Irritated eyes

I seem to have channels from my nose directly into my eyes so the Quattro and Liberty are not working well because I awake each morning with very sore, red eyes and I tear all day long. My DME provider said I have a rather rare condition and there may be a treatment for it by inserting some kind of rods into those channels. Is anyone familiar with this condition and can provide a name for it and some experience with alleviating the internal air leakage?My next option may be to try the Oracle which looks daunting...thank you!

They are called plugs. An opthalmologist can insert plugs into your tear ducts to block them. If you feel air coming out of your eyes when you are using cpap that could be the problem.

However...

The Mirage Quattro and other masks are notorious for leaking into the eyes all night long, which will also cause irritation. Have you discounted this? Sometimes a product like Systane Gel Drops or GenTeal gel in the eyes at bedtime will provide protection by coating the eyes and minimizing irritation. I suffer from dry eye and like the Systane Gel Drops.

Randy, thank you! If the air leakage was external, I would think Liberty, with the nasal pillows going directly into my nose, would alleviate that issue. But I tried the LIberty again for the last two nights and I have the same redness, soreness and tears as with the Quattro. I did try some thick gel drops from the optometrist but they did not seem to provide much protection.

Coffee
I went through the same thing. GenTeal Gel drops fixed it....and I proved it by wearing my quattro for 3 days this week...result puffy and watering eyes. Went back to my Hybrid last night and I'm somewhat better. I found that I had to use the gel drops several times during the first few days to keep my eyes from weeping, then once my eyes seemed to be somewhat better I was able to only use the drops at bedtime. Prior to going back on the quattro I was even able to skip several nights of the gel drops. Try using the gel drops before you decide to get the blocking procedure done...I would much rather fix a problem with a $10 bottle of eye drops than have eye surgery.

Nan - I think it's worth noting that we are not talking about surgery here per se. I agree with you that the best solution would be if the problem can be solved by drops, which is what I am currently doing myself.

My grandfather had the tear duct blocking procedure, which consists of an opthalmologist placing tiny rubber plugs (like miniature pencil leads) into the tear ducts, using small tweezers. The plugs swell to close off the tear ducts so they no longer drain from the eye to the sinus. I watched it being done once, there is no numbing needed other than a drop, the patient does not even feel it. It is performed in the office and there is no cutting or anything that could be construed as "surgery."

I have been known to wear swim goggles to protect my eyes from air blowing in them.
Cpap.com has the Onyx and Quartz goggles for that purpose.
I'm saving my bucks for my own Quartz goggles.
Swim goggles might be a cheap way to check which way the air is going (inside or outside)
Then you can decide whether the plugs or a cheaper method will work for you.

I have been suffering a conjuctivitis like problem with my eyes. I have used medicine to clear it up but it just keeps coming back. Its not obvious to me the mask is blowing into my eyes but who knows when I am sleeping?

I too have suffered from conjuctivitis type symptoms ever since beginning CPAP. My eyes were irritated from the first day of using the Quattro. AFter trying many things, some homemade, the only way that I have found to protect my eyes is by wearing Tranquileyes. They are soft and I adjusted very quickly to wearing them while sleeping.

http://www.dryeyeshop.com/tranquileyes- ... -p356.aspx

try wearing the swimming goggles first, the tubes connecting eyes to nose usually have 1 way valves, sometimes eaten away by infection