swift was too noisy

I know another newbie trying to get compliant. I was hopeful the swift would allow me to sleep. I liked the lightness but the airflow was loud in exhaulation. Rested gal went to an Aura. I'm curious of others using the Swift who switched to the Aura.

When do you say CPAP just won't work unless your unemployed and have time to adjust.

Last night I said I would use it after that midway point of 4 hours of sleep. I put it on groggy and 30 minutes later couldn't go back to sleep. I had slept fine the last two nights. Fine as in 16/ahi type sleep.

Well here's to mild apnea getting the best of me right now, and my fatigued self hoping the Aura is quieter and more peaceful.

More comments please.

Rick.

I use the swift, I find the exhalation noisy. But I am able to tolerate it, as I use a white/noise/sound machine in the bedroom and it masks the whoosy of the swifty. Can you tolerate that noise?

Just a thought.........?

humalien wrote:I know another newbie trying to get compliant. I was hopeful the swift would allow me to sleep. I liked the lightness but the airflow was loud in exhaulation. Rested gal went to an Aura. I'm curious of others using the Swift who switched to the Aura.

When do you say CPAP just won't work unless your unemployed and have time to adjust.

Last night I said I would use it after that midway point of 4 hours of sleep. I put it on groggy and 30 minutes later couldn't go back to sleep. I had slept fine the last two nights. Fine as in 16/ahi type sleep.

Well here's to mild apnea getting the best of me right now, and my fatigued self hoping the Aura is quieter and more peaceful.

More comments please.

Rick.

Rick, compared to many nasal masks (triangular ones that cover the nose), all nasal "pillows" masks are noisy to at least some extent.

Of course sound is in the ear of the behearer, so to speak.

To me the sound ranges go like this, but YMMV!
("Your mileage may vary")

Nasal Aire II - very noisy all the time - lot of "whoosh" of air moving within the tubes sound. I couldn't use it, but many get along fine with it.

Lyra - noisy and wouldn't stay put. I couldn't use that one either. Worst one I tried.

Swift - noisy but not as much so as those two above. I could have lived with the constant air moving whoosh sound of the Swift, but the way the exhalation port is designed made the exhaust air hit something (bedding, arm, pillow) practically all the time. That increased the noise way too much for me. If I slept on my back all the time instead of being a side sleeper, it probably wouldn't have caused that much noise. A lot of people do fine with the Swift though, and it really is a well made mask.

Breeze - makes a noticeable "shusssh" sound every time I inhale. Virtually quiet otherwise. The exhaust rarely ever hits anything, other than possibly hitting a bed partner, since the exhaust hole is angled toward the front (as well as somewhat upward) in front of you. The Breeze was my favorite for a long, long time and I still do like it.

Aura - same noticeable "shusssh" sound every time I inhale. Virtually quiet otherwise. The Breeze might be a tad quieter. The exhaust port is extremely well designed on the Aura, blowing straight upward, which misses just about everything, as well as bed partner. You can even pull the bed cover up over your head almost completely and the Aura's exhaust won't hit it. The Aura is my favorite now - been using it a couple of weeks and still love it. As with the Breeze, I have to add straps down low on the sides to make it stay perfectly steady in place. No big deal, as I never have to undo them - both the Breeze and the Aura lift on/off easily even with side straps added.

While all of us would like no sound at all from any mask (some traditional style nasal masks and even full face masks are quite silent - sometimes it depends on the luck of the draw during manufacturing) the nasal pillows masks seem to be most apt to have at least some sound going on. Besides considering which one is more comfortable to you, if sound is going to be a big issue, you might want to think about whether you'd rather hear a constant sound that stays pretty much the same, or an intermittent sound that you'd hear only when you inhale. Or even stick with a much quieter traditional nasal mask, in which case the Activa by ResMed is far and away the best, imho.

Masks really are an individual "love this one, hate that one" kind of thing.

Rick,

The Resmed Swift mask makes a loud whooshing sound which is annoying to some people. In order to lower the loud noise from the Swift, we inserted a 1" x 2" piece of nylon net into the tube of the Swift by taking the cap off of the end which can very easily be removed for washing &/or replacing. Any sizes of plastic netting larger than that did not allow for proper inhalation & exhalation. This was tested at pressures of 7 cm through 13 cm. You can purchase nylon net at a fabric store or in the fabric section at a Walmart.


Rested Gal,

I have not used the Aura mask yet. Do you think nylon net could be used in the Aura mask to make it quieter?

I think your idea of making the Aura mask more stable with an extra strap is an excellent one even though I do not move around a lot.

I've been using the Swift for 3 months and I personally don't find it that noisy. The only sound is on inhale, not exhale, just like other nasal pillows. You can make it virtually silent by putting a piece of vegetable bag mesh in the barrel. This disperses the airflow more. Can be found on the little bags of tomatoes, Clementines,Pistachio nuts, shallots. Or you can send me an SASE and I'll mail you some. We buy pistachios all the time. I've also discovered that putting the unit on the floor for some reason seems to cut down the inhale sound too.