Nasal Pillow Sealer Tests

[quietmorning]

I'm going to test several different things for something to use to seal my nasal pillows - figured I'd run a few tests on them to see what works and how. Maybe someone might find what might work for them if something else doesn't work.

I'll post the results here. If you have an idea of something not on this list, and want to test it, post what it is and the test results below and I'll add it to the Quick Reference List.

Here are the choices I am starting with. Since this is a test, other things can be added to this list as the need arises, but it will be nice to see how something works, if it works, or if it doesn't work at all.

The idea of a polymer really appeals to me - which would make hair conditioners a possibility, too, especially a silk conditioner.


Shine Therapy Silk Fusion Sixty Second Critical Repair (Deep Hair Conditioner)

Home made: will test last
Honey Comb Salve - Straight Honeycomb Salve - home made will post recipe
Honey Comb Salve with Licorice - Home made - will post recipe
Honey Comb Salve with Marshmallow - Home made - will post recipe
Honey Comb Salve with Yerba Santa - Home made - will post recipe
Sodium Alginate - on looking it up, it looks like it would actually be VERY good for this. (If I can get my nerve up to try it )
Licorice (herb) - alone mixed with gelling agent
Yerba Santa (herb) - alone mixed with gelling agent
Marshmallow (herb) - alone mixed with gelling agent


Edit:
TESTING RESULTS FOR QUICK REFERENCE:

Good Sealers:

Argan Oil - Can be purchased at Walgreens, Amazon. I bought a 2oz bottle from Amazon for $15.99 - so little was used as a sealant that it would last a very long time. The smell is mild, though a little nutty or a little like safflower oil. It is not strong at all - once the mask is in place, you will not be able to smell it at all. I slept on both my back and my side with no leaks. This product is not sticky nor is it tacky - it is oily . . .but not greasy if that makes any sense. My nasal pillow felt like it might slip for a few minutes after I put it on, but then it settled into place and didn't move. The oil is quite comfortable. I put a very reserved amount around my nares and just inside the nares to ensure a good seal. I only put on one application. Argan oil IS an oil, and I am not using it long enough to see if it breaks down the silicone in the nasal pillow - after I try all the other products, I will use this with a new pillow for a month and a half and see how long the pillow lasts. I wouldn't think it would do anything since it is a natural plant product - so I will be back to update this when I test it to see if it deteriorates the nasal pillow.

Burts Bee's Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream - Cost: Between $9 to $10 find at Walgreens, Target, Walmart, Amazon. 2 oz container. Comes in Almond Milk and Beeswax and Banana. This trial is for the Almond Milk. The seal is tacky, not sticky, not oily. Applied a thin coat on nares and just inside the nares. Smells of almond, so if you love the smell of almonds, you'll love this. If you hate the smell of almonds - then don't go here. No leaks, even with a very clumsy turning over in the bed. (Hubby had the covers pretty good.) Nose is soft this morning and very slightly waxy. I love this stuff. This might be my final choice.

Lansinoh - Cost: Between $9 and $12 for a 1.41 oz tube - shop around. Can be found at: Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, Kmart
Lansinoh is tacky. Lansinoh does not leave a crust on the skin in the morning - actually softens your skin while you sleep.
Helpful hints: Lansinoh can clog pours - use sparingly. May cause itching for those who are sensitive.

Marine Sports Mask Seal - Purchased at Amazon.com for $8.90 (total with shipping - $5.95 without shipping). This is the Mustache Sealer for Scuba Diving Masks. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003C7 ... UTF8&psc=1. I really liked the stick form - though it was a little soft when I tried it. I think my room was warm. I was a little worried that I'd have the same result as the silicone grease I tried, but I didn't. I used a very thin layer - placing it on my nares with my finger. It is sticky - but not overly sticky. I had absolutely no leaks. There was no residue that 'melted' and dripped, nor was my mask slippery. This morning my nose did not have a layer of silicone on it, nor did my nasal pillows. I put the sealer on my eyebrow - wow. . .I only used a little bit and it completely flattened my eyebrow out. I can see how this stuff works as well as it does on mustaches! I simply wiped it off with a dry washcloth - the silicone came right off. I'm very impressed with this stuff.

Milk of Magnesia - Cost: $4.29 Walgreens store brand. 12 fluid oz. Dabbed onto nostrils with q-tip 10 - 20 minutes before bed. Very sticky. Strong Seal. Does not irritate skin. Slept both on back and side, no leaks at all. Slightly crusty nose in the morning. Cherry flavor smells good. Helpful hints: Do not allow to completely dry. Apply liberally - I went over my nares 3 times - each time with a new dab of Milk of Magnesia.

