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Dreamwear FFM septum pain - has anyone found any fixes?

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singingkeys +0 points · over 4 years ago Original Poster Sleep Commentator

I still have my P10 mask rigged with Swift FX headgear, but even after that I still kept pulling it off after a couple of hours.

A while back I bought the Dreamwear fit pack, so I have both nasal pillows or full face mask option. Each has its own headgear. The nasal pillows work pretty good, but I decided to take a nap this afternoon and try the full face mask that I have been wanting to try. I slept for about 3 hours. I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, but I noticed a couple of issues as soon as pressure went onto the mask while I was still awake. My max pressure is only between 8 and 9 (APAP - Air Sense 10 Autoset) and I keep starting pressure at 6 and minimum at 6.4. My resulting numbers were 3 hours at 0.3 AHI, 14L/min leak and 0.1 central. Not bad at all. The top part of the mask just under the nose presses on the area above the top lip (upper gum area) and also directly onto the nasal septum bone itself. Having had deviated septum surgery a couple of years ago, that concerns me because pressure on the septum can actually cause it to deviate if you did that for a long period of days/weeks/months. So of course I don't want to do that unless I can come up with some kind of fix to alleviate that pressure.

Has anyone who uses the Dreamwear FFM found anything to stop that pain? Probably a common problem and just curious. I'm continuing on with Dreamwear nasal pillows that I was using before.

I love the Dreamwear hose on top of the head because my machine is on a table at the head of my bed, so I can sleep on my sides, back or even stomach if I turn my head to the side. My P10 won't let me do that, but I love how quiet the P10 is. I wish there was a mask as quiet as the P10 and with the P10 vent, but yet with the Dreamwear headgear and comfort of the nasal pillows. The Dreamwear has more sturdy pillows compared to the P10, or maybe my nose is just weird.

Does a hybrid combining those features exist yet?

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Sierra +0 points · over 4 years ago Sleep Patron

I can't comment on the DreamWear masks as I have not tried them personally. I do use the P10 with the Swift headgear, and find no problem sleeping on my back or either side. I route the hose to the center of the bed, down the middle of the bed, and then back up to my face. I locate the heated hose to mask hose connector right at my waist with the hose under the covers. I find this routing keeps the hose out of my way and I don't end up with my arm over the hose. It takes a little adjustment from time to time in the night, but it seems I have gotten used to doing it without waking up.

The only issues I have been having with this arrangement is that I occasionally pull the mask hose out of the heated hose socket, and the back strap sometimes slips up. I have now put a wrap of packaging tape on the mask hose part to make it fit tighter. Has worked so far. I am still working on a solution for the back strap slipping. Thinking of gluing on a layer of non slip rubber mat to see if that helps.

As far as fit to the face goes, we are all different, and I suspect the ideal fit is as unique as we are. The good news for you is that your pressure is quite low and that makes things a lot easier. Try getting your mask to seal at 20 cm and you will see what I mean.

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