CPAP Mask leaks often

I am hoping for some advice from knowledgeable CPAP users or possibly ex-tired sleeping partners of CPAP users. My boyfriend snored like a freight train for the first part of our relationship. He had the sleep study and of course has apnea, etc. He now has a CPAP with humidifier and uses the full face mask. Several times a night the mask starts blowing air out the front and I can hear it, but he can't. Sometimes he starts snoring too. It seemed to work better for the first few months and now we are going through shoving, pushing, me asking him to fix the mask, waking us both up several times a night. He is looking into getting a nose only type mask. He of course, isn't too happy about the full face mask and the cost...yikes. But it's either this or separate rooms. So I would really appreciate some advice!! Thank you!

Specify the exact FF mask he is using. Are you sure that the air blowing out the front is not coming from the exhaust holes? That would be the CO2 being expelled...not a leak. It makes noise ♫ when it hits a pillow, sheet, blanket etc.

Could be any number of things........one of which could be his bed pillow.
If his head is sinking too deep into the pillow, it might be pushing the mask out of alignment and cause the leaking (if that's what it is).


Den

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Oh my there are so many things it could be!! His pillow does seem to be flat in the middle and could certainly be causing the mask to move. We bought new pillows when we got a new bed but they wore out rather quickly. I think we need to try a new pillow, the mask leaks have been happening much more often lately and I was wondering if the mask lining was wearing out or something. He doesn't seem to get any help from the sleep doctor. They just sent him home with a sleep study machine (that I totally had to set up for him...way complicated!) and then just said, come pick up your CPAP...no help whatsoever! We are blindly trying to figure this all out ourselves. I just hear air blowing out the front of his mask and I can feel the air when I put my hand over the front of it, but I am not sure what to look for or what I can do to help it stay together better. So I am reaching out for help out of desperation at this point. I'll get the deets on his machine before posting anything further. I really appreciate any advice!!! Thank you

Another thing - back-sleeping causes snores and more apneas (some of which may wake him) and is often a hard fit for a full face mask as your face falls away from the bones that way.

If he's back sleeping (mostly) see if you can find a way to keep him on a side (maybe with a Pap pillow with cutouts for the mask), either with some kind of foam wedge behind him (they sell those), or a tennis ball sewn on the back of his jammies, something...

If that's not an issue, do be sure the CO2 vent is not being covered by bedding so he doesn't rebreathe it... not a good idea however noisy it is (tho' I'd certainly keep looking for a fix).

The tired girlfriend wrote:Oh my there are so many things it could be!! His pillow does seem to be flat in the middle and could certainly be causing the mask to move. We bought new pillows when we got a new bed but they wore out rather quickly. I think we need to try a new pillow, the mask leaks have been happening much more often lately and I was wondering if the mask lining was wearing out or something. He doesn't seem to get any help from the sleep doctor. They just sent him home with a sleep study machine (that I totally had to set up for him...way complicated!) and then just said, come pick up your CPAP...no help whatsoever! We are blindly trying to figure this all out ourselves. I just hear air blowing out the front of his mask and I can feel the air when I put my hand over the front of it, but I am not sure what to look for or what I can do to help it stay together better. So I am reaching out for help out of desperation at this point. I'll get the deets on his machine before posting anything further. I really appreciate any advice!!! Thank you

Along the lines of what LSAT said, there are vent holes in full face masks to help remove the CO2 from the exhaled air. If the machine is set to a range of pressures (to see what pressure he actually needs) it may be blowing out more air if/when the pressure increases. So, you'd kind of need to figure out whether the "leaks" are from the exhaust vent or actually LEAKS (like around the edge of the mask if it has become dislodged from his face). Another thing is the mask size and adjustment. If a mask is too large or too small, it can leak. If it isn't properly adjusted it can leak. Most full face masks need to "float" on the user's face and having it too tight or too loose can cause more leaks. So, this whole therapy thing can be an "adventure" in getting things tweaked just right.

Keep reading and asking questions. We'll try to help you as best we can.


Den

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I have a friend whose husband snores, and she bought earplugs and that helps her to not be bothered by any of the machine noises or the O2 vents of his cpap. Those vents are near where the hose attaches to the mask, usually, and that needs to be expelled, so you likely can't get away from that noise. Noise from leaks is a much worse noise, and there are things you can do to lessen that noise. It does sound to me like the noise you are hearing is coming from the vents.

Thank you for trying to help! One thing to check is if pulling on the hose is moving the mask and causing leaks. A hose hanger can get the hose out of the way yet still allow the sleeper to move and not dislodge the mask. I use and can recommend this one from Amazon - it's a real bargain at $12! http://www.amazon.com/North-American-He ... 0034CHMRU/

Finding the best mask is the biggest challenge for each individual. There are three main types - nasal, nasal pillow, and full face with some variations. I believe that the nasal pillows are the most popular type and currently the airfit p10 seem to be the most popular for experienced nasal pillow users here.

Masks are too darn expensive - few here will argue about that! Our sponsor, cpap.com, not only has good mask prices but offers return insurance on many masks if a mask doesn't work for someone. Some masks even have free return insurance, like the airfit p10, which means that they can be tried without risk. Other masks have an option to buy return "insurance" for a relatively small fee to allow returns if a mask doesn't work out.

I am not familiar with the full face masks, but one of the improvements in the newer nasal cushion masks like the p10 is they have have diffuse exhalation ports. Instead of having one big exhaust port that blows into a partners face, they have a grid if many small holes that blow down and at an angle and is nicely diffused. This can make a big difference to a bed partner.