have tried so many masks

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onward60
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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:15 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:27 pm
The most common error made by anyone with any type of mask is they crank things down way too tight.
Generally speaking if a mask is causing pain in the teeth area....it's way too tight. Should never cause any sort of tooth pain unless bad teeth are already present.

If any mask causes pain of any sort it is either fitted improperly or the wrong size.
I have a size small N20. The DME lady fit that one. I am smaller than a the smallest measurement for the N20. I have a narrow face so I think the small is correct. That's the one that was fine sitting up at the DME but painful lying down.

I was fit for an F20 at the sleep lab. I thought it was odd that I was given a medium for the F20. How can that be possible? That's the one that pushes my cheeks into between my teeth.

I am wondering if it would help get used to any mask by wearing it around the house really loose. Or would that be counterproductive? I'm wearing the N20 very loosely right now as I type. It doesn't really bother me, but I see I'm getting dents and red marks on the bridge of my nose.

I asked the lab lady about an airtouch to avoid red marks. She said that's not what they are for. She claimed they are for people with folds and bumps in their skin to settle into the folds. She said that's not me.

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Pugsy
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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by Pugsy » Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:36 pm

onward60 wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:15 pm
I asked the lab lady about an airtouch to avoid red marks. She said that's not what they are for. She claimed they are for people with folds and bumps in their skin to settle into the folds. She said that's not me.
She's full of crap.
The memory foam was exactly designed for people like you.
Some people just get dents or red marks easier than others. I get dents super easy myself. A wrinkle in the pillowcase will give me a "scar" on my cheek that will last half the day. Annoying as hell. :lol:

Did you know you can use a memory foam AirTouch F20 in your current F20 frame? You just need the cushion which can be found on Amazon or EBay.

Also...there is now and AirTouch N20 cushion.
https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apne ... touch-n20/

Sorry but I really know nothing about full face masks since I have never used one.
I have always been a nasal pillow sort of girl myself.

I don't like anything going over my nose at all so zero experience with the N20.

But again...no mask should cause pain, blisters, sores, abrasions.
If it does...wrong size, improper fit....or simply not suitable for your face.
I have tried masks that hurt and I know how to size and fit masks....if they hurt simply not a good mask for me and I won't struggle trying to make it work.

Would you be willing to try a slightly used mask? I might have something in the donations box you could try for free.
I don't have any memory foam cushions though.
And trying something that someone else has touched might creep you out and that's okay. I would understand.
It never creeped me out though and how I was able to try over 40 masks just to be trying stuff.

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by babydinosnoreless » Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:08 pm

onward60 wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 5:27 pm
babydinosnoreless wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 3:05 pm
I can't answer on the full face mask because I don't wear it but the N-20 if its pushing to hard at the bottom of your nose the bottom straps are too tight. It should not be tight, pull it gently away from your face let it settle back down and seal. I use the N-20 "for her" which gives me a better seal than the regular N-20. The smaller size just fits my face even though I am not small. Its weird that masks are the only thing I've ever needed a small for. Lol. I wipe my face with a stridex pad before going to bed to remove the oils and that helps the seal as well IMO as I have the oily t-zone around my nose. There are many different types of masks. You can go to cpap.com and look at them all. I find its cheeper to buy the pieces off of amazon rather than going through the dme, a lot of times.
Thanks for the advice! The DME lady fit it to me, but maybe she was wrong. I wonder if it's because I have a neck support pillow so my neck rests directly on the bottom strap. I wonder if that would tighten it. I sure would like that nasal mask to work. My insurance pays for the DME mask every 3 months. I think it was because of COVID that she only had a few to choose from. Not entirely sure, though.

I do have small face and it was the small "for her" mask. I wonder if the small is too big for me. :(
The dme lady fit it while you were sitting not actually laying on it. Also many DME employees do not use the equipment themselves, so have no idea how to get the fit so it works when you are actually sleeping. I'm a restless sleeper so what is comfy when I go to bed may be too tight or too lose later. I frequently make small adjustments. The key is not making huge adjustments just make small ones until it feels right. One of the videos I watched shows being able to put two fingers under the strap. If you can't do that it's too tight.

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onward60
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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:39 pm

Pugsy wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:36 pm
onward60 wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:15 pm
I asked the lab lady about an airtouch to avoid red marks. She said that's not what they are for. She claimed they are for people with folds and bumps in their skin to settle into the folds. She said that's not me.
She's full of crap.
The memory foam was exactly designed for people like you.
Some people just get dents or red marks easier than others. I get dents super easy myself. A wrinkle in the pillowcase will give me a "scar" on my cheek that will last half the day. Annoying as hell. :lol:

Did you know you can use a memory foam AirTouch F20 in your current F20 frame? You just need the cushion which can be found on Amazon or EBay.

