Mask exhaust vent noise

[kindred spirit]

Hi Everyone,

I'm on like day 45 or so and slowly getting the hang of things. Thanks to everyone who has offered their insight and advice so far!

I'm continue to work on getting "my" mask and am awaiting my second one via mail as I type. One issue I currently have (not sure it I will with the next one or not but my question is more generic) is with exhaust noise. The exhalation vent at top of the head gear (sits on the crown of my head) sometimes blows on the pillow which wakes me up. Can this vent somehow be covered - loosely without blocking air flow - to buffer the air somehow? I was thinking of a loose breathable fabric sleeve (home made) made from a less noisy material than cotton. What to others do?


BTW- my new mask in the mail is a Swift FX - Res Med. I tried it and several other masks out at a mask fitting clinic at my doctors office. I just wish it had the hose coming out of the top of the head like my current mask instead of in front of me. I'll problem solve hose management once the new mask arrives. I must say that I'm impressed with the creativity of the folks on this board!!

Thanks in advance for any input/insight!!

-Kristen

[Pugsy]

I don't mean this to sound rude...so please don't take it that way but I am having a hard time picturing how you get a pillow on top of your head where the DreamWear vent is....is your pillow big and soft and fluffy or something?

Those vent holes in the DreamWear up on top...those are tiny and I would be really nervous about blocking them unless the "diffuser" was really, really porous...I can't think of any cloth that would make me less nervous about it. I wonder about maybe tearing one of the machine filters apart and maybe trying a very thin layer of the filter material as a diffuser.

Rebreathing the carbon dioxide exhaled...much more dangerous than the annoyance of being woke up with the air bouncing off the pillow.....like you might not wake up period and that scares me..
It's a small risk, with the venting on the nose piece but if for some reason the nose vent got blocked and the top vent wasn't dispersing the carbon dioxide adequately....it could be a really bad deal.

[Pugsy]

Have you looked at or tried the ResMed AirFit P10 nasal pillow mask?
The venting is silent and I have to put my hand 1 inch from the vent holes to feel the air and even then I barely feel it. It never bounces off anything and is totally silent.

[yaconsult]

I agree - they did a great job of designing the venting on the P10. They made a large number of small holes for the vents that point in different directions versus the one or two big holes that most other masks had. This spreads the exhausted air over a much larger area so if any part of the air is blocked it doesn't make noise or blow back strongly in your face. It's quiet and unless I put my hand right on the vent holes, I usually never feel the exhaust at all. It's a great mask - thanks for recommending it, Pugsy!

[kindred spirit]

I don't mean this to sound rude...so please don't take it that way but I am having a hard time picturing how you get a pillow on top of your head where the DreamWear vent is....is your pillow big and soft and fluffy or something?

The air hose is draped over my head board which causes the vent at the elbow joint at the top of my head face downward instead of up. This puts the vent pretty close to the pillow and as I move around during the night it gets even closer (I have a tendency to slide my head off the front edge of the pillow).

I tried the P10 because of the reviews of reduced exhaust noise. However I did not find it real comfortable. It squished my nose up even after playing around with the strap adjustments. I was bummed because I was really looking forward to this mask. Oh well.

Last night I tried lining the back edge of my pillow with a fleece top. It worked a bit - I think... It didn't wake me up anyway. So maybe I'll just play around with that for a while and hope that my new mask solves all my "issues"!

Thanks to all!!

-Kristen

[chunkyfrog]

After a while, most folks get used to the sounds of cpap.
In most cases, it beats the heck out of snoring. (I used to make the windowpanes rattle).