Mask Liners (how) Do They Work?

[SevereApnea]

Hi again All.

A while ago I actually bought (gulp!) some mask liners, but find them **way** too much hassle to use.

I am now trialling one or two Hybrid masks for a while and want to revisit mask liners or just the idea of them.

So....

Does anyone have data on what the Mask Liners actually do?

Do they actually Eliminate Leaks? (Oscar Leak Rate data would be nice, pretty please...?)

Do they effectively Reduce Leaks (data would be nice!)

Or do they only make it Feel Like there are less leaks, sorta acting like a muffler?

Does anyone feel they make the Leaks Worse?

Be interested in your experience, feel free to share.

Chris.

[RodMyers]

I have a full beard.

For me, yes they help with containing leaks and lowering leaks and AHI(?)

[SevereApnea]

Glad this works for you.

I will continue to experiment, and wait for others to reply.

[Cpapian]

The purpose of masks is to avoid mask marks on the skin, comfort, maybe to absorb some moisture. For a lot of people they help with leaks, but I haven't seen the supplier mention leak prevention as a benefit. Probably because it hasn't been proven. That being said, I feel my liner (homemade) helps with leaks ... lessor leaks not major leaks

[SevereApnea]

Appreciate the comments. Just for some perspective I will add these comments:

My main problem with the F30i M, Dreamwear MW, and PR Amara View is the mask leaks, not the leaks themselves but the noise it generates.

I think for me, some leaks are good, it actually feels better to breathe out when there are some leaks, in the 10 -15 L/min range.
I can easily get leaks to less than 5 L/min but find it very uncomfortable.

Generally, acceptable leaks are within the range in which the Resmed can compensate, say 10 - 16 L/min, well below the 24L/min level.

The thing is that, for me, the leaks are noisy and they wake me up. Continually.

So I wondered if anyone who was using Mask Liners found them to act like silencers, dampeners, mufflers etc.

At the moment I am experimenting by sticking Fixomull Stretch to the silicone area that fits around the mouth.
It comes off the silicone really easily, leaves less residue on the silicone than my face, and if an get it to work may be able to leave it on for a few days. Does not seal as well as silicone to skin, but I am hoping to achieve some noise cancelling effect.

Alternatively if that does not silence the leaks enough I can look at cutting up some of the mask liners/ old socks/ cotton T-shirts and taping them down to the FFM.

Who knew this PAP thing would be so hard?

[hegel]

It's always something! I kept being woken up by noisy leaks from my P30 and thought, well time to haul out the P10 for a while until that starts leaking too...but when I checked in the morning the leak rate wasn't bad at all. Resmed scored me a perfect 20, although that seemed generous. My point is that for me too, a small leak is enough to wake me up, apparently, at least some of the time.

Let me know how the Fixomul 'fix' goes, altho I have my doubts! My issue is often up around the nose with both the P30 and P10.

I did play with ALL the straps on my P30 before falling asleep last night and I think that helped. Maybe try a major strap reset? I'm hoping this is the answer for me.

[becker44a]

. . .
The thing is that, for me, the leaks are noisy and they wake me up. Continually.

So I wondered if anyone who was using Mask Liners found them to act like silencers, dampeners, mufflers etc.

At the moment I am experimenting by sticking Fixomull Stretch to the silicone area that fits around the mouth.
It comes off the silicone really easily, leaves less residue on the silicone than my face, and if an get it to work may be able to leave it on for a few days. Does not seal as well as silicone to skin, but I am hoping to achieve some noise cancelling effect.
. . .

Hi SevereApnea,
I use a Simplus FFM, and have for several years.  I also have light facial hair.  For me, the most irritating leaks were those around my eyes.  I use Remzzz liners partly to protect my face from contact with the mask silicon, and partly to diffuse the small leaks that occur.  I routinely have OSCAR leak stats where min and med are zero, 95% is ln single digits.  I ignore the max, as it usually represents brief excursions of leakage.  I can't say I've ever been disturbed by leak noise, only by the air movement near my eyes, and the liners seems to diffuse that pretty well.

Good luck with your issue.

[SevereApnea]

Just some follow up:

I find the Remzz liners etc too fussy to deal with, maybe I am just too clumsy!

I use the Fixomull in one of two ways:

Method 1. Apply to FFM directly around the silicone part of the mouth piece. It comes off easily and does not seem to leave any residue on the Silicone. It does help lower leaks somewhat. It dampens the sound of the leaks.

Method 2. Apply Fixomull vertically to the very corners of the mouth and under the lower jaw. This stops leaks from the very edges of my mouth (which seems to be wider than any FFM I have used so far.)

It also seems to somewhat reduce sagging of the lower jaw: my hope is to be able to get away without the SCC in the approaching summer.

Then a third horizontal piece under the lower lip to simulate where the mask liner would be placed.

So this is a U-shaped or H-shaped configuration, and comes off easily in the morning.

Fixomull is pricey but leaves no residue and can be used more than once.

Two further tips have helped me so far and are currently my go to option:

Tips from PaytonA here post #16 and from Karlin have both helped me cope with FFM leaks.

Huge thanks to both of those contributors! 

Hope this might help others.