Does your nose eventually get used to the nasal pillows?

After a very rough start on CPAP therapy, I am happy to say that the last four nights I have actually slept 7 hours without waking. The Milk of Magnesia and cloth pattern I made to cover the nasal pillows has really worked. No more blisters -- YIPPEE! However, my nose is still tender and I wondered if it is just a matter of getting used to the nasal prongs. I am wearing the Small size so I can't go smaller. Seem to be getting a good seal and if I have to live with a sore nose, so be it. Just wondering if it is part of the process. Best of all, the heart arhythmias have subsided (doctor said they were being caused by the apnea) so I guess things are going as they should. Have to take the SD card in to the sleep study center tomorrow so guess I will find out. Any way, just wondering if the nose will toughen up. Any thoughts?

Try a bit of Lansinoh ointment on the pillows, just a thin layer so you don't compromise the seal.

Yes, the nose does "toughen" up. You are the one with the bad reaction aren't you?
Sometimes we tend to get the straps just a wee bit too tight and that will also cause a little too much pressure on the nostrils which can cause some soreness. Sometimes just a tiny bit of looser...helps.

There are nasal pillow masks that offer a XSmall size. Unfortunately the Opus doesn't. Sometimes smaller isn't better though...sometimes larger is better. Larger lets the bulk of the pillow rest out side on the nostril without the pillow rim being too close to the nostril opening.

During the day try using some Lansinoh ointment (breast feeding moms use it on nipples) to help with the soreness. It does work.
Normally we would also suggest using it at night but with your reaction and the need to use the milk of magnesia barrier it might not offer enough of a barrier for you but using it during the day will help.

The part of the nasal pillow that goes inside your nostril just a little bit is referred to as the inner cone. Not prongs.
There really are nasal prong masks that do go much further into the nostril. Think of an oxygen cannula with large openings in your nose.

Came across this site to order straps for masks. i have opus 360 and am going to order some. http://www.padacheek.com
I am having trouble getting used to the breathing. I have to watch tv for an hour to get used to it.. then take it off and wake up around 4 and put it back on. Its been two weeks now. Tossing and turning all night - my hips hurt (think arthritis).

aevans410 wrote:Try a bit of Lansinoh ointment on the pillows, just a thin layer so you don't compromise the seal.

+1 This was of great help to me and I still occasionally use it just to try to improve the "seal"

I no longer wake up with any redness or sores on my nose whatsoever whether I use the Lansinoh or not but it probably took a few weeks initially for my nose to adapt.

The OP here has had the unfortunate bad luck to have an extremely bad reaction to the mask materials or the chemicals used in the manufacturing of the masks. The Phillips Milk of Magnesia is used to create a barrier between the skin and the portion of the mask that touches the skin. In this situation I don't know if the Lansinoh ointment would offer enough of a barrier. It needs to be used sparingly or the pillows will slide off the face as body heat thins out the ointment. Used thinly as it should be used I don't know if it is enough barrier to prevent the extreme reaction she had had. Dried Milk of Magnesia normally won't go anywhere until washed off so in this situation I don't know if Lansinoh would help or hurt when used at night. I don't know if the Lansinoh ointment would compromise the barrier of the Milk of Magnesia. If it didn't then it sure could be used along with the milk of mag but I am thinking it might dissolve the milk of mag barrier and in this person's situation....the skin reaction is a whole lot worse than minor nostril tenderness. Maybe later after the silicone is out gassed and any residual chemicals left over from the making of the silicone mask is totally gone (if that is where the reaction is coming from) then later Lansinoh ointment might be an option.
Or if she wants to see if Lansinoh offers enough barrier....but given what she described and she knows milk of mag works...if I were in her shoes I would stick with what I know works. I don't think I would use Lansinoh at night. This is a rare situation where it might be best to just use it during the day and maybe work on strap adjustments a little more if the nostril tenderness doesn't go away.

inyourdreams wrote:After a very rough start on CPAP therapy, I am happy to say that the last four nights I have actually slept 7 hours without waking. The Milk of Magnesia and cloth pattern I made to cover the nasal pillows has really worked. No more blisters -- YIPPEE! However, my nose is still tender and I wondered if it is just a matter of getting used to the nasal prongs. I am wearing the Small size so I can't go smaller. Seem to be getting a good seal and if I have to live with a sore nose, so be it. Just wondering if it is part of the process. Best of all, the heart arhythmias have subsided (doctor said they were being caused by the apnea) so I guess things are going as they should. Have to take the SD card in to the sleep study center tomorrow so guess I will find out. Any way, just wondering if the nose will toughen up. Any thoughts?

I use the same mask as you do, and my leaks are practically nil. I had a little tenderness at the very beginning, but it went away after I loosened the mask a bit. I found that the mask stayed in place just fine without the headgear needing to be so snug, so that's how I wear it now, and the soreness is gone. In all fairness, I feel that I am very fortunate that the medium nasal pillow of the OPUS 360 fit the contour of my nares so well, so that may have something to do with why I do not need the headgear to be very snug. Also, some people have complained that the OPUS 360 headgears slides around in their sleep, but I have not had that issue at all. Then again, I'm bald, so maybe it just sticks to my head better.

I remember that you had an allergic reaction to your nasal pillows at first, and I am glad to hear that you found a solution. What a unique use for milk of magnesia! I don't know if you can use any topical cream during the day, but when I did have soreness, I used A&D ointment, and it worked great in helping alleviate the tenderness. It's made mostly from lanolin and petroleum jelly and is usually used to clear up diaper rash, so maybe you can use it during the day without getting an allergic reaction.

I had about 3 or 4 days worth of sore nostrils when I first began therapy. Haven't had the issue since. I'm pretty confident that if you wait it out, the soreness
will go away.

Took my nose 2-3 weeks to really get used to it. At first I had the pillows too tight to try and seal them. I needed a size bigger, so they wouldn't press "into" the nostrils so much, but rather just "in" them and then seal with the pressure.

Took about a month or two for me to really stop feeling it at all. For a while, if I pushed my nose it would feel sore even though i didn't feel the pillows anymore while on the machine.

And here's the downside:
I've gotten so used to my élan that the Swift FX felt so weird last night,
I just had to switch back to cloth.

Thanks for this thread. I'm on night seven with a nasal mask and have tenderness at the base of my nose. It was so distracting last night that I slept without the mask. Of course now I'm feeling the effects of no sleep. I have ordered a nasal pillow mask but it hasn't arrived so I will perservere. Thanks.

Look at sleepweaver, CPAP had them on a trial basis. I really liked thm, until I had to up my pressure, and they picked up a strange whistle (on BIPAP so the prssure went up on inhale)

I gave nasel pillows a week, but could not take the sore nose..... I may have to try them again......

Yes, I am the one who had the bad reaction, but thanks to the advice of Karen at Pad-a-Cheek about coating with milk of magnesia, I have had success with my CPAP therapy. In fact, I have to go for follow up with sleep center today and take my SD card. Can't wait to learn what the numbers are. Haven't tried the SleepyHead software yet. There are so many knowledgeable people on this forum who are able to read and interpret that data. How in the world did you learn how to do that?

I did loosen the strap a bit on the Opus 360 last night and nose may be a little less sore this morning. If I have learned anything in the very short time I have been on this therapy, it is that it seems to be a trial and error type of thing. What may work for one, won't work for the other and there are many, many simple, inexpensive home remedies for some of the problems encountered.

No kidding, folks, this website is an absolute God send. I have learned more from the people here than anywhere.

Hope to report improvement on my numbers.

Yeah, you learn what works for you, get more knowledge. When you have some free time, you can experiment with Sleepyhead and start looking at that.