mask setting

My machine is showing full face mask. Two days ago I started using a nasal mask. Does this have any effect on the delivery of the pressure? Or doesn't it matter?

Sharhamm wrote:My machine is showing full face mask. Two days ago I started using a nasal mask. Does this have any effect on the delivery of the pressure? Or doesn't it matter?

a small one... change it.

I think the only difference is in the leak allowance. Very small difference in AHI reporting. Make the change on your machine.

LSAT wrote:I think the only difference is in the leak allowance. Very small difference in AHI reporting. Make the change on your machine.

it has to do with the pressure compensation more than leaks, because if you look at the leak charts, the different TYPES of masks have similar leak characteristics, and some masks of the same type have more different leak characteristics than they do with other types.

however, the resistance numbers of the masks tend to increase as you go from ffm to nasal to pillows, and the machine uses that setting to adjust the pressure delivery...

as well as having the machine set to full face and sticking a pillow mask on it will cause the smartstart to not work properly. setting the mask type to pillow and smartstart works fine.

Thanks all. I will change the setting to nasal.

Sharhamm wrote:Thanks all. I will change the setting to nasal.

it's best to do that... it's not nearly as critical as getting the hose setting right, however. (if you're using a heated hose, the setting is automatic)