HYBRID CPAP Mask Review

inacpapfog · Post by **inacpapfog** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:27 am

dutchman,
your AHI increase with the Hybrid really puzzles me, as I had the complete opposite experience!
AHI's with Swift averaged 3.0 - 3.5
compared to AHI's with Hybrid .5 - 1.5!

Concerning the mouthleaks with muscle movement, I found that improved for me when i switched to a smaller mouthpiece. I had been using the large and it worked fine , except for just the type of leak tendency that you described. I switched to the medium and because this fit was more snug, even minor mouth movements did not disturb its seal.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:43 am

Your experience with the Hybrid was much the same as mine, Dutchman. No matter how well it was adjusted at the beginning of the night, leaks would spring out as the night went on. I'm happy that it works for some people. I just couldn't get it to work for me no matter what combination of mouth cushion/nasal pillows I used.

Like any other mask, the Hybrid seems to suit some, but not all. When it does work, it's the answer to some people's struggle with full face masks and/or mouth leaks. When it doesn't suit, it becomes one more for the discard drawer.

ghmerrill · Post by **ghmerrill** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:45 am

Since harl1828 has responded ...

How about posting other product review from your group? You mentioned that the Hybrid was one of the items beining highlighted at your upcoming meeting. What are the others, and what's the possibility of seeing their reviews?

Not to mention previews your group has done. I'm sure there's a lot of interest here in seeing those.

maskjkie · Post by **maskjkie** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:16 am

snoring dutchman wrote:When I saw the first article on the Hybrid mask, I decided immediately to try and get one. Since it is not yet available in Holland, I ordered one in the US. This is the result of my first 4 nights with the Hybrid mask:
I have a Respironiocs Autopap with Cflex.
After having experimented with the various size options, I went to sleep. Absolutely no problem falling asleep, the mask was very comfortable, however, after one or two hours of sleep I woke up from the noise of heavy leakage. The leakage occurred on the mouthpiece only. The nasal pillows stayed leakfree. I experienced, that I could influence the amount of leakage by concsiously moving my mouth or lips as you do when you swallow. I have tried different strap settings and a different size, but the result is still the same. Too much leakage for comfort! Probably the leaks start when muscles around my mouth relax after falling asleep?
When I checked the feedback from my autopap with Encore pro, I found out, that my AHI varied between 4.5 and 7.5 when I had used the Hybrid, versus the usual 1 to 1.5 when using the Breeze nasal pillows. I would be very interested to know why. Any similar experiences?

Snoring Dutchman

I believe that the higher AHI values you are seeing with the Hybrid is due to the leak on the oral cushion. I suggest you try tightening the 2 lower straps a bit more to see if that improves the seal. If that doesn't work, you might want to trim the chin flao. Trim the chin flap about 1/4 inch away from the boundary between the chin flap and the oral cushion. This way you won't cut into the oral cushion and affect its sealing ability. I tried this on a patient a few days back who had a similar problem like yours and it worked.

oldgearhead · Post by **oldgearhead** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:19 am

Its too bad the makers of the Hybrid did not publish the 3 different 'curves'
of the 3 mouthpieces. If they had, you could probably use a simple carpenter's contour gauge to determine if any of the mouthpieces had a remote chance of fitting. The Hybrid design does not accomodate much variance in both of the curves (above and below the lips).

Contour Gauge;

http://www.aventools.com/ListItems.jsp?CateId=621

ghmerrill · Post by **ghmerrill** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 5:31 am

It's too bad that no one has developed a "try before you buy" approach -- though I don't have any suggestions about how that would work. Unfortunately, there are probably regulatory cinsiderations that may prohibit this. I assume that these are "medical devices" that are somehow regulated? I haven't actually looked into that.

My impression is that -- no matter what the brand or model -- a lot of these masks are being sold and then never used.

