What S9 mask setting for WISP?

[NateS]

Just as I got my new replacement headgear for my Aloha from our sponsor, my new local DME got the Wisp in, so I grabbed one of those too.

Tonight I guess I will try the Wisp for the first time, but I am unsure as to what mask setting I should have for my ResMed S9.

Should I leave it on Pillows or set to Nasal or what?

I thought I once skimmed over a comment about this but I can't seem to find it tonight.

Thanks,

Regards, Nate

[cobra4x4]

Nasal is the setting you want.

If you have a congested feeling when breathing in, adjust your mask to sit a little lower on the bridge of your nose.
At first that happened to me and I found that as I breathed in I was sucking the bottom of the cushion in toward my nasal passage.

I have found out that the pressure bumps up a bit more with the nasal mask, from my Swift FX there was a 4cm increase in 95% pressure over 8hrs.

Good luck tonight.

[Pugsy]

Compare the vent rates for your nasal pillows at your pressure and the Wisp.
If they are close...probably isn't going to make any difference and I would use pillows.
The setting for mask selection is just so the machine knows which generic vent rate to subtract before reporting leak numbers.
It looks small enough that I suspect the vent rates aren't hugely different. It appears to have a very small volume like the nasal pillows.
I bet it isn't going to make much of a difference.

I looked online but couldn't find patient brochure with vent rates. Hopefully your paperwork has it.

Technically it's a nasal mask but it is a lot smaller than most standard over the nose masks. I would think the vent rate would be closer to nasal pillows...but I might be wrong.

[cobra4x4]

I just went with what my DME told me, and she said to set my S9 autoset to nasal.

I have a DME who has many years dealing with oxygen deprivation and I trust her expertise.

[NateS]

Last night was my first night with the Wisp - it was wonderful!

Although the Swift FX and the Aloha have many wonderful characteristics, the Wisp completely eliminated their one common flaw - keeping the insertion angle of the right and left pillows just right in order to keep a good seal as I move around during sleep. In that respect, I found the Aloha to be a big improvement over the Swift FX because of its articulating nosepiece, but still had hoped for more after struggling to keep the insertion just right all night.

Last night, I put the Wisp on over my head, turned the machine on and immediately got the leak warnings from my machine; but instead of tightening thestraps to the triangular nose piece, I just laid down in bed and the triangular nose piece glommed onto the area surrounding my nose, the leak signals stopped and I felt there was a good seal almost all night.

A great night's sleep!

Now to just go back to solving my dry mouth-mouth breathing dilemma.

Regards, Nate

[RogerSC]

Last night was my first night with the Wisp - it was wonderful!

Regards, Nate

Glad to hear that it worked so well for you.

Which "frame fit pack" are you using, the clear one or the fabric one?

And I'm also curious if you currently have facial hair, since your avatar definitely does *smile*.

Thanks.

[Kitatonic]

Nate, are you still using the cervical collar? This collar has completely eliminated my mouth breathing, zero leaks now so the pressure is down a full notch.

[NateS]

Last night was my first night with the Wisp - it was wonderful!

Regards, Nate

Glad to hear that it worked so well for you.

Which "frame fit pack" are you using, the clear one or the fabric one?

And I'm also curious if you currently have facial hair, since your avatar definitely does *smile*.

Thanks.

Not as hirsute as my avatar but yes I do have a mustache and light beard and I got the clear frame and it seems to work fine on my face.
(Not all of it is clear - some of the headgear is firm fabric.)

Regards, Nate

[NateS]

Nate, are you still using the cervical collar? This collar has completely eliminated my mouth breathing, zero leaks now so the pressure is down a full notch.

Kit, I need to go back to the collar. I took a break from it. But neither the Papcap nor the Ruby seem to work well with the Wisp. They seem to interfere with the "float" effect of the frame suspending the nosepiece, regardless of whether I put them on under or over. And the "float" effect as I call it seems to be the great virtue of the Wisp. It works best with its straps relatively loose over my face and head.

Regards, Nate

[RogerSC]

Not as hirsute as my avatar but yes I do have a mustache and light beard and I got the clear frame and it seems to work fine on my face.
(Not all of it is clear - some of the headgear is firm fabric.)

Regards, Nate

Thanks...yes, on closer look it's only the part on your face that's "clear" or "fabric", there's a common back. I'm surprised that they don't give you both fronts, and then you could use one that works best for you.

Anyways, thanks for the tips, thinking about this one. You make it sound good *smile*. I'm just trying the Aloha at the moment (again) to see if I can't get it to work. The way that the pillows feel, it should leak less than the Swift FX (that moves all over the place). We'll see. I've been using the same mask for long enough that it's hard for me to get to sleep with a mask that has a different feel. A good argument for having more than one mask that works for you.

[chunkyfrog]

I found that the clear frame on my wisp needs a little bending in order to hold the nasal cushion in the right position.
It arrived quite stiff and straight, pinching my cheeks while raising the nose piece away from my face enough to cause
unsatisfactory leakage. I have flexed the frame quite a bit, and now it has a gentle bow in it that feels and fits much better.
If heat can be used to facilitate customization, it would have been nice of Respironics to mention that.

[cobra4x4]

I have flexed the frame quite a bit, and now it has a gentle bow in it that feels and fits much better.
If heat can be used to facilitate customization, it would have been nice of Respironics to mention that.

You can use a hair dryer to soften up the frame in order to bend it slightly, but don`t heat it up so much that you melt it.

[KenH]

NateS, I read this yesterday about the Wisp. Went and got one. WOW !!!! What a mask. Thanks for the post. Ken