mask and regulator irritation

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Lt9

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Location
Roanoke, Va.
After several days of diving my wife will develope a fever blister on her upper lip. I think that it must be caused by her mask rubbing her lip. Does anyone elsehave this trouble? And more importantly is there anything that we can do to stop this from happening?
 
Sounds to me like the mask may be to tight. Remember, the strap is not there to make it hold on, it is there just to keep it in place.

Have her hold her breath, then gently press the mask on her face without the strap. If it does not stay, the mask is the wrong one for her. Do not suck the mask onto the face like some LDS like to have you do.

If it does stay, she should be able to bring the strap over her head with little stretching or discomfort.
 
vasaline or something similar may help and will also help to ensure a good seal.
 
I suppose if the mask is tight and that is where they occur, it may be a pressure response. If she is using a rental reg I’d wonder about improper cleaning after prior user. But if it happened more than once it would be pretty coincidental, same with early onset of a cold timing.

I used to get fever blisters as a stress reaction. Best example was 36 hours post knee surgery with no pain relief, what a way to discover Morphine accentuates vs decreases pain for me. BP was very very high before they believed me and I looked like the Herpes Poster Child.
If she had them before; maybe a stress response? Maybe take L-Lysine supplement, I haven’t had one since I take it.
Maybe an allergy thing, like to cleaning products?
 
The reg is her personal one so I don't think it is a cleaning problem. The mask may be too tight, I'll have her check the fit again just to be sure. Thanks-Lt9
 
My wife had a similar problem - we solved it by getting her a new mask. Look for one with a narrow lower skirt and one that is vey soft. We found that a black Mares X-Vision worked perfectly for her - the black masks seem to be softer than the clear ones. Previously she had used a clear skirted TUSA Platina.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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