Pure Lanolin Anhydrous - Cost: $4.98 at Bulk Apothecary http://www.bulkapothecary.com/raw-ingre ... s/lanolin/, can also be found on Amazon.
Lanolin Anhydrous is high in lipid content and contributes to hydration levels in the skin. Lanolin is easily absorbed into skin cells, which allows it to help repair barrier function and increase skin moisture. Our Lanolin Anhydrous is derived from Sheep Wool. Application is sticky, and holds well. May cause itching for those who are sensitive. Used and submitted by MerMade.

Ross Stick Washable Glue Stick - Any non-toxic glue stick can be found where ever school supplies are sold for about $2 to $3 bucks. It is non toxic. It is very sticky, but only for a few minutes. It dries fairly quickly, so putting on your mask quickly will ensure a good seal. I was able to pull my nasal mask off without pulling my skin at all, this morning. I had no leaks. None. I DID have a pretty itchy moment at about 3am this morning - not horrible - but I think it was the paste drying and my nose not liking it too much. A simple roll over to the side pulled my skin just enough to cure the itch, and still, there were no leaks. Make sure, if you use this that you wash your nose the next morning WITH a warm sudsy wash cloth and scrub fairly well - because of this, I'm suggesting that though this is a very good sealer - and because of the itch - this might be an excellent back up in case you run into a jam and don't have anything - the kid's school box glue stick will get you through a night or two until you can get out and get what you normally use.

Silicone Ear Plugs: Cost - between $1.75 and nearly $8. Can be found at most grocery stores, pharmacies and Amazon. Tested the Kids Silicone Ear Plugs. No leaks. I had a very restless night last night. The seal is a very good one - the silicone is quite sticky. My nasal pillows did not collapse last night, nor were they soft this morning. **Note** There are silicone ear plugs, soft silicone ear plugs and ultra soft silicone ear plugs. Stay away from the soft and ultra soft silicone ear plugs. There are no ingredients on the label, but with the results of the first test, the soft and the ultra soft may damage the silicone of the nasal pillow.
Instructions for use are here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=89073&p=821994#p821994

Low Movement Sealers - These products do not have a strong seal but are fine for the low to non movement sleeper:

Ayre Gel: .05 oz tube. Cost between $3.50 and $6.00. Can be found at most pharmacies, Wal-Mart, most online pharmacies and Amazon. Not sticky or tacky. Causes a suction type seal that is easily broken. Seal does work, but is more for the sleeper that does not move around much. Leaks occurred when I shifted in bed or when I turned to my side.
Leak Rate (L/min) W-Avg: 1.26 Min: 0.00 Med: 1.00 95% 5.00 Max: 8.00
Total Leak Rate (L/min) W-Avg: 29.04 Min: 26.00 Med: 29.00 95% 33.00 Max: 36.00
No discernible scent. Nose was very slightly (comfortably) moist when I removed my mask this morning. No crusting, no oily residue.

Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm 0.15 oz stick - Purchased at Walgreens, but I've seen it at Walmart, Kmart, Target, Amazon - runs $3 to $5. Slightly tacky - leaked a little bit, not much, when I moved, would work very well for someone who does not move or turn while they sleep. Smell is not overwhelming - smells a lot like my great grandfather's honey balm - so I'm guessing the smell is the honey mixed with oil. I didn't smell anything at all once I had my mask on. Nose was not waxy or oily on wake - skin feels soft and comfortable.

CocoCare Cococare 100% Cocoa Butter Stick (1oz) - $1.50 at Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy. Amazon sells it for twice the cost. It is not sticky, not tacky, not oily. The only way I can really describe it is . . . smooooooth? It smells like CHOCOLATE. Oh.my.word. Every woman's dream. Unfortunately, once I had my mask on, I could no longer smell it. The seal is more of a suction seal - not a tacky or sticky one. It worked well for most of the night, except once when I turned.

Walgreens Personal Lubricating Jelly (4oz) - $4.99 at Walgreens. KY has expanded their jelly types, so I had a hard time finding the original, I ended up buying a store brand. I did find the original KY on amazon, but it's fairly expensive. ($16 to $21). Kmart, WalMart and Target carry the brand KY in the original form - but only for online purchase, ranging from $3 to $14. CVS's site is down this morning, so no information from them. I put a very thin layer on my nares - then immediately put my mask on (as I tried waiting a few minutes before and the jelly dried out too fast). This is a suction seal, and did very well all night until I turned early this morning. My mask leaked when I turned. So, this is a good suction sealer for the sleeper who doesn't move much at night.


Fails:

Burts Bee's Hand Salve - When I smell it in the tin, it smells like it would be great for a bad sinus night - heavy in eucalyptus. . . but when it's on your nares it just doesn't smell good - but that wouldn't cause it to fail, as my nose seems to be on the sensitive side, and it may not bother someone else. The Burt's Bees Hand Salve is neither tacky nor sticky. I thought it might be waxy, but it's not - its a little on the oily side. I leaked a little all night, then had two significant leaks when I rolled over. So this is failing because it really doesn't help with the leaks.