Also...there is now and AirTouch N20 cushion.
https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apne ... touch-n20/

Sorry but I really know nothing about full face masks since I have never used one.
I have always been a nasal pillow sort of girl myself.

I don't like anything going over my nose at all so zero experience with the N20.

But again...no mask should cause pain, blisters, sores, abrasions.
If it does...wrong size, improper fit....or simply not suitable for your face.
I have tried masks that hurt and I know how to size and fit masks....if they hurt simply not a good mask for me and I won't struggle trying to make it work.

Would you be willing to try a slightly used mask? I might have something in the donations box you could try for free.
I don't have any memory foam cushions though.
And trying something that someone else has touched might creep you out and that's okay. I would understand.
It never creeped me out though and how I was able to try over 40 masks just to be trying stuff.
Actually, no it doesn't creep me out. (Strangers watching me sleep creeps me out, though!) Thank you, I will think about that donation box. I may have something for it in the future! I have both the N20 and the F20 right now. Obviously not going to keep both. But my memory is awful and I might forget this whole donations conversation by tomorrow. :?

I have been thinking that I have a long, narrow face. Maybe that's why I am a medium in the F20 and a small in the N20. I see the F20 is measured top to bottom. The N20 is measured side to side. Perhaps the F series is going to be too wide and the N series is going to be too short.

If I decide I need memory foam, I will try hard to make the nasal cushion work because it is so much cheaper than the full face cushion. My insurance will only pay for a cushion every 3 months. I don't think I can swing buying my own F20 memory foam cushion.

M primary doctor suggested I get a nasal and tape my mouth shut because my jaw tends to fall open when I relax. Thinking about that, too. And I should not be! I tis almost bedtime here and I am on a screen. Bad me!

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:42 pm

babydinosnoreless wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:08 pm
onward60 wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 5:27 pm
babydinosnoreless wrote:
Sun Sep 26, 2021 3:05 pm
I can't answer on the full face mask because I don't wear it but the N-20 if its pushing to hard at the bottom of your nose the bottom straps are too tight. It should not be tight, pull it gently away from your face let it settle back down and seal. I use the N-20 "for her" which gives me a better seal than the regular N-20. The smaller size just fits my face even though I am not small. Its weird that masks are the only thing I've ever needed a small for. Lol. I wipe my face with a stridex pad before going to bed to remove the oils and that helps the seal as well IMO as I have the oily t-zone around my nose. There are many different types of masks. You can go to cpap.com and look at them all. I find its cheeper to buy the pieces off of amazon rather than going through the dme, a lot of times.
Thanks for the advice! The DME lady fit it to me, but maybe she was wrong. I wonder if it's because I have a neck support pillow so my neck rests directly on the bottom strap. I wonder if that would tighten it. I sure would like that nasal mask to work. My insurance pays for the DME mask every 3 months. I think it was because of COVID that she only had a few to choose from. Not entirely sure, though.

I do have small face and it was the small "for her" mask. I wonder if the small is too big for me. :(
The dme lady fit it while you were sitting not actually laying on it. Also many DME employees do not use the equipment themselves, so have no idea how to get the fit so it works when you are actually sleeping. I'm a restless sleeper so what is comfy when I go to bed may be too tight or too lose later. I frequently make small adjustments. The key is not making huge adjustments just make small ones until it feels right. One of the videos I watched shows being able to put two fingers under the strap. If you can't do that it's too tight.
Oh my! That is helpful! My daughter is going to come over this week and try to help me. I will be sure to tell her this. (If I remember. :? )

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by Pugsy » Sun Sep 26, 2021 10:08 pm

In the meantime when I have a chance I will look through the donations box and see if I even have anything that might work for a small woman with a long narrow/skinny face. It will be a couple of days though. The donations box is out in the shed and I don't remember what is in it. Also the first 3 days of this coming week I sort of have a full plate.
Some lengthy medical care visits and one lengthy hair appointment (gotta get rid of some white roots).
Long story but I had surgery a little over a month ago on my wrist. I am typing one fingered because I have to wear a thumb splint for 3 months...and do a lot of PT.

If I can find a maybe suitable mask I will come back here and post a link to it for you to look at.
The donations box is just a box of masks that people either tried and didn't like or maybe they did like it and got a spare and then tried a new mask and decided they liked the new mask better and made a switch and no longer needed the older spare.
Then you can decide if you want to try it or not. It's a good way to check sizing as well.

