Nostril irritation - Anything I can do?

Hi guys,

Long story short, I've had a lifelong history of crappy sleeping, daytime fatigue, and insomnia, and finally did a sleep study a few years ago. I can't remember exactly what the results were any more (I feel like the doc diagnosed me with both narcolepsy AND insomnia, along with sleep apnea and low nighttime O2 levels...) but tl;dr, I became the proud parent of a ResMed AirSense 10. But because I am a lazy person who is really bad at taking care of her health, I stopped using it after a few weeks, without really giving it a fair chance to see if it improved my sleep significantly. So, it sat next to my bed collecting dust for a year or two.

But now my family and my significant other have now grown weary of me complaining about my constant exhaustion and poor sleep, and have convinced me to give my machine a fair chance. So, I've been using it for reals for the last week and a half. However, while I love the nasal pillows of the AirFit P10, they are wreaking hell on my nostrils. Every morning when I get up and pull the mask off of my face, it feels like it sort of tears off some of the skin of my nostrils with it. My nostrils feel dry, irritated, and have started to actually feel like they're cut/scraped/bleeding/apocalyptic.

I've been putting Neosporin on them during the day, but I was wondering if there's anything I can do at night to cut down on the irritation to my nostril-skin without completely destroying the efficacy of my mask. Can I put on Vaseline or Neosporin at night, or will those degrade the mask material or interfere with the seal? Is there any "safe" moisturizer-type thing I could try out/others have tried?

I'm willing to try a full-face/non-nasal pillows mask if there's nothing I can reasonably do with the AirFit P10s.

Thank you for any help!

Though I never used (and can't use) a pillow mask, it has been long recommended here to use lansinoh cream on the nostrils. It is breastfeeding ointment (that's as far as I'll go) and can be found in the breastfeeding section of the pharmacy. Try and keep up with the treatment. It will add years to your life and you'll feel better day in and day out. Work all your issues out here.


Sheriff

Congrats on coming back to the CPAP. I was in denial for some years too.

Are you using water in your machine? You may need more humidity.

The Dreamport has nothing that goes in the nose, doesn’t leak and is smaller than the p10. I speak from experience on dealing with the same thing you are going through with my nostrils burning and irritated constantly by my old p10. It’s now the back up mask if I get a cold.

Try the lanolin ointment, Lanisoh, the Sheriff recommends at night with your mask (a little goes a long way)
You might also try different size pillows. Many agree that larger is often better than smaller

Make sure your p10s are not inserted into the nostrils. It's not uncommon for new p10 users to believe they go in. Try moving up a size and ensure they butt up against the base of your nostrils.

Having said that getting blisters at first is also not uncommon. Lanisoh lanolin both while wearing the p10s and during the day helps heals them.

I got blisters the first week or so, after they healed not a problem since.

LakotaWolf wrote: ↑

Sun Apr 28, 2019 1:44 am

they are wreaking hell on my nostrils. Every morning when I get up and pull the mask off of my face, it feels like it sort of tears off some of the skin of my nostrils with it. My nostrils feel dry, irritated, and have started to actually feel like they're cut/scraped/bleeding/apocalyptic.

Lansinoh lanolin is good (Walmart, Target, other major retailers), however, I am wondering if you have other problems. Maybe the mask is too tight? Have you gone to youtube and watched several videos on how to properly adjust (and size) your mask?

What about hose management? Is the hose pulling on your mask and causing irritation?

Do you wash your face with a noncomedogenic soap before going to bed? You should.

At most the P10 just be causing very minor discomfort similar to what touching a minor bruise might cause....if it is abrading the skin...pulling off layers of skin....causing blisters....causing severe pain then something is wrong with either the fitting or sizing of the pillows.
Most common mistake is people have it too tight or use nasal pillows too small that tend to want to crawly up inside the nostril a bit and rub things raw.

Lansinoh to help with the healing for sure but also review sizing and fitting because the P10 (or any nasal pillow mask) should never cause blisters, abrasions or significant pain.