Frizz Ease - Spiral Style Curl Defining Spray Gel - This doesn't work. Applied with Q-tip. There is no seal, pillow slips, lots of leaks.

McNett Aquaseal Brand Silicone Grease 1/4-Ounce - Cost: $5.95 at Amazon. Irritates sinuses. Does not hold in place - dripped into my mouth tape. Held well - sticky at first, then as night progressed, dripped from nose. 12 leaks total after silicone grease started running - and this morning when taking care of my equipment I found lots of silicone in my nasal pillows. - Heh. . .wonder how much of it is now in my lungs. Gah!

Nivea - A Kiss of Milk and Honey Soothing lip balm - I purchased this at Walgreens for about $3. Can be found at: CVS Pharmacy, Amazon.com (for twice the amount and as an add on item. You can buy bundles of five or more for $12 - $15 ), Target (store only), Walmart (pack of two $5). I took the stick and went around my nares twice and inside of my nares twice. It wasn't sticky when I put it on - about five minutes before I put my mask on. . .nor was it sticky when I put my mask on, but when I went to adjust my mask after was in bed - the mask was sticky to the seal. The smell is pleasant - slight honey smell. I could not smell anything after my mask was on. This had a very good seal. No leaks. And last night as a pretty active night. My nose is very very slightly waxy this morning.
Per Karen / Padacheek: "I was curious about the Nivea so I called the company and they told me that the second ingredient Micro Crystaline Wax is Petroleum." I looked up Micro Crystaline Wax - and some times it is used with silicone - but there isn't much information concerning how it reacts with silicone. It is a 'de-oiled' product of petroleum - a crystallized form of petrolatum - Oils and crystals are very different in composition - so I really can't say whether this Nivea product would break down the silicone or not. At this point, this is a 'use at your own risk' until further information on this product can be obtained. I may - after all this testing is concluded, add this to the Aragon Oil to test its effects a new pillow long term. -- Many thanks to Karen for giving us the 'heads up'!

Paul Mitchel Curls (Twirl Around) - never got out of the gate. I checked the label again before I tried to use it last night and found alcohol in the mix, so I nixed that and grabbed something else in the box. Not to mention that it's blasted expensive.

Plumbers 0-rings - this is a mixed review, as they work very well in keeping the neck of the nasal ports from collapsing into the pillow or into the port quite well, but as a sealer - because they stiffen the neck of the port, the necks did not move with my movements and actually caused leaks instead of preventing them. I tried the O-rings on my nasal pillow that had begun to collapse and they worked quite well to keep the air-way open as far as the collapse goes. So, if you use the Swift FX nasal pillow - this is quite helpful to deal with collapses - but use a strong sealer with them.

Silly Putty - this is a fail. I was anxious to try this - as my curiosity was killing me - but I didn't even get far enough to sleep with it. Silly Putty is very stiff. It sticks well to the nasal pillow, but doesn't stick at all to the skin. It's difficult to work with, and does not hold shape well enough to be placed on the nasal pillow. The ear plugs are a MUCH better option.

Waxelene - Well, this is a fail. I tried Waxelene with both a heavy application and a very very light application. Both times I ended up with some pretty heavy leaks. I slept on my back the whole night for both as I was pretty sure this would be a suction seal and not a sticky seal - I still had leaks. I also experienced the center nasal opening in my nasal pillow closing in on itself and sticking together both times. I think (I'm guessing) that maybe some of the Waxelene got into the opening of the nasal pillow and cause it to stick to itself. On a positive note, this is a very nice jelly for other uses that you would normally use vasoline. It's a great replacement. I'm going to use it to battle very dry skin. And it smells good too!

[Pugsy]

Wonder what my hair stuff would do...you know the kind we use to make the spiky look stay put?
Sticks to my hands something awful.
Just now put a tiny bit on my nostrils....OMG it smells wonderful.
Paul Mitchel
Mitch construction paste
Elastic hold
is on the tube...
ingredients ...it says...check the box...don't have the box
It probably has a banned substance in it but will go look.

Edit..most of the ingredients I didn't have a clue what they were but I think I recognize this one
Petrolatum

I suspected as much but you know such a tiny, tiny amount would be used if it hurt the silicone it would take along time and by then the nasal pillows would be tired anyway. It's not like it would eat it up or something right away.

[quietmorning]

Wonder what my hair stuff would do...you know the kind we use to make the spiky look stay put?
Sticks to my hands something awful.
Just now put a tiny bit on my nostrils....OMG it smells wonderful.
Paul Mitchel
Mitch construction paste
Elastic hold
is on the tube...
ingredients ...it says...check the box...don't have the box
It probably has a banned substance in it but will go look.

