Handling ambiant light issues w/ a CPAP mask

Has anyone had any success dealing with ambiant light while wearing a CPAP mask? The standard "sleep mask" blindfolds will not allow my mask to seat and seal properly. I found a way of stringing my bathrobe belt under the upper mask headgear (tying it in the back) that covers part of my eyes. However:

1) Enough light still gets through to cause sleep problems.
2) The pressure required to keep the belt in place hurts my eyes.
3) The belt gets tangled in the headgear making it difficult to remove.
4) There is no way to "peak" to get a glimpse of the time, the caller ID, etc. without messing up the headgear, etc.
5) The belt tends to come untied overnight and I still end up with morning light. (Shouldn't be so bad now that fall is here. - But there's alway next summer -- you can always count on summer in Texas.)

Is there any headgear supplier that has thought of putting an integrated "blindfold" or other way to handle ambiant light into their headgear.

Interested to hear how y'all handle the problem.

Keith

Is there some reason you can't simply darken the room?

You might be able to simply put a towel or something over your head. You'll get fresh air pumped in through the CPAP mask.

Have you tried the Bucky 40 Blinks series? The mask sits well enough against it to prevent leaks. it comes down and covers the top of your nose, which helps prevent other issues too. It's cheap, but it does wear out every so often and have to be replaced (Really it's like $12 every six months or so). I can't say I've tried it with your mask but it works well with both Quattro's, which the original still has a similar upper area to most nasal masks.

http://www.bucky.com/catalog/Travel_Acc ... ction.html

You can try the Onyx Eye Shield from CPAP.com, but you will pay a fortune for a little silicone and silk that falls apart if you pull on the tightening straps too hard, and it doesn't really block out light all that well around the edges. I have one, it's really a big waste of money.

https://www.cpap.com/productpage/eyeeco ... -mask.html

I have a suggestion. There are drapes that come with "black-out" linings; they should help make your room quite dark. You want to hang them over the window and its trim, so that you don't get a line of light around the window.

Good luck getting the right sleep atmosphere.

I wear an eye mask over my sleepweaver mask because my sleepweaver mask works better for me with it.

ThirdOutOfFive wrote:I have a suggestion. There are drapes that come with "black-out" linings; they should help make your room quite dark. You want to hang them over the window and its trim, so that you don't get a line of light around the window.

Good luck getting the right sleep atmosphere.

That solved the problem for me. I rigged a black room-darkening shade on a curtain rod. Attached velcro tape to the rod and to the top of the window frame. Like you said, it needs to cover the whole window frame.

I pull it down in the morning and throw it in the bottom of the closet.

Yes, now that it is dark until almost 7:00 a.m., I put it away in the corner of the closet until next spring.

Little things like this can make a big difference.

I got a great eye mask at Bed Bath and Beyond that came with a set of rubbery ear stoppers.It was designed with a nice fat roll of padding that sits over your eyes and has and adjustable velcro piece in the back so you can tighten or loosen the back of the strap that holds it on you.I wish I could remember who made this mask but I don[t and I have bought 3 like this and 2 of them looked like they were made out of a fake 'suede'.I ope this helps you identify the type I got because it works wonderfully.I also have light blocking curtains that cut out he light from a nearby streetl light that shines into my bedroom through the window

ThirdOutOfFive wrote:I have a suggestion. There are drapes that come with "black-out" linings; they should help make your room quite dark. You want to hang them over the window and its trim, so that you don't get a line of light around the window.

Good luck getting the right sleep atmosphere.

This doesn't help on an airplane, in a hotel room (though these usually have those curtains, but microwaves, TV's and other crap have to be unplugged), guest bedrooms, or pretty much anywhere else other than your own bedroom. Besides the window in my bedroom is 6 feet wide and I've never found black out style curtains that would fit. I used to have these on my bedroom window in my old apt, but now they are in my living room. They do block heat and cold pretty well though.

I recently replaced the mini-blinds (which are terrible for keeping out light) with old-fashioned pull down vinyl shades. They come in different gauge vinyl depending on how dark you want them to make the room; I chose the most light-blocking ones, and in the morning my bedroom is as dark as the tomb, no matter how sunny it is outside.

Apart from working wonderfully, they are quite inexpensive and easily found.

