the nasal pillows to seal - had to tighten headgear a lot ... and then there's the air escaping out of my mouth. If I remember correctly, I stopped using the nasal pillows for 2 reasons: 1. it dried my nose out too much, even with humidifier ... to the point where I faced every morning with a slight nosebleed; and 2. I had to wear a chinstrap thing in an effort to keep my mouth closed ... not very effective. It's surprising how much air can be forced through tightly closed lips. I spent a good part of the night trying to re-seat nasal pillows when I should have been sleeping instead.

I am curious about a couple of issues - Firstly, when I emptied humidifier this morning, it was almost empty ... very unusual ... at least 1/4 full with either full face mask. My second question is whether I should adjust pressure down with nasal pillows?

I know this is all over the place, but I would appreciate any feedback you might have. Need to figure out how to properly use nasal pillows until my mouth is healed and I can return to one of my more comfortable and reliable full face masks.

tbachtbach wrote:Just had some oral surgery ... both sides of my mouth ... two extractions - one upper right/one lower right ... and removal of cyst between teeth on lower left. Can't wear my Quatro full face mask ... and can't wear the Amaro that I had to use after skin cancer surgery on my nose ... luckily, I still have my NasalPillow mask, because that's the only one I will be able to wear for a little while until my mouth heals.

Had a difficult time getting the nasal pillows to seal - had to tighten headgear a lot ... and then there's the air escaping out of my mouth. If I remember correctly, I stopped using the nasal pillows for 2 reasons: 1. it dried my nose out too much, even with humidifier ... to the point where I faced every morning with a slight nosebleed; and 2. I had to wear a chinstrap thing in an effort to keep my mouth closed ... not very effective. It's surprising how much air can be forced through tightly closed lips. I spent a good part of the night trying to re-seat nasal pillows when I should have been sleeping instead.

I am curious about a couple of issues - Firstly, when I emptied humidifier this morning, it was almost empty ... very unusual ... at least 1/4 full with either full face mask. My second question is whether I should adjust pressure down with nasal pillows?

I know this is all over the place, but I would appreciate any feedback you might have. Need to figure out how to properly use nasal pillows until my mouth is healed and I can return to one of my more comfortable and reliable full face masks.

Hi tbachtbach,

In my limited trial of nasal pillows, I was only able to use them by slightly upping the pressure and setting the humifidier at the highest level with heat. I know you said it is drying out your nose but on the other hand, I wonder if you are unable to keep your mouth shut because you are not getting enough air. That is my reasoning for suggesting that you slightly raise instead of lower the pressure but obviously what works for me might not work in your situation.

Regarding the dry nose, have you tried ayre nasal gel which can be found very cheaply in most drug stores? Many people swear by that.

Unfortunately, it sounds like you are in quite a bind and that until you can start wearing the full face mask, you're going to have to deal with alot of issues the best you can.

Best of luck.

49er