Dreamwear: Nasal cushion, full face headgear?

[Stephaniedp3]

Hello everyone,

I have been using a ff dreamwear mask (small) with a medium or large headgear (can’t remember) since 12/18/19. Recently I saw that nasal cushion were available on amazon for under $15 which is cheaper than my dme with insurance. So I bought one to try! I realized when it came that the head gear straps are different. I just took off the magnet clips from my existing gear and hooked the bottom straps out of the way. I tried the nasal for the first time last night with a chin strap. Other than a little minor leak that didn’t affect my mask fit score at all, and a little soreness under my nose it went well.

So, is there any reason I need to buy the other straps or is what I’m doing ok if I can get it comfortable?

[Pugsy]

If it stays in place and you are comfortable with the bottom strap flopping around...won't hurt anything to just use your existing headgear as long as the cushion stays in place and doesn't move around or leak.

Having the proper headgear might affect stability but if you can make it stable with the headgear you have...it doesn't really matter.
Won't affect therapy itself and as long as it is stable and you sleep well and feel good...that's all that matters.

[Stephaniedp3]

Thanks! Yes my mask fit said 100%, my ahi was 0.6. 90% pressure was 6.5 and the average was 5.5 out of an APAP range of 5-20 so I’d say it went great. All in all it went well.

[Pugsy]

I have always had the thought that it doesn't matter what headgear (or no headgear even) that keeps the mask in place comfortably is okay to use. Most masks have specific attachment points which require model specific headgear and I really think this is by design on the mask manufacturer's part so we are forced to buy specific headgear....increases their sales.
There aren't many "universal" headgear products out there that will work with more than one mask.

For many years I used talk to my husband about helping me figure out some way to tape the nasal pillow mask to my nose/face so I could just ditch the headgear totally. The headgear's only job is hold the mask in place anyway.
Finally someone actually did what I wanted with the Bleep/DreamPort design...glue the mask to my nose and I could lose the headgear.

So whatever a person uses to hold the mask in place and it works for them...I see no reason to worry about it.

[JXG]

For the DreamWear nasal and pillows there is a "headgear with arms" that helps prevent the headgear from riding up on the back of your head (if you have that issue).

[Miss Emerita]

You might want to change the settings on your machine to reflect your new mask type.

[Pugsy]

You might want to change the settings on your machine to reflect your new mask type.

I think OP has a Respironics machine and changing the mask type/resistance setting may not make that much difference if that is the case because they go by resistance numbers and the number might not be all that different between a full face DreamWear and the nasal cushion DreamWear because of potential sizing differences.
If it is a Respironics machine the mask type or resistance setting isn't all that big of a deal. Remember we are told when using non Respironics masks of any type they should just turn off (set to zero) the mask type/resistance setting. It's not all that it is cracked up to be.

And to be honest even with a ResMed machine it isn't all that big of a deal either. I know a while back when I did test the DreamWear full face mask and I was using the ResMed machine I forgot to change mask type from nasal pillow to full face for 3 nights and once I remembered to change it and evaluated how it felt or the results....absolutely nothing changed. Leak rate reported didn't change...therapy results didn't change and how it felt to me didn't change either.

[Miss Emerita]

Thanks for the good information, Pugsy.

[Stephaniedp3]

Yes, I have the dream station and forgot to change settings. Other than trying to find my correct tightness of my mask all is well. My pressure has actually dropped quite a bit hah.

[Stephaniedp3]

In case anyone was curious I tightened my head gear a little and upped my min pressure slowly over the last few days from 5 to 7.5 and last night my ahi went back under 2.0. A relief! I want the nasal cushion to work for me.