Anyone w/ full face mask leak rate of 5 or less?

[Chuck Connors]

I'm curious if there are people wearing a full face mask who consistently have leaks of 5 or less. If so, what are you doing to achieve that? I'm currently using a stretchy thin width head band that wraps around the outside of the mask from the back of my head and to just below vent in the front of the mask. There is just enough elasticity in the head band to keep the mask firmly in place, but not too tight nor too loose. My leak rate generally ranges from four to 10. I'd like to consistently get the leak rate below five, if possible. Thank you for any information you may have. -Chuck-

[Jay Aitchsee]

Chuck, out of curiosity, are you talking 95% or median as your reference for leaks?

[Chuck Connors]

95%

Chuck, out of curiosity, are you talking 95% or median as your reference for leaks?

[Jay Aitchsee]

Chuck, my long term average 95% leak rate with the regular Quattro is consistently around 5 without doing anything special. My 30 day average is 5.4 and last night was 3.6. However, I could not get it that low with the FX where the average was closer to 8 or 10. Even trying straps like you mentioned, chin straps, and/or alternate headgear, I couldn't get the leaks of the FX consistently low. My solution was to abandon the FX and go back to the regular Quattro.
I do think 5 is a good number to shoot for. Anything much above that definitely disturbs my sleep.

Jay

[Thetoolman]

My quatro mirage is ALMOST a leak free mask to me and I like it. I have been using this resperonics full life a week or so, I like it better and can sleep on my side no troubles & no leaks(with practice). I got it so it leaks just about zero!!the thing on this full face mask the head gear is SOOooo comfortable and you can take off and back on without unhooking anything . JUST off then slip back on!!

[squid13]

My 95% leak rate for the last 30 days is Zero. I use the F&P large Forma and love it.

[avi123]

Chuck, I been using the nasal traditional Mirage Softgel mask that is stated below, for the last 6 months. See these Stats that my leaks and AHIs have been very small. Last night I tried again to use the F&P #431 FF mask that I used last year and which gave me bad treatment for almost a year. I don't understand why this FF mask is giving me such bad results. See here:

Stats of the past 6 months using the Mirage SoftGel nasal mask:
(most AHIs below 1)





One night using the F&P #431 FF mask and the AHI jumps to above 7:



It's not the leaks that caused my higher AHI b/c the S9 Autoset was not affected by it that much:

[Chuck Connors]

My quatro mirage is ALMOST a leak free mask to me and I like it. I have been using this resperonics full life a week or so, I like it better and can sleep on my side no troubles & no leaks(with practice). I got it so it leaks just about zero!!the thing on this full face mask the head gear is SOOooo comfortable and you can take off and back on without unhooking anything . JUST off then slip back on!!

Thank you, Mr. Thetoolman. Just so I understand correctly, you have been using two masks that provide no leaks, or almost leak free. 1) FullLife Full Face CPAP Mask with Headgear - Respironics; 2) Mirage Quattro - ResMed. Is that correct? Thank you.

[zoocrewphoto]

I use the Quattro FX full face mask, and I sleep mostly on my side. I started April 30 of this year, and it took me awhile to master it (and every now and then, it tells me that I need to keep practicing).

The first graph shows my first month and a half. Overall, not too bad. Take a look at the key on the left side. The darkest green is the median. The medium green is the 95%, and the really pale is the max leak. As you can see, I rarely went over the acceptable leak for the mask.



The second graph shows mid September to mid November. You can see that my leak is really good now. That darker green is non-existent, and the medium green is only there for 1 day in 2 months. In the vast majority of days, the medium green is non-existent, so my 95% leak number is definitely below 5 on a regular basis. You can see at the end of September, where the max had some higher numbers, though still lower than the acceptable limit. That was the week I changed from my first cushion to my second cushion. I had a little trouble fitting it during those days.



I haven't done anything special. All I can say is that this particular mask fits me well, and I have learned to get it just right. I do wish it were available in an extra small, as I think that would be easier for me to fit correctly. I also got the headgear in the small size as the medium was too larger for me. That helped a lot. I do my best to fit it so that it is not too high or too low. I have never been able to fit it while lying down, so I do it sitting up, turn it on, let it get up to 11 (my starting pressure). If it doesnt leak, I go to bed. If it leaks, I turn it off, start again, and eventually go to bed. These days, I usually get it right in the first 3 tries. When I started, it often took 10-20 tries.

I really believe a lot of it is practice and patience.

[LSAT]

When I check my data, the leak rate on my Quattro is always <1.

[avi123]

My leak rates in L/min in 2011 when I used S9 Elite CPAP and trying more than a dozen full face masks,
(Almost all the FF masks mentioned on this board.)
Leak rate is proportional to the linear length of the seal. FF masks have long seals.
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know it.






The last line gave me a clue to my optimal mask and setting which I have been using since (it was done
by using the Resmed Softgel nasal mask that I use now, NO FFs):

[avi123]

ZOOCREWPHOTO, see my Leaks in my Summary graph. All those three hi leaks which go way above the red line were from my using a FF mask (for a testing):




This thread could be used for those asking about FF masks. But several posters neglet to show concrete evidence with data. Only just saying "it works well for me".
It's a pity.

[Denial Dave]

I'm on a resmed S9 with bilevel / bipap treatment levels of 21 IPAP & 15 EPAP using a Mirage Quattro FFM with padacheek liner.

Before "masking up" at night, I wash my face with hot water only with a face cloth before going to bed... I do not shave before going to bed AND I have a mustache.


Most nights, My leak levels are under 5, and the average for the past 45 nights is under 7. My leak levels spiked for 2 nights recently due to my mask silcon seal collapsing. After installing a new one, they went back to normal.

Every night, I follow the guidelines on the "Taming the Mirage Quattro" blog. I'm not sure why, but I haven't reached the point where I can set straps and keep them the same each night.

Dave

[avi123]

I'm on a resmed S9 with bilevel / bipap treatment levels of 21 IPAP & 15 EPAP using a Mirage Quattro FFM with padacheek liner.

Before "masking up" at night, I wash my face with hot water only with a face cloth before going to bed... I do not shave before going to bed AND I have a mustache.


Most nights, My leak levels are under 5, and the average for the past 45 nights is under 7. My leak levels spiked for 2 nights recently due to my mask silcon seal collapsing. After installing a new one, they went back to normal.

Every night, I follow the guidelines on the "Taming the Mirage Quattro" blog. I'm not sure why, but I haven't reached the point where I can set straps and keep them the same each night.

if you don't know where you are going... any road will take you there.... George Harrison



Dave

Dave, the Mirrage Quattro did not work for me even though I have no moustache. It did not form to my face contour.

Does your inhale pressure rise to above 20 cm, often?

if you don't know where you are going... any road will take you there.... George Harrison

This line reminds me about Taylor Larrimore's slogan: there are many roads leading to Dublin.

Taylor is a chatroom friend from the Bogleheads Website. It's about investments of $.

[squid13]

Here is my reading from 12/1/12 to12/15/12. I use a F&P Forma full face mask, so not all full face mask are leaky.