CPAP Dry Eyes - Sensitivity?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
SleepGuy
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CPAP Dry Eyes - Sensitivity?

Post by SleepGuy » Tue Mar 24, 2009 8:30 pm

I've been working on something that might be a good solution for CPAP dry eyes and eye sensitivity and wanted to ask for thoughts. It's an eye pillow (with a cover) filled with wheat (or equivalent). It's something like a bean bag. It has a notch for the nose and fits very well beneath my Activa mask. It has enough mass to stay in place without any straps (I'm a 100% back sleeper) but I'm working on a strap. In any event it has enough mass that it simultaneously blocks out sensory input in the eye area (light, noise, mask leaks, air puffs, etc.) and seems to help eliminate leaks around my eyes that have kind of been bothering me the last several months. I also suspect that it would provide enough back-pressure to solve tear duct air leaks. Anyway it works so well to block out sensory input related to my cpap that I've been using it every night all night for several weeks. I've had another cpaper testing it out with good results.

I came across the cpap application as an afterthought. I've been working on making an aromatherapy delivery device for non-cpapers for quite some time and this eye pillow is a really effective unit that way--I just placed a little pocket in the middle that holds the little round PurSleep aromatherapy pads. That way people can change their aromatherapy flavor by changing the disc pad. Storage of the pads is the same as for the PurSleep products (in a little zip lock baggie).

So in the middle of working on this another cpaper got a sample and thought it would work well with his cpap. So I started using it that way and found that at least on the notched section it fits very well around the mask and provides a little tension to reduce leaks. The grain is easily flowable so it's not a problem to get it to fit comfortably right around my mask.

I'd be happy for any thoughts. If anyone wants to try it out please contact me via email (bret@pursleep.com). I'm very interested to know whether this potentially might help people with CPAP dry eyes caused by air backleaking from the sinus through the tear ducts. This is relatively easy to make at home and I'd be happy to provide dimensions and a materials list.
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