Keeping sinuses clear

I’ve been using CPAP for about a year and still haven’t quite settled in to it. One thing that I have realized is that even a mild amount of congestion can really ruin a night’s sleep.

I’m curious to know what people do to keep their sinuses clear. I’m not talking about when you have a bad cold, just the usual day to day mild congestion. It’s winter and dry out, and my sinuses seem just blocked enough that I wake up a few times in the night breathing through my mouth and that makes me sooooo dry. Ugh it feels awful.

Some specs: I use ResMed AirSense 10 for her and an AirFit N20 nasal mask. I’m not having enough mouth leakage to warrant a full face mask, just asking about sinus maintenance, which seems to be an important part of this whole experience. So what is it? Steroid spray? Saline spray? Nasal wash? I’d love to hear your routine.

Hi Ineedanap

Most of my experiences have been with nasal pillows which are probably quite different for the purposes of this discussion.

I have generally found that nasal pillows effectively clear the airways unless I have seriously swollen sinuses in which case I use antihistamines.

The reason I think there is a significant difference is that the pillows only clear the airways when they are well seated and properly directed so I doubt that a nasal mask would have the same capacity. I suspect that for me just increasing the pressure around the nose would be more likely to close the airways.

Perhaps others have had more experience with both options and could offer some suggestions.

I mouth tape with a Rested P10 nasal pillow mask. I try to minimize the use, but I will occasionally use Otrivin in one nostril only.

Howdy,

Very new to all of this, but not to nasal congestion... I can nearly set a clock to it, every night it happens... I use Otrivin before I go to sleep, works great, not sure how long it lasts though. I am using a nasal mask as I am a nose breather, so no otrivin, no breathe ! :)