Thanks to everyone for all of the replies. Lots of good info. I ended up ordering the Bucky 40 Winks sleep mask. When it came in, I was a little disappointed at first. It appeared to be larger than the photo on the web site. In fact, it appeared to be the same size as my old mask which would not fit around my mask/headgear. I decided to try it anyway -- AND IT WAS PERFECT! The Bucky mask was softer around the edges and was able to rest on top of the CPAP mask (above the nose) instead of being pressed upward and deforming. It shut out all light, plus, the inside portion of the mask was nicely concave so there is no pressure on my eyes. It took a couple of nights to figure out how to put everything on without getting tangled (Chinstrap first, then sleep mask, then headgear, then flip bottom middle of sleep mask over the top of the CPAP nose mask) and rembering to take everthing off in reverse order. Also, when waking up for nature's call in the middle of the night, I need to take the headgear off (instead of just disconnecting the hose) so I can raise the sleep mask enough to see.

I really appreciate all the help and suggestions. Hopefully, others may have gotten help too.

Keith

It seems that CPAP masks accentuate the wearer's sensitivity to ambient light. While blackout curtains will keep out light coming in through the windows, there is also the problem of light that comes in under the door and the light from appliances, such as the clock radio and the cable box. There is also a problem with the noise from the ventilation system and the CPAP machine itself. I solved the noise problem by wearing 33 db earplugs. For the ambient light, I tried a number of sleep masks, but found that the ones that did the best job of keeping out light were so thick that I couldn't get a good seal with my CPAP mask. I finally settled on a lightweight sleep mask along with sports tape. Each night, I put in my earplugs, tape my eyes, put on my sleep mask and my CPAP, a Respironics Comfortgel full face. It took a few weeks to get used to being blind and deaf every night. Since then, I sleep through the night and I don't pull my CPAP mask off. Most nights I fall asleep before the CPAP machine ramps up to full pressure.

I also solved a problem that I had with hotel rooms. For years, I slept poorly during my first night in a hotel room. My CPAP solution solved that for me, as well.

TheGuyOverThere wrote:Has anyone had any success dealing with ambiant light while wearing a CPAP mask? The standard "sleep mask" blindfolds will not allow my mask to seat and seal properly. I found a way of stringing my bathrobe belt under the upper mask headgear (tying it in the back) that covers part of my eyes. However:

1) Enough light still gets through to cause sleep problems.
2) The pressure required to keep the belt in place hurts my eyes.
3) The belt gets tangled in the headgear making it difficult to remove.
4) There is no way to "peak" to get a glimpse of the time, the caller ID, etc. without messing up the headgear, etc.
5) The belt tends to come untied overnight and I still end up with morning light. (Shouldn't be so bad now that fall is here. - But there's alway next summer -- you can always count on summer in Texas.)


Is there any headgear supplier that has thought of putting an integrated "blindfold" or other way to handle ambiant light into their headgear.

Interested to hear how y'all handle the problem.

Keith

Sounds like a terminal case of the Can'ts! I once made a dark room with a gallon of black paint. Worked well, until the power went out, never found the room again! jim

While the Bucky 40 Winks seems an optimal solution, the knock-off I have seems to not fit perfectly nor does it seal the edges enough to prevent light leaks. Given these issues, I have been looking for an alternative that fixes the shortcomings. In that I found reference to a new product called "Manta Sleep Mask." https://mantasleep.com/ Please note the FAQ at their website, especially toward the end where address use with CPAP. Has anyone here had any direct experience with it? If so, did you find that it is worth the premium price (three times the cost of the Bucky)?

JimW159 wrote:While the Bucky 40 Winks seems an optimal solution, the knock-off I have seems to not fit perfectly nor does it seal the edges enough to prevent light leaks. Given these issues, I have been looking for an alternative that fixes the shortcomings

I just pull the covers over my head

Glad you found something that works for you.

I wear a cheapo version of sleep phones under my mask. It's basically a polar fleece headband with embedded flat speakers so I can listen to podcasts as my ambient white noise to help me sleep (Damn podcasters who think they need to add music!). So since it's a cheapie headband, it doesn't really fit well. That means I can pull it over my eyes, and--VIOLA--eye mask! Works for me.