Mask pushing towards eyes

Hi all,

My mask seems to put pressure towards my eyes. I wake up with bags under my eyes. I also think that my eyes are drying out because of it.

I am a VPAP user so my mask is tied down VERY TIGHT on my face to prevent leaks. I have an Amara Full Face Mask.

Can I switch to nasal pillows with high pressure? I'm thinking that might correct the eye issues. But, I'm a mouth breather....

Denise

Denise_in_MI wrote:Hi all,

My mask seems to put pressure towards my eyes. I wake up with bags under my eyes. I also think that my eyes are drying out because of it.

I am a VPAP user so my mask is tied down VERY TIGHT on my face to prevent leaks. I have an Amara Full Face Mask.

Can I switch to nasal pillows with high pressure? I'm thinking that might correct the eye issues. But, I'm a mouth breather....

Denise

A mouth breather cannot use a nasal mask successfully unless they change to a nose breather. But as far as your pressure question, I have used a Dreamwear nasal pillow mask at 25 pressure just fine. My mouth doesn't like to stay closed at that pressure, but the mask doesn't leak.

Why are you a mouth breather? Habit or a physical need to mouth breathe because the nose is chronically congested?

If you could fix the mouth breathing issues you could use a nasal pillow or nasal cushion mask....higher pressures won't prohibit using those masks despite what some DMEs have told people.
There's a few more challenges of course with the higher pressures but it's not like you don't have those same challenges with a full face mask...or more so because more real estate from the mask touching the skin and needing to stay sealed.

If you just have to use a full face mask look into strap covers from Padacheek.com. They help diffuse the strap pressure on the face so less chance of the straps making dents or causing edema issues.

Thank you both for your rapid replies!

I am always congested, but that has relieved a lot since getting my machine. Seriously. I'm wondering if I break my habit of mouth breathing.

You won't ever know until you try if you can break the mouth breathing habit.

Don't let the fact that you use high pressures stop you from trying if that is what you want to do.
There are people using a bilevel with pressures over 20 cm all the time who use nasal pillows quite successfully.

And some people have found that the humidified air actually helps clear up congestion....so maybe you are one of those.
I thought I was a mouth breather too but it was more out of habit. I wasn't fond of going the full face mask route so I opted for nasal pillows and it took me 2 or 3 months to tame the mouth opening thing but I did it. It's rare that I mouth breathe now and if I do it doesn't last long so I don't worry about it.

Pugsy wrote:I thought I was a mouth breather too but it was more out of habit. I wasn't fond of going the full face mask route so I opted for nasal pillows and it took me 2 or 3 months to tame the mouth opening thing but I did it. It's rare that I mouth breathe now and if I do it doesn't last long so I don't worry about it.

I'm still waiting for my mouth to be tamed, but maybe my mouth is bigger or more aggressive than yours.

MaxINTJ wrote:I'm still waiting for my mouth to be tamed, but maybe my mouth is bigger or more aggressive than yours.

It's not your mouth that is the problem but instead the lazy tongue dropping down and letting the air enter your mouth in the first place.
If the tongue didn't drop down the air wouldn't enter your mouth and try to exit the mouth. It's not doing a good job keeping the backdoor closed.

Pugsy wrote:

MaxINTJ wrote:I'm still waiting for my mouth to be tamed, but maybe my mouth is bigger or more aggressive than yours.

It's not your mouth that is the problem but instead the lazy tongue dropping down and letting the air enter your mouth in the first place.
If the tongue didn't drop down the air wouldn't enter your mouth and try to exit the mouth. It's not doing a good job keeping the backdoor closed.

I don't think it's the tongue, I think it's the soft palate. When I'm awake I can move my tongue anywhere, open and close my mouth, and even yawn with the high pressure, so that indicates it's not the tongue (to me anyway).

Ha Ha! This is great! I may just opt for a set of nasal pillows to try out.

Denise_in_MI wrote:Ha Ha! This is great! I may just opt for a set of nasal pillows to try out.

Go for it! And good luck! They are far more comfortable than a FFM.

MaxINTJ wrote:I don't think it's the tongue, I think it's the soft palate. When I'm awake I can move my tongue anywhere, open and close my mouth, and even yawn with the high pressure, so that indicates it's not the tongue (to me anyway).

So what do you think the soft palate is doing differently at 12 cm pressure vs 20 cm pressure? Why is it opening up at the higher pressures and letting air enter your mouth?

And what you can do with your tongue while awake has no bearing on what happens when asleep.

My sleep doc claims he has trained his tongue to stay at the roof of his mouth. Really?

My lovely mask pushes towards my eyes also . No sleep last night. Bags this morning--what to do?

AMESS wrote:My sleep doc claims he has trained his tongue to stay at the roof of his mouth. Really?

Try this to help with mouth breathing (or mouth leaking, to be more precise):

1. Place the tip of your tongue behind your top front teeth and let it rest against the roof of your mouth.

2. Relax your tongue and let the sides spread out against the inside of your top molars.

3. By sucking in ever so slightly you should be able to create a seal and a vacuum that gets you breathing through your nose.

4. Practice this at first while awake in bed with your mask on while reading or watching TV. Then it will gradually become easier and more automatic to do when you go to sleep.

There's truth to this? Will give it a shot

AMESS wrote:There's truth to this? Will give it a shot

How come you didn't the many times it's been posted, why now. Jim