How is F&P 432 supposed to fit?

I just tried my new F&P 432 for a couple of nights. I received a small - DEM didn't ask, just sent it to me. I'm on the petite side I guess, but I have a long narrow face.

In order to get the chin flap resting securely under my chin, the top of the mask is really snug around my nose. Almost as if my nostrils are bring pushed in a tiny bit. Is this right?

Is this mask supposed to feel really snug? I looked for measurement guidelines and couldn't find any.

A different question - I woke up at 3 am or so and the seal was really wet - sliding around on my face. In the haze of sleep I couldn't tell if this was a rainout problem or not. Does it sound like rainout? There wasn't any water in the mask - just the seal itself was really wet.

Jenny

I know nothing about that mask so can't help you there but I know with my other nasal mask if the heated humidifier was too high it made my nose area oilier/greasier and would cause the mask to be more slippery by morning.. Not sure if you even use the heat or what your setting is but that could be one cause of it.

Hi, I also have a small size, because the medium (which does fit under my chin properly) is too large at the bridge of my nose, so while the small is too short, it fits comfortably in my chin 'dent' (under my mouth) but unfