I'm wondering if having a beard (trimmed very short and kept that way) would interfere with the seal of a FF mask.  I will probably opt for a FF mask because I'm very much a mouth-breather.  If being bearded would interfere, are there any secret tricks that I could try to alleviate the problem?  I want to get the most out of my treatment, but If I shave my goatee off, people I've known for years would probably have tremendous trouble recognizing me.  I have not seen an answer to this question in my limited reading of the posts, but it's a concern of mine.

Thanks in advance,
Still Sleepy Scott

a man like you told me he has almost no trouble with his CPAP mask but I didnt find out what type of mask he had, he also had a mustache so I wouldnt expect many problems

generally masks grip better when warmed by heat from the face, especially on a cold day

I'm just curious. I have a beard and moustache, and use an over-the-whole-nose mask, with no seal problems.


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Greg Wright - Frederick, MD

During my titration I used a nose mask with some leakage because of my mustache. It caused irritation to the skin below my nose. Now I use a nasal pillow (Swift) with success.

I have a goatee and am using the HC431 FlexiFit mask. I tried shaving off my goatee to see if it made a difference on my average leak per night. It made a difference of 3cm/h2o. Not much difference at all. Bad thing I noticed with the goatee gone, was the air blowing on my chin was cold as hell until the heated humidifier warmed up. Wasn't that way with the goatee. I am going to grow the goat back now that I know it doesn't make any real difference.

Good luck!

-Marc

I've been on CPAP for a couple months, have a goatee, and was using a full-face mask up until this weekend.  I have been using nasal pillows for the last three nights.  I don't think that the leaks I was having with the FF were primarily because of my facial hair, but I was progressively getting more leaks throughout the nights and decided to try a different type of interface.

From my own experience I can tell you that FF masks and beards are not necessarily incompatible.  Cleaning your face and the mask daily is critical to keeping a good seal.  Keeping your beard trimmed helps a fair bit, but won't necessarily resolve all leak problems.   A lot of factors, such as the shape of your face, the position you sleep in, whether you change your head position during the night,  whether you keep your mouth open or closed, as well as the design of the mask itself, make a difference as to whether you get major leaks or not.

One thing I'll mention about FF masks:  I had to sleep with my mouth open all night to keep the seal even relatively good.  You might not think that's a big deal because you normally mouth breathe when you sleep, but the positive pressure will cause your cheeks to puff-out like you're blowing up a balloon, which can be a bit uncomfortable until you get used to it.  The only way I know of to prevent that is to keep your mouth closed, which then defeats the purpose of the full-face mask.  I'm definitely having fewer leaks with the nasal pillows, but they're not perfect either.  I think that I'll probably end up using the nasal pillows the majority of the time and use the FF mask when I have nasal congestion.