I always tell people that if a mask looks interesting then interesting is a good enough reason to try it if at all possible.
We always learn something with experiments...even if all we learn is what a bad idea that ended up being. :lol:
And I have had many "bad ideas".
Unfortunately mask experiments are horribly expensive and not everyone can afford to flush money down the toilet.

Now all that said....I used to get a lot of donations but a couple of years ago cpap.com changed their mask return policy from having to buy the return insurance to get a refund to all masks come with free return insurance.
When they started doing that my donations reduced because people now could return a mask they tried and didn't like and get their money back.

So if you get in a position where you are able to buy a mask because you want to try it.....if you buy from cpap.com you have 30 days from when they shipped it to you to return it and get your money back. They used to even send a prepaid label via email that you can print off for the return. I do not know if they still do that now though. Haven't bought a complete mask from them in a long time. The return insurance only applies to complete mask packages though. It doesn't apply to individual mask parts like just a cushion or just headgear.

I still get some donations though....usually because people wait too long to return it.

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:33 am

Thanks, Pugsy, for explaining all that! And for being such a help. I had to retire early due to disability so I'm on Medicaid already and am finding my choices are limited. The DME I need to order through also said they won't sell me the memory foam because Medicaid won't cover it and that they are having trouble getting some things from the warehouse because of COVID. But the DME lady also told me I needed a prescription just to buy the cushion. I found that's not true. Maybe Medicaid would buy one cushion and I would buy the other two. In which case, maybe I could afford to buy the foam N20 cushion myself on months 2 and 3. It looks like it's much cheaper than the foam F20 cushion.

I messaged my sleep doc about having trouble getting a mask to fit just to get that in my medical record. Maybe it's because of the shape of my face. I'm 5'8 so not a small head (medium F20) but a narrow face (small N20). If it ever comes to surgery, I probably need to document that I really did try with the CPAP.

I'm sorry about your surgery. I hope it all heals up well. Don't worry about getting back to me quickly. I'm kind of a slow motion person. Between the autoimmune stuff and the sleep apnea and the memory loss, I've learned to accept that slow and unproductive is the new normal for me. Well, sort of accept. Most days. :wink:

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by Pugsy » Mon Sep 27, 2021 7:49 am

The memory foam cushions can last longer that 30 days with some common sense care.
I know someone who gets 3 months before it starts deteriorating.

Ahhh...Medicaid...depending on the state the DME may or may not be again lying to you about Medicaid paying for something but my gut says a big lie. These replacement items are all billed out by HCPCS billing codes and not brands or names or features.

Below is Medicare's allowance schedule and no where are model names used. Never have been.
Medicaid in most states go by what Medicare does.
You would need to check with your Medicaid to find out how they do replacement allowance
Don't ever, ever rely on what the DME supplier tells you about what Medicaid will do or not do. As you have found out...they lie.

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by Pugsy » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:35 am

Word of warning if you should decide to purchase the memory foam cushion for either of your masks.
I see on EBay some prices as low as 18 bucks with free shipping for the small N20 AirTouch but it says "new out of box".
Don't buy anything related to memory foam that isn't sealed.
Air itself eventually will cause the foam to break down and we have no idea how long it has been opened and exposed to the air.

So be very careful if you decide to purchase the memory foam cushion. Make sure the product is sealed in package.

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:07 pm

Thanks for this, Pugsy. I will especially remember about the memory foam! (Well, I'll try :roll: )

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by zonker » Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:00 pm

onward60 wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:07 pm
Thanks for this, Pugsy. I will especially remember about the memory foam! (Well, I'll try :roll: )
har-har. "memory foam", "remember"?
people say i'm self absorbed.
but that's enough about them.
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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:54 pm

zonker wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:00 pm
onward60 wrote:
Mon Sep 27, 2021 2:07 pm
Thanks for this, Pugsy. I will especially remember about the memory foam! (Well, I'll try :roll: )
har-har. "memory foam", "remember"?
:lol:

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Mon Sep 27, 2021 6:56 pm

I am going to throw this thing out the window!

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:09 pm

I've got the N20 airfit adjusted better but it is still uncomfortable. There seems to be a spot on my upper gums that is sensitive. I've had trouble with it before. There's a rotated tooth there. After wearing the mask lying on my back for about 30 minutes, it started to feel like it was pinching that spot and now that gums and tooth are irritated still a few hours later. I don't know if I can wear something that rests on my upper lip. I wonder, though, if the airtouch would be better. Looking at the pictures, maybe the weight of the mask is distributed over a greater area? Does that sound right?

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Re: have tried so many masks

Post by onward60 » Tue Sep 28, 2021 1:32 pm

Anyone have experience with these 2 masks?

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