Nasal Pillows with APAP

[MaryLand]

I am still researching headgear and read on another site that nasal pillows are not recommended for use with APAP. They didn't explain why. In your experience, is this true? Thanks.

[Pugsy]

What site was that?
It's a bunch of BS or hogwash or old wives tale that is just plain stupid.
Nasal pillows can be used with any machine and at any pressure quite successfully.
I have always used a nasal pillow mask of some sort and have used them with apaps, bilevel fixed and auto and even with ASV machines with a huge changing in pressures going on.

[MaryLand]

Thanks, Pugsy. It was on the secondwindcpap site in the faq section. It didn't sound right to me, so I appreciate your chiming in.

[Pugsy]

Hmmm....It goes to show you that the prejudices of one person can perpetuate incorrect information.
Whomever set up their website apparently believes in some sort of old wives tale about nasal pillow masks.
That does surprise me because I have spoken with Mark (one of the owners) and he is an RT and didn't sound to me like he was of the sort to believe old wives tales. Now I don't know if Mark composed the FAQs or not...but whomever composed them is sorely in the Dark Ages.

Maybe I will send Mark a note and ask him why that little tidbit of non information is on the website.

I suspect that goes along with the old wives tale that people using pressures over 10 cm can't use pillow masks either.

The variations in pressure when in apap mode can present extra challenges for mask fit and seal but that happens with any type of mask when a person fits at a lower pressure and the pressure increases to a point that fitting is no longer working well.