Having the feedback of others is useful, but in the end it's a matter of individual preference and fit.

pc_5150 · Post by **pc_5150** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 6:38 am

I've always wondered why there isn't (maybe there is?) a black-market for used-once/failed-tried masks. Many of the "germy" parts of the masks are replacable for the more paranoid and less-reliant-on-bleach types.

Needless to say, if my insurance won't reimburse a purchase of a hybrid, I might just be in the market...

krousseau · Post by **krousseau** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:40 pm

CPAP masks can be sanitized and reused by another person. If you live in the Tracy or Sunnyvale areas of California there is CPAP provider called CPAP Company that lets you try on masks with a CPAP set to your pressures. They then clean them and sanitize them for the next person. Sleep labs also generally reuse their masks. I think it is Hans Rudolph that says their mask can be put in the dishwasher. Some people may think I'm a germ freak but that is good enough for me-it might not be for someone else.

new2 · Post by **new2** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:25 am

What do sleep labs use to wash their masks? They reuse their masks over and over on new patients and it must be safe or the FDA would not allow it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 8:47 am

..I think all masks have the cleaning method in the manual.

For the Hybrid its on page 4. Look for 'Cleaning and Disinfecting Instructions-Institutional Applications'.

snoring dutchman · Post by **snoring dutchman** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 2:27 am

Hi maskjkie

Thanks for your advice, I have cut away the complete chinflap on both the medium and large size. This gives an enormous improvement. Why has the inventor of this mask designed the chin flap? This flap has a fixed distance from upper lip seal to the bottom of the chin! Very few faces come out of the same mold, so dimensions are different from person to person.
After testing both, I think that for me the large mouthpiece is the best one.
The large leaks are considerably less now and the AHI is down to 2.5 - 3; still higher than with the breeze mask, but improving. Not having to tape my mouth is my motivation to continue the test, maybe play a little more with the strap tension and the nasal pillows.

maskjkie · Post by **maskjkie** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 5:01 am

snoring dutchman wrote:Hi maskjkie

Thanks for your advice, I have cut away the complete chinflap on both the medium and large size. This gives an enormous improvement. Why has the inventor of this mask designed the chin flap? This flap has a fixed distance from upper lip seal to the bottom of the chin! Very few faces come out of the same mold, so dimensions are different from person to person.
After testing both, I think that for me the large mouthpiece is the best one.
The large leaks are considerably less now and the AHI is down to 2.5 - 3; still higher than with the breeze mask, but improving. Not having to tape my mouth is my motivation to continue the test, maybe play a little more with the strap tension and the nasal pillows.

Snoring Dutchman,
I'm glad your experience is getting better and I have a feeling it will continue to improve.

There is a good reason for the chin flap. Some people have a recessed lower jaw that is probably one of the main reasons they have apneas. When such people use a full face mask that does not have a chin flap, there is nothing stabilizing the lower jaw when the lower straps are tightened to get the seal below the lower lip. So, the lower jaw gets pushed behind and there is a higher occurrence of apneas and hypopneas. The chin flap plays an important role for them. Until the Hybrid became available, I used only the F&P HC431 FF mask for such people (who were also mouth breathers) because it has a chin flap. The manufacturer should have included the topic of trimming the chin flap in the instructional CD so that users like you benefit.

snoring dutchman · Post by **snoring dutchman** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 2:35 am

maskjkie

6 weeks further now, I have tried the hybrid mask on and off, switching from hybrid top to the breeze mask when it did not give me enough sleep. Finally, I think I have found the right settings, the cut off chin flap, large pillows in the bottom position and enough tension on the top straps.
I now have no large leaks anymore, only a 40+ percentage of normal leaks. My AHI, and particularly the obstructive portion does worry me. average is now 4.2 whereas before on the breeze mask i usually saw <2 with hardly any obstructive ones. Do you think this could be improved?

Snoring Dutchman

HYBRID CPAP Mask Review

Re: Hybrid mask experience