Perfect Mask

Hi, I’ve been using a Cpap mask for about 6 months. I keep buying different ones, trying to find the perfect one for me. I love using nasal pillows, but I get a lot of air leaks. The nasal masks work pretty well, but even with a custom made liner I have deep marks on my face in the morning. I know that sleeping on my back would probably solve the air leak issues and I could use the pillows masks, but I seem to have more events per hour. Can anyone give me some suggestions?

There is no perfect mask....or at least I haven't found one and I have tried a LOT of masks over past 12 years.
There are some that come close to perfection though with a minimal amount of annoyances or problems.
And to complicate things even more....one person's near perfect mask isn't always perfect for the next person.
One man's treasure is another man's trash thing.
We can share our experiences but that doesn't mean that you will have the same experience.

Look at the mask I use in my signature line. No mask lines...doesn't move around if applied correctly so no mask movement leaks...It's biggest negative IMHO a bit fiddly to work with until you get the hang of putting it all together especially if someone has arthritic issues in the hands.

If you love a mask and its only negative is you need to sleep on your back...then sleep on your back and adjust the pressures so the apnea events are better prevented. Yes, back sleeping does make OSA worse in some people but there are ways to supine sleep and STILL prevent the apneas. Sometimes people can't sleep any other way....so you deal with it.
You can still sleep on your back if you want to or need to in order to be happy and have success but you might need to adjust the settings a bit to better deal with the worsening number of events...but they can be dealt with.

If you liked nasal pillows but had a lot of leaks and don't with a nasal cushion mask....makes me think the pillows were moving around and that points to incorrect fitting or sizing of the pillow.

Finding the right mask is what I think is the hardest part to this whole cpap journey and sometimes you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince.

We can tell you which frog/mask we kissed and became our prince but there's no guarantee that you will have the same outcome. There are people absolutely loving a certain mask that I wouldn't let darken my doorstep or touch my face.
Doesn't mean it is a bad mask but it does mean it is bad for me.

btbwbev wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:51 am

Can anyone give me some suggestions?

go to youtube. search for mask fitting videos and be sure to put which mask you want help with in the search string.

you may have to watch more than one to get some tips.

good luck!

btbwbev wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:51 am

I know that sleeping on my back would probably solve the air leak issues and I could use the pillows masks, but I seem to have more events per hour. Can anyone give me some suggestions?

It's common to have higher CPAP pressure requirements on one's back.

ChicagoGranny wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 06, 2021 11:51 am

btbwbev wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 06, 2021 7:51 am

I know that sleeping on my back would probably solve the air leak issues and I could use the pillows masks, but I seem to have more events per hour. Can anyone give me some suggestions?

It's common to have higher CPAP pressure requirements on one's back.

Indeed, it is very common (along with during REM stage sleep) and it isn't the end of the world if we have to sleep on our backs for whatever reason. A few pressure tweaks will usually resolve the problem and get the event numbers down or even eliminated depending on event category.

It's an easily fixed problem as long as the aerophagia monster doesn't try to sneak in.