pros and cons of soft pillow vs nasal masks

[besea]

In the past 2 months I have used a full facial mask, then a smaller facial mask, then went to the Wisp and am now thinking of going to something like Nuance soft pillow. My sleep is much improved with all but keep having to adjust often even the Wisp. Anyone have an opinion of the pillow vs nasal mask???

[Guest1]

It's laws of physics. Less the contact area of mask to face, easier it is to control leaks.

So the least contact surface area is for nasal pillows mask. Hence it leaks the least.

The worst is total face mask.

[Pugsy]

There's a reason that for nearly 6 years now that the only mask I have really ever used is a nasal pillow mask.
Now I have tried a couple of nasal masks but that was just to try.
Nasal pillows ...less surface area touching your skin to have to mess with getting and keeping sealed. Easier IMHO and more comfortable as I really don't want anything covering and touching all around my nose.

[Nick Danger]

ditto - I'm a big fan of nasal pillows

[OkyDoky]

I usually have a very neat leak line with my P10 pillows. Not so much when I was using my nasal N10. I sleep on my stomach and the only time I have leaks is occasionally, when I turn my head from side to side in the pillow. A gentle move of the pillows fixes the leak and I'm back to sleep. I hardly even know it.

[SGearhart]

If it hadn't been for nasal pillows my CPAP would be sitting out in the middle of my yard. I was provided a full face mask without even being informed that other mask designs exist. Being the good patient, I tried using it every night even though I couldn't sleep with it. In desperation I found this forum and learned quickly of all the options available. I got my hands on a nasal pillow and "WOW!". My lowest AHI had been a 6.28 with a FFM. The first night with a nasal pillow mask it dropped to 2.43. Additionally, I no longer wanted to go to war with anybody that said "Good Morning".

I have tried the P10, Mirage Swift II, and the Nuance Pro. The Nuance is nice but I think I'd go with the Nuance in lieu of the Pro model. I prefer the feel of the fabric as opposed to the silicon gel on the headgear. Another consideration you might ponder is the type of pillow that you use. That's another complete subject.

Just be aware that you will have some nights that need to be forgotten. I had one recently where every mask that I have leaked no matter what I did. Thank heavens that has only occurred once.

[Janknitz]

I loved nasal pillows . . .

But . . .

That wet dog nose feeling eventually started to drive me up the wall. The PRS1 didn't do a good job of warming the air to prevent condensation in the nasal pillows in the first place, and then the humidifier heater died altogether. All winter in our cold bedroom puddles formed in the nasal pillows and I felt like I had a wet doggy nose. So for more than a year I went back to a leaky old FF mask--which shifted my teeth and caused all sorts of problems.

So now I use the Wisp. It does need a little jiggle when I turn over in bed, but it's not a big deal at all.

[besea]

Thanks for all the information. I am leaning toward a Nuance fabric.

[TedVPAP]

Force is equal to pressure times area. The nasal pillows have a very small area so very little force is needed to seal.