Hybrid mask with nasal pillow question

[jasminechichi]

Hi, I am in the quest for the perfect mask. Do you ever stop looking?

I now am looking at the Hybrid mask with nasal pillows. I have tried the Mirage Swift LT for Her Nasal pillows and never got a fit with the pillows. I will admit I gave up when my nares became bloody. I am still suffering from that and it has been a month since I tried using the Mirage. I do use a humidifier. Also, the nasal pillows seemed to collapse when it was placed at my nose. Half of the time my CPAP air would blow but would stop at the back of my nose, because when I would open my mouth there would be no rush of air flowing out of my nose, and I could talk freely. I would have to move my head around before the air would flow.

I have been using the Ultra full mask and I do like it. BUT I would love the freedom of getting away from the forehead bar. I also like being able to scratch my nose if I need to without having to go thru an act of congress with my full face mask.

My question is can I get a seal with a hybrid? Will it be less damaging to my nares with the air coming in towards the mouth instead of directly into the nares as the Swift does? Can you open your mouth comfortably with the Hybrid? I am a mouth breather, and I like the freedom to let my mouth relax and open if it wants to My Cpap is on a setting of 12. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[GaryG]

When using the Swift LT with nasal pillows did you try to use the humidifier? I was told the humidifer is almost always needed with that mask. Might be worth a try.

[Muse-Inc]

...Half of the time my CPAP air would blow but would stop at the back of my nose, because when I would open my mouth there would be no rush of air flowing out of my nose, and I could talk freely. I would have to move my head around before the air would flow....

Interesting. Wonder why there's a 'stop' there? I can physically close my tissues there at will but I've never had it occur by itself...aren't bodies weird!

...My question is can I get a seal with a hybrid? Will it be less damaging to my nares with the air coming in towards the mouth instead of directly into the nares as the Swift does?...

Maybe, the only way you're going to know is to trial the Hybrid.

...Can you open your mouth comfortably with the Hybrid?

Absolutely! I do not open my mouth when asleep but I can easily open it to yawn or cough with the mask on.

[jasminechichi]

Thanks guys for the response. I did have the humidifier on at 1. I just now changed the nasal pillows to an XS and it seemed to work better. However, it did feel as if I was meeting extreme resistance when I exhaled. I have the cflex on 3.

Wearing my Ultra, I don't get that resistance. The filter is clean and there are no crimps in the hose. So I guess it is the difference in the mask.

Thanks again.

[Muse-Inc]

I felt much more resistance exhaling wearing a pillow mask; with the Hybrid, there's still resistance but I don't have to use so much ribcage effort to exhale.

[timbalionguy]

I would consider using the largest pillow that seals well. On the hybrid mask pillows, the flare of the air opening is such that it should seal to the area just inside the nare as well as the end. The closer you are to filling your nares, the less pressure per unit area is put on your nose. Also, with the larger opening, the air velocity is lower on both inhale and exhale, so this should irritate your nose tissues less. You will also feel less resistance during breathing.

The hybrid mask comes with three different nasal pillows you can try. These can also be adjusted to one of two different heights.

You can open your mouth in the hybrid, but not real far. There is a chin flap that limits mouth movement. As soon as I need to replace my seal, I plan to try cutting off the chin flap on my old seal (I am still fairly new to xPAP and on my first mask seal). I will see if that has any effect on overall comfort. A lot of people report this helps, but I am not going to try it on the one and only seal I have. In general though, I like the hybrid a lot.

You might also take a look at the new Resprionics Full face they just released. I would like to try it, but need to pay other bills first.

As far as a leak free seal on the hybrid, the only way to find out is to try it.

[WearyOne]

You can open your mouth in the hybrid, but not real far. There is a chin flap that limits mouth movement. As soon as I need to replace my seal, I plan to try cutting off the chin flap on my old seal (I am still fairly new to xPAP and on my first mask seal). I will see if that has any effect on overall comfort. A lot of people report this helps, but

I cut my chin flap off because I get a much better seal without it. I know what you mean, though, about not wanting to do it with the only one you have. Waiting until you're ready to get a new one to do it is a great idea. It's been suggested that you could cut the chin flap off one of the other sizes and see how it feels. But if the other sizes don't work anyway, you might not be able to tell if cutting the flap off of those helps any. Also, if you do that, you might not be able to use them in a trade.

Pam

[DcKalop]

The hybrid mask hurt my nostrils. The air coming into the nose burnt my nostrils and irritated them, made them hurt. I had to use foam earplugs into the nose pillows to decrease the air into my nose. With that fix, it seems good thus far. best wishes.

[neverbetter]

I'm sure you'll love the mask. If you buy from Cpap.com, you can get the insurance in case it doesn't suit you.This is no one mask that suits everyone.
That said, I think the Hybrid is worth a try when so many people praise it and you know you need this therapy for the rest of your life. Everyone should try this mask at least once. Too bad Babette didn't choose the hybrid over the Nasal Aire II. She loves it so much she's become a sleep avocate for free trials for it and helped numerous people. It would be nice is someone collected donated Hybrid parts and did the same thing for the Hybrid mask. It would at least save some people that can't use it the money.