Help with Mask Choice

carmenc · Post by **carmenc** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 8:57 am

I am a new CPAP user 3 weeks - Remstar Cflex set at 8. My first mask was Invacare Twilight Standard Size. It was great except that it was in my eyes or resting on my top lip. My supplier switched me to a Profile Lite Gel Mask with Headgear, Small. The size is good, but I woke up with a headache and face marks. I had to girt it up so tight to keep it from leaking when I turned on my side that the pressure was too much. I wish I could find a mask similar to the Invacare just smaller.

Hugh Jass · Post by **Hugh Jass** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 9:18 am

I too was using the profile light and had the same problems. The bridge of my nose was often bleeding during the night.

I switched to the Puritan Bennet Breeze with large nasal pillows and it is incredible how much better it is. No leaks and doesn't need to be too tight.

Can sleep in any position, and after a couple of days was completely used to it. I barely notice it on my face.

According to my DME, most people who try the PB Breeze, end up loving it.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:37 am

I enthusiastically second Hugh's suggestion to get a Breeze with nasal pillows. Love it!

You know, it's really, really sad how often home health care places give people a cheap uncomfortable mask to start with. There's no telling how many people suffer in silence thinking, "Well, this must be the mask the doctor wants me to use." After all, the doctor sent them to that DME in most cases, so surely he was sending them to "professionals" who know what's best and most comfortable. Wasn't he? Whew.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 11:50 am

I had exactly the same experience. My DME didn't even tell me I had a choice. I was so miserable after the first 5 days that I called him up and told him I couldn't do this if that was the only available mask. I was so overwrought one night that my husband and I got on the internet and found this website and I saw several posts about the Breeze nasal pillows so I called my DME and told him I wanted to try it. He said most people don't use them but he would let me try it. (Wasn't that nice of him!!!!) Well, I loved it. I use the small clear nasal pillows and like the others said, after a couple of nights, I hardly even noticed it. If I take naps now, I put it on. My DME said he was surprised because he said 70% of his customers liked the nasal mask better. My insurance company paid off and I haven't heard from him since. Not that he was any help anyway. Try the nasal pillows and get a couple of different sizes of pillows to try out. I'm sure you'll be pleased with the experience. Don't let the DME run you around.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 12:56 pm

hi Guest,

You wrote:

but he would let me try it. (Wasn't that nice of him!!!!) Well, I loved it. I use the small clear nasal pillows

heheh, he'd "let" you try it. grrrrr!

Glad you found the internet message boards and glad you stood your informed ground with the DME fellow.

I think the clear colored pillows are the size "medium". "Small" is blue. I have smallish nostril openings, but I use "large" (light mint green color) to keep the pillows more to the outside and "against" my nares (the nostril openings.) They seal fine like that for me. The Breeze is fabulous, imho. Definitely my favorite. Especially wonderful for side sleeping. For people who sleep predominately on their backs, the Swift (comes with all three sizes of its nasal pillows) might work better, especially if they take the buckle off the strap on back of head.

That was a good post about what you went through and how you solved it. Cool! Again, I feel so sorry for non-internet-savvy cpap users left to the mercy of often clueless (not you, Christine RRT!!) DME stores.

sharonokc · Post by **sharonokc** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 5:11 pm

I really like the ultra mirage masks.

Sometimes the mask can be tightened too much. Lie on your back and experiment with how tight it must be while the air is flowing.

Good luck in finding the mask for you.

BetterBreathinBob · Post by **BetterBreathinBob** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:05 pm

Great feedback on mask choices. We all have our favorites and opinions too.

Problem with the DME's are they employee people who usually are respiratory therapists that understand and are more comfortable dealing with patients who wear oxygen than with CPAP users.

The best employees are ones who wear CPAP, have worked as a sleep tech and respiratory therapist. They can understand all the mask problems and are usually good at troubleshooting machine and or pt. compliance problems.

Kudos to the DME's who understand the value of this employee to the success of OSA clients.

Bob

IllinoisRRT · Post by **IllinoisRRT** » Fri Jan 07, 2005 10:16 pm

rested gal wrote:
That was a good post about what you went through and how you solved it. Cool! Again, I feel so sorry for non-internet-savvy cpap users left to the mercy of often clueless (not you, Christine RRT!!) DME stores.

Thank you for that- I was starting to get a little defensive! I am really just dumbfounded by stories of other DME suppliers- and I apologize for them. However, I tend to be a little weird about letting people "try on" masks that they may not like because they are very expensive (and my boss is kind of tight with the store's money- but that's not really his fault either), and you wouldn't like to go into a store and be given a mask that had been tried on by another patient, would you? What I'm trying to do with my supplies is build up a stock of masks that would otherwise have been wasted (for example, a pt of mine tried on a small Comfort Full and needed a medium, so I kept the mask that probably would have been thrown away) so that people can actually hold the masks in their hand and hold them up to their face, even if it necessarily isn't the same size.

Help with Mask Choice

Help with Mask Choice

Mask Choices