Nasal mask with no vent is dangerous??

[TheRyGuy]

I have a 3 year old nasal mask - it says Phillips Resporonics on the front but no model or anything.

I like it, but I'm concerned because I don't see any vent on it like on my other masks (and full face mask).

Is this dangerous? Due to the excess carbon dioxide build up?

I thought about it after I was watching the nasal mask fill with a cloud of air (like white air in the mask area) then dissipate with each breath.

[chunkyfrog]

Vent holes are usually quite small, and may not be easy to see as location may vary.
Since you have been using this mask for 3 years with no problem, it is probably OK.
If you can find or take a picture of it please provide a link, as only images on other sites
or hosted by photo sharing sites can be seen.
I like Photobucket, but some prefer imgur.

[palerider]

I like Photobucket, but some prefer imgur.

photobucket has started putting ads over the images that you have to click through, if you don't have a paid account.

[TheRyGuy]

Sorry for the confusion.

I've owned it for 3 years but just found it in a box a few days ago.

I have NOT been using it that long.

[TheRyGuy]

Pics here.

[chunkyfrog]

Any possibility it was a hospital mask?

[TheRyGuy]

Here is where I what I was talking about as far as it filling with air/whatever and taking a while to dissipate.

[TheRyGuy]

Any possibility it was a hospital mask?

Yes, it was a hospital mask.

How did you know?

[yaconsult]

All cpap masks are vented. They have to be! Otherwise they would be unusable.

[TheRyGuy]

All cpap masks are vented. They have to be! Otherwise they would be unusable.

I posted the pics above.

If you can find the vent, you're a better searcher than I!

[baja05]

FYI: Some older swivel connectors where designed to leak. The swivel was the vent.

[TheRyGuy]

FYI: Some older swivel connectors where designed to leak. The swivel was the vent.

Ok, that would make sense.

[Pugsy]

It looks sort of like the old ComfortFusion and has the ball and socket for headgear attachment which helps eliminate some that look sort of like it.
Can you get a better image of the forehead piece thing? I can't get any idea of the relative size of the forehead brace compared to the rest of the mask. It (the forehead piece) looks smaller than what would normally be expected with the ComfortFusion.
http://breatheeasycpap.com/philips-resp ... nd-models/
But I don't think it came in S/M size.
The Comfort Gel Blue also used the ball and socket on the headgear but I don't think it came in the S/M size which is showing on yours. Before they changed to the "Blue" cushion they may have offered something in a different size.

Masks dispensed in hospitals weren't always what was or is available for retail sales from regular cpap suppliers like online retailers or brick and mortar DME stores and some of the hospital dispensed masks didn't have regular vents and weren't intended for home use but I thought they were usually marked "not for home use".

[TheRyGuy]

Should I stop using it?

[Pugsy]

I wouldn't use it if I couldn't find a for sure venting spot of some sort. Maybe it is at the swivel but if you put it on and turn your machine on and you can't feel a leak anywhere at all then I wouldn't use it if it were me because I have read that hospital masks aren't always the same as what we normally use at home.
Now I don't know why they are different unless they were designed for some sort of different ventilation system going on at the hospital.

There is one situation where a mask with no vent is used for people who have a problem with too much carbon dioxide wash out and a non vented mask is used so that the carbon dioxide gets purposefully built up so that their breathing gets less unstable...but that's a special situation for a special problem. Those people are also usually on something other than a regular cpap/apap machine.