I don't know what the parameters are for what is to be considered the "right one".
My "right one" has changed several times over the years as new models get released and I try them and like them better than the older model.
I don't think in terms of "right one"...I think in terms of "primary preferred" at the time. And times can change.
Since the question was asked by a relative newbie to cpap therapy....it's fairly common to wonder how their mask search compares to other people's mask searches.
And my search parameter time frame isn't the same as a newbie's time frame. I have been at this stuff for well over 9 years. I have been "searching" for many years now. I will always "search" because I am that way...always looking for something I might like a little better.
When I was brand new to therapy I researched the masks and carefully considered my own personal wants, needs and preferences when I was looking at masks. I knew from the very beginning I was going to need something that didn't cover my nose (don't do well with any pressure on the bridge of my nose area) so I immediately tossed out anything that touched the nasal bridge area...no sense in even looking at them. That really limited my pool of choices. Pretty much to a nasal pillow mask of some sort or one of the 2 hybrids at the time. I also quickly discovered that anything with any sort of lower strap that went down by the base of the skull caused neck pain...so those got tossed out.
I decided before even using cpap at all that I wanted to try the ResMed Swift LT nasal pillow mask. It looked like it fit my own personal preferences, wants and needs the best at the time. So that's what I got as my first mask purchase with my insurance.
It worked well....but I still tried some of the other nasal pillow masks in the beginning as I could get my hands on them.
Insurance was no help of course but back then we had the cpap auction where people would sell their mask experiment failures at really discounted prices and that's how I funded my various mask experiments within the first 6 to 8 months of therapy.
So I did try the other options that were available at the time (and those options were very limited compared to what is available now) but I always ended up still preferring the Swift LT back then.
Over the years as newer models of nasal pillow masks have been released I have pretty much tried all of them.
And if I liked the new model better...it became my new "primary preferred"....some of them I could use successfully but just didn't like it better to replace the current "preferred" at the time.
The ResMed Swift FX nasal pillow was released about a year after I started therapy...I tried it and liked it better than the Swift LT...so got a new primary preferred....then the TapPap was released and I actually liked it better than the Swift FX...close race that one...so I used it for a year or so until the ResMed P10 was released and I liked it better than the TapPap (another very close race though)...so I got another new primary mask. In between this I was still trying new stuff just to be trying new stuff because I just like to try new stuff because I never knew if maybe there might be some little something with the new stuff that might really trip my trigger. Wasn't so much that I was unhappy with the current "primary preferred" at the time but I had learned that you just don't know how well something will work for you or not until you try it.
If we were to count all the masks I have tried over the years just to be trying....well over 50...and the primary preferred has changed with the times. Masks get released that meet my own personal preferences, wants and needs better...so I change.
But if we are just talking about how long did it take me to find my preferred primary back when I was brand new to therapy...I found it before I even actually had the titration study...I knew from my own wants and needs that it had the best chance of meeting those needs of the available masks at the time and I was right. It wasn't perfect and I knew it but at the time it was my best option.
It's been that way ever since....no mask has ever been perfect in terms of checking off every single one of my wants, needs and preference boxes. There's always been some little something that "could be better"....even with the P10...it's not perfect...it's not the most stable of masks out there...the headgear stretches easily and the back strap slides up the back of the head sometimes which affects stability. But it's silent and the diffused venting is a huge plus for me and those pluses out weigh the minor negatives in my book.
Now someone else...might think that my minor negatives (the stability stuff) are HUGE negatives to them.
This is where we get the big YMMV sticker showing up. We all have different wants, preferences and needs....and that's why there are so many different primary preferred masks out there chosen by people.
Finding the "right" mask for each individual...the primary preferred that meets the bulk of anyone's preferences, wants and needs....the hardest part to cpap therapy IMHO. Some people get lucky and find one right away...and some people just have to kiss a lot of frogs before they find their prince of a mask. People need to listen to their own personal preferences, wants and needs more...not try to rely on what someone else might think about something. It's hard though because as newbies we don't always know what our wants and needs and preferences might be. We have to try new stuff just to learn about ourselves as much as we are learning about the masks.
Me....I am still going to try new stuff. Not so much because I have a huge problem with the current primary preferred but because I always learn something either about myself and my needs or about a new mask idea. Now sometimes all I learn is what a bad idea that new mask experiment was...but I always learn something.
LOL Easily pleased? maybe.
