Nose sores making cpap impossible

Dear forum friends,

I've been dealing with a sore beneath my nose for a few years of cpap therapy. But despite many attempts to rectify this problem (cotton ball or bandaids over the sore, lanolin cream, etc.) plus trying many different masks, the sore has become infected and very painful. As a result, I had to stop therapy beginning last night. Without the therapy, I had a very rough night of tossing and turning, vivid upsetting dreams and very light unrestful sleep. It seems that any mask (even the full face mask causes sores on the bridge of my nose while it does give the sore beneath my nose a break) is impossible at this point. Years ago I used a dental appliance but that moved my teeth and caused pain. Is there any solution to this problem that I have overlooked?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice you can offer me. I am really down about this.

Whether you need it or not, have you tried a FF mask that wouldn't touch those areas?

Have you seen a dermatologist?

Something to consider is Bleep, either the original DreamPorts or the new Eclipse. The only connection is with some medical grade adhesive that holds the DreamPorts or Halos to your nose. A few have complained of allergies to the tape, but that seems to be rare. You can contact them and Stuart may be able to send you one to try and see if there are any issues.

https://bleepsleep.com/

I had the same problem and tried the Dreamware FF mask and have never had any more sores. It is not much different than the nasal mask but the cushion is softer. I believe you could try it using the nasal headgear and all you would need is a FF cushion. I could only last 2 weeks at a time with the nasal mask before I would get a sore. No problems for almost 2 years on the FF mask. They feel very similar.
Thumper

I hope that you are not neglecting a serious health problem like skin cancer. Suggest that you see your physician or a dermatologist immediately.

FifthAvenue wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 09, 2023 2:05 pm

I hope that you are not neglecting a serious health problem like skin cancer. Suggest that you see your physician or a dermatologist immediately.

Yes!
1000% agree!
Froggie---2, cancer--0

Thank you all for your responses. It just so happened that I had an annual visit with my dermatologist today. He took one look at the sore and said that if it doesn't improve in two weeks' time (without using the cpap nasal mask) he will biopsy it. And all this time I thought it was irritated from the rubbing of the mask. Now I have to figure out how to sleep without cpap for the next two weeks. I have a dream wear full face mask that I can try again. It won't rub the bottom of my nose but in the past when I've used it the bridge of my nose gets irritated and painful. I just assumed that I have very sensitive skin around that area. I'll check into the bleep. Many, many thanks.

I forgot to respond to Thumper's idea of using the Dream wear ff mask in the meantime. This is different from the Air Fit F20, right? I have the air fit but wonder if I should try to get the dream wear ff mask you mentioned.

If you have an AirFit F20 mask you might check with your supplier and see if they have the AirTouch F20 cushion you could use on your existing F20 mask frame.
The AirTouch cushion is made out of memory foam and would be less likely to cause abrasions on the nasal bridge area....IMHO.
The AirTouch and AirFit mask frames are the same so you can use either the memory foam cushion or regular silicone cushion on the frame.

As far as sleeping without cpap...that's tough for sure but if I was in a situation where I simply couldn't use my cpap machine I would try to sleep in a more upright position....like a recliner. It might lessen the number of apnea events that might happen.

Thank you, Pugsy. I have an appointment with the sleep medicine doctor and will ask about whether she has a sample of the Air Touch F20. I tried the Air Fit F20 last night but for some reason every time I started to fall asleep the mask woke me up. At least that's what it felt like. Something about the air flow I think. I taped my mouth closed and don't know if that made a difference. I've been mouth taping for a while now with the nasal mask and it helped a great deal with leaks.
Do you think given my problems with tenderness at bottom of nose and at bridge of nose that the Bleep is worth a try? I hate to order it if in fact it will rub against the beneath my nose sore.
Thanks so much.

Peacenana wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 10, 2023 11:27 am

Do you think given my problems with tenderness at bottom of nose and at bridge of nose that the Bleep is worth a try? I hate to order it if in fact it will rub against the beneath my nose sore.

The Bleep/Eclipse won't bother the bridge of the nose problem because it just doesn't affect that area since it doesn't touch it but the area at the bottom of the nose next to the upper lip.....might be a different story.
If the only problem was a slight tenderness then I wouldn't be afraid to use it but if there is any broken skin, open sores, abraded skin where the adhesive has to stick then I wouldn't do it until that area was all healed up.

You need to let the sore/abraded tissue heal up which means nothing touching that area at all.
So that pretty much limits you to a full face mask that goes over the nose which of course comes with its own baggage of maybe tearing up the skin on the nasal bridge area. Some people just have thin skin which can be easily abraded.

The Air Touch full face mask with the memory foam has a less chance of tearing up the skin on the nasal bridge area IMHO.

Minor tenderness with no broken skin is one thing but abrasion, sores, scabs, etc needs to heal up before anything goes touching that area so as to give it a chance to heal up.

Peace,
I'm assuming the sore area is right at the bottom of the nose where the horizontal meets the vertical of the face. That's where I had the same sores develop using the nasal mask. I could only go about two weeks before a sore would develop, so as soon as I felt or saw it, I switched to a Pico nasal mask which had a different pressure point. Every two weeks I'd be going from one to the other.The Dreamware FF has a very thin,soft piece that goes under the nose, and as I mentioned, it totally cleared up the soreness problem and it isn't much different feeling than wearing the nasal mask. I've heard that many people say the Resmed F30I FF is an even better mask and I've wanted to try it, but I'm having such good success with the Dreamware FF, I haven't bothered to change. Best of luck finding a solution.
Thumper

Sleepweaver Advance or Elan nasal cpap mask. (cloth)
Not easy to master, but miraculously light and soft.

Try soaking the piece that touches the area in question in vinegar solution (at least 50% and at least three hours) before the first (or next) use.

Thank you so much. I tried the Air Touch F20 last night. It was gentler on the bridge of my nose ... so far. BUT upon viewing the OSCAR data, I was saddened to see that my AHI was high (for me) and there was a section of Cheyenne Stokes events. I took the mask off at 3:30 because air was blowing out of the bottom right side of the mask. The odd thing is, though, that my leak rate was quite low (6 max), for me. I am attaching last night's OSCAR report if anyone can help me figure out what's happening. Meanwhile, the sore beneath my nose is starting to heal but it will take a while. I get it biopsied in two weeks. For the rest of last night without the mask I kept waking up so I can assume that my apneas were disturbing my sleep.