Edit..most of the ingredients I didn't have a clue what they were but I think I recognize this one
Petrolatum

I suspected as much but you know such a tiny, tiny amount would be used if it hurt the silicone it would take along time and by then the nasal pillows would be tired anyway. It's not like it would eat it up or something right away.

Yeah, I tried to stay away from the petroleum anything when I as looking. I really wanted to try carmex, but it has petroleum in the label too. But I bet there are a lot of hair products out there that don't use it. Natural polymers are sticky . . .so they should do the trick. Any high protein conditioner should be ok. And it shouldn't irritate the skin too much, if it all. I use suave conditioner in the winter as my shower 'baby oil' to hydrate my skin (cheap and effective) and I've never had any adverse reaction to it.

I wonder if one of the other elastic holds products would be any good. . . . I just looked in the bathroom . . .lol. . . it would be nice if I could find something that would actually WORK for my hair! Well, maybe I can use this stuff with my mask. . .and it will redeem itself.

Paul Mitchell Curls (Full circle leave in treatment) (and too friggen expensive!) : problem ingredients - alcohols and chlorides.
Paul Mtichel Curls (Twirl Around) : Problem ingredients - alcohols - though this looks a lot less damaging than the product above. Loaded with polymers and natural oils.
Loreal Ever Curl Hydracharge leave in cream: Problem ingredients - alcohols and chlorides. No polymers.
Frizz Ease - Spiral Style: No problem ingredients - LOADED with polymers - and waxes. I think this is the one that I'm going to try. Adding to the list above.

[quietmorning]

Test 1. Milk of Magnesia - alone.

Walgreens Milk of Magnesia Saline Laxative Cherry $4.29 12oz.
Applied with q-tip.

Will edit here to tell you how it went.

Mouth was taped to ensure no confusion of where any leaks were coming from.

Night 1. Last night was one small leak when I moved the mask to adjust it for the right side of my nose - otherwise, no leaks. When I adjusted it, I had to break the seal - it sealed VERY WELL.
No itching. No skin irritation. Held all night. Nose is a little 'crusty' this morning.

Note: I washed off the first application and allowed my skin to dry well before I reapplied 20 minutes before I went to bed. I did not allow the MofMag to completely dry - but only to dry to 'sticky'. I noticed from the first application that when it completely dries, it is not sticky at all.

Will try this again tonight just to hold a constant - then go on to the next one.

[jdm2857]

Don't forget Silly Putty.

[Stormynights]

I have been tempted to super glue my husband's mask to his face and set his pressure to 20. It might be a good experiment.

[poorflick]

Ive thought about using beeswax. Burts bees has some nice balms and sticky lip stuff. Smells good and could do the trick.

[RogerSC]

How about paraffin? It works in the home canning process to seal mason jars, maybe it would work with nasal pillows *smile*?

[mgaggie]

I'm using vaseline, is that bad?

[quietmorning]

Don't forget Silly Putty.

May well try this - the ingredients are silicone. I may not be able to get it to apply thin enough, though. We'll see how it goes.

[SleepyToo2]

Vaseline and paraffin are both petroleum products. They should be avoided as much as possible if you want the silicone parts of your mask to live until the next delivery! Not to mention the potential hazards of breathing that stuff in all night. I prefer to use Lansinoh, or Ayr gel - much lower risk. Alternatively, I am one of the lucky ones who can get away without using anything. Most of the time. Last night I had a major attack of the aliens (thanks, whoever sent them over!). Probably related to allergies more than anything.

[quietmorning]

I have been tempted to super glue my husband's mask to his face and set his pressure to 20. It might be a good experiment.

I'll have to find a day where I can walk around with a super glued nasal pillow attached to my nose and then find a doc that won't laugh at me when I got to him/her to remove it.

When I was in college taking a sculpting course we didn't use this because the hold breaks down after a few days - but now, they've made it even stronger and it doesn't break down any longer . . . so don't think this is going to be an option.

Unless I can figure out a way to ensure a release and get it off my pillow. . .

[quietmorning]

Vaseline and paraffin are both petroleum products. They should be avoided as much as possible if you want the silicone parts of your mask to live until the next delivery! Not to mention the potential hazards of breathing that stuff in all night. I prefer to use Lansinoh, or Ayr gel - much lower risk. Alternatively, I am one of the lucky ones who can get away without using anything. Most of the time. Last night I had a major attack of the aliens (thanks, whoever sent them over!). Probably related to allergies more than anything.

I forgot to put Ayr Gel on the list. I've tried this, and it doesn't work well for me, but I'll do a two day trial on it, maybe with my mouth taped I might be surprised.

[quietmorning]

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=89073&p=817573#p817573

[beautifuldreamer]

I wonder if Waxalene could help?
It is an alternative to petroleum jelly that I purchased from Whole Foods -