Leak Rate And Pressure Question

[bossfan]

@Pugsy

Thank you for your replies today. I appreciate the time that you have spent on my posts.

[bossfan]

@Pugsy

Just a follow up on this thread. My DME agreed that a mistake was made when someone there said that the Aircurve ASV could not be prescribed with the pressure range ordered by my doctor. So I received an Aircurve 10 ASV today. Yay, I can't wait to try it and see if I notice a difference from the Respironics.

One probably stupid question. The DME did not set the mask type. I am using a Dreamwear mask with the nasal pillows that sit under the nose. So on the mask type I assume that I should select nasal and not nasal pillows?

[Pugsy]

The mask type setting isn't going to be life or death critical but we want it as close as possible.

Actually most likely your DreamWear nasal pillow mask will most likely be classified as "pillow" on the ResMed.
Even though it comes in under the nostrils it it still a nasal pillow mask.
Heck, there are some ResMed nasal masks very similar but without the pillow portion that ResMed says to choose "pillow" for them.

I would choose "pillow" if it were me.

[bossfan]

The mask type setting isn't going to be life or death critical but we want it as close as possible.

Actually most likely your DreamWear nasal pillow mask will most likely be classified as "pillow" on the ResMed.
Even though it comes in under the nostrils it it still a nasal pillow mask.
Heck, there are some ResMed nasal masks very similar but without the pillow portion that ResMed says to choose "pillow" for them.

I would choose "pillow" if it were me.

Huh OK I guess it wasn't a stupid question. I was going to set it to nasal. Thanks for the fast reply.
So what is considered a nasal vs. a pillow?

[Pugsy]

Typically the over the nose nasal cushion type gets "nasal". The kind we have seen since time began with nasal masks.
We are now seeing a lot more of the under the nose cushions...what used to be called cradle cushions back when I first started therapy but there were only a couple of types available back then and they were old school and not comfortable and not popular at all.
They have improved considerably now compared to 10 to 15 years ago.
Seems like the under the nose cushions (with or without pillows) get "pillow".
It's not so much what it looks like as the resistance of the cushion...be it nasal or pillow.
Something that we aren't really privy to except if we really wanted to look up resistance...it's in the mask paperwork but with no explanation as to what to do with it.
Also the setting has somewhat of a factor in the calculations the machine does to give us the excess leak number.

Though I will share this...a while back I tried a full face mask for about a week and then realized I never changed the mask type from pillows to full face...so I changed it and compared results and leak numbers...they never changed. Nothing really changed that I could spot.
The difference between nasal and pillows is even smaller than the difference between full face and pillows...yet I couldn't tell any difference anywhere. Didn't feel different...didn't change AHI...didn't change any leak numbers either.
That's why I say it isn't the end of the world critical thing if we forget or get it wrong.

[bossfan]

Typically the over the nose nasal cushion type gets "nasal". The kind we have seen since time began with nasal masks.
We are now seeing a lot more of the under the nose cushions...what used to be called cradle cushions back when I first started therapy but there were only a couple of types available back then and they were old school and not comfortable and not popular at all.
They have improved considerably now compared to 10 to 15 years ago.
Seems like the under the nose cushions (with or without pillows) get "pillow".
It's not so much what it looks like as the resistance of the cushion...be it nasal or pillow.
Something that we aren't really privy to except if we really wanted to look up resistance...it's in the mask paperwork but with no explanation as to what to do with it.
Also the setting has somewhat of a factor in the calculations the machine does to give us the excess leak number.

Though I will share this...a while back I tried a full face mask for about a week and then realized I never changed the mask type from pillows to full face...so I changed it and compared results and leak numbers...they never changed. Nothing really changed that I could spot.
The difference between nasal and pillows is even smaller than the difference between full face and pillows...yet I couldn't tell any difference anywhere. Didn't feel different...didn't change AHI...didn't change any leak numbers either.
That's why I say it isn't the end of the world critical thing if we forget or get it wrong.

Thank you for the excellent and clear explanation. You are better at answering my questions than my doctor and DME.