How tight is your mask????

I wear a FF MIrage Quattro. I have to tighter the headgear so tight on my head that it leaves deep indentations in the back of my bald head. I know what you are thinking all ready. That if I over tighter the mask straps it will not allow the mask cushion to fully deploy and seal around my face. You are partially correct. but if I do not tighter it that much my late night pressure increases up to say 18-20 will blow it right off.

So not sure which is better to lock the mask down to keep it on my face and probably not have it seal correctly or leave it loose enough to seal properly but have it get blown off when my pressure ramps up.

Is anyone out there using after market headgear straps, I have a bald head and no hair back there to cushion the mask rear strap and it digs into my bald head. he head gear strap is designed too small in the rear. A much wider base is needed to help displace the strap pressure.

I like the mask very much I just need to find a way to get it to seal properly all night,

If you cannot get a seal at levels which allow the mask to work in the way it is intended to, perhaps that mask simply isn't the one for you? The only way I could get my previous mask, a Quattro Air, to seal at higher pressures was to tighten the bottom strap uncomfortably. The solution? I got a different mask that forms a seal without the kinds of pressures the Quattro Air required.

Sometimes changing the size of a mask can help, too. A lot of them have sizing charts that you can use to help you get the right size. And, sometimes the shape of your face can dictate which mask you should use.

There are several FF masks now, if the one that you have doesn't fit right, then try looking around some, read some reviews, etc.

Mask liners can also help with leaks, padacheek.com is a good place to look to get an idea of what's out there. I've heard lots of good things about full face masks and mask liners in terms of controlling leaks.

I am going through the same thing with my Ultra Mirage. I am considering the Innomed Hybrid. It is a full face madk with nadal pillows. The nice feature is it had a chin support which should lend stability.
When I first replace the cushion in my mask each month it is wonderful for about a week. Then I have to pull it so tight.
My forehead support feels like a nail in my head. There are a million masks. Keep looking. Just remember how you used to feel before Cpap and it becomes a little more bearable. Best of luck!

Have you looked into a Pap Cap?

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/pursle ... dgear.html

Look down the page and see that you can get the thing on its own without the rest of the set-up.

I had a similar problem with pains in the back of my neck from the straps.

Check out Pad-a-cheek....

Karen makes a very nice fleece neck padding that covers the straps... I cut off parts of it and primarily use the back section for padding. No pains for me since I started using them

http://www.padacheek.com/PAC-Neck.html

good luck

Dave

Upalot, make sure when you adjust your mask straps you are doing so at the highest pressure, not the pressure you start out at. You haven't listed your equipment, but I think both the ResMed Autoset and the PR SI auto (newer models) has a "mask fit" feature that will put the pressure up to the highest setting for a brief period of time to allow you to adjust for that pressure.

Have you looked at your data to see if you really NEED that pressure? When someone is on an auto that goes up to 18 to 20 late at night, it makes me wonder if the pressures are really optimized for you. Someone who regularly needs a pressure of 20 should probably be on a bipap. But what we see very often is that people are sent home with a machine set wide open from 4 or 5 to 20, under the theory that the machine will adjust as needed. In reality, a wide open setting like that forces the machine to "chase" your apneas because in quiet periods it is at the lowest setting. As you enter REM sleep and your apnea's occur, the machine will have a hard time increasing pressure high enough and quickly enough to deal with your apneas, and your apneas will continue until the pressure goes much higher than it would if the minimum setting was higher in the first place.

Before giving up on the mask, it might be worthwhile to take a close look at the data to see if the pressures can be adjusted to prevent that from happening, while still doing a good job controlling your apnea.

Upalot,
I use the MIrage Quattro and my pressures range from 17.5 to 19.5. I am using a Pap Cap and the fleece mask strap liner from Pad A Cheek. I also am using a Pad A Cheek mask liner for the Quattro. The Pap Cap is a cheap generic one I found I think on EBay. Go to Ebay and search CPAP Soft Cap Headgear. Its about $25. There are several different ones out there if you search for one. But I was also using the regular straps with the fleece liner from PadA Cheek for quite a while also. I have also used several other generic straps from Cpap . com and other sources. The fleece headgear liner makes a huge difference with all of them. You will have to cut the liner to fit. They come pretty long. It lasts for years. The mask liner allows you to tighten the mask more with less discomfort. It also helps reduce leaks at the higher pressures.
Good Luck