Impetigo

One week after switching from a FF to a nasal mask, I've developed impetigo (a mild staph infection) below my nose precisely where the mask fits. The treatment is Neosporin ointment--which appears to have some sort of Vaseline-like base. Does anyone know if this stuff will damage the silicon on the mask if it's only for a few nights?

Can you cut a cloth gasket out of an old T-Shirt to go between the mask and your face? That will keep the mask from rubbing and causing sores and it will provide a barrier between the ointment and the mask. If that works for you, you might want to invest in one of the mask liners sold at padacheek.com.

Thanks. That's a good idea. Someone had suggested making one of those when I was fighting the good fight trying to stop leaks with the FF mask. I'll try it tonight.

Impetigo is highly infectious and can spread easily so you could re-infect yourself without getting rid of the impetigo. I would fashion something that could either be disinfected each day, or thrown away and a new one made each day.

xena

Please be careful about using Neosporin unless you KNOW that you don't have problems with it. Neomycin, one of the three antibacterials, can be highly allergenic to about 20% of the population. Use Bi-sporin, Poly-sporin, or something similar. You don't really need the neomycin component for an effective product. If you enjoy being grossed out, you can find lots of images searching for "neomycin allergy." You don't want to have Impetigo and the allergic reaction at the same time.

I also second and third the advice about impetigo being infectious. Wash your hands after touching it. You might also want to change/wash your pillow cases daily.

Suetois wrote:Thanks. That's a good idea. Someone had suggested making one of those when I was fighting the good fight trying to stop leaks with the FF mask. I'll try it tonight.

And a single old t-shirt can make 20 or 30 liners, so you can just wear a fresh one every night.

I think I would make sure to sanitize and change, mask, pillow and headgear as well as good washing and cleaning of headgear, hose and bedding. Just so you don't re-infect yourself.

I think tee-shirt liner is a good idea.

Thanks for the information about impetigo. Unfortunately, with five kids, I'm all too familiar with how infectious it is. Fortunately, I'm not allergic to Neosporin--which should clear this up in a couple of days. Last night, however, was a bear. Even with a mask liner, the mask hurt where it pressed on the impetigo, so I took the mask off. That meant I snored and woke up my husband, who wanted me to put the mask on. So I tried it again, but it still hurt, so I took it off. Which resulted in my husband telling me to put it back on. (In fairness to him, his primary concern is about my health, not his sleep quality.) It was a very disrupted night.

I'm getting really tired (both literally and figuratively) of this CPAP stuff. I've tried four mask styles so far over the course of two months. I just wish fitting you with a mask that *works* for you was something that the DME tech did when you got the equipment in the first place. They should test fit you with a variety of masks, at pressure, while lying down, and *then* recommend what to start with. Instead, you have to make trip after trip, trying to guess on your own what sort of mask might help you, and trying to convince your insurance company to cover yet another trial. It's frustrating and wasteful. If getting that first mask took an hour, rather than 5 minutes, the whole process could be improved. As it is, people give up, and their willingness to comply with using CPAP becomes an issue. I'm determined to make this work, because it's a serious health problem, but you really have to get lucky on your first or second try, or be really persistent in educating yourself so *you* can tell *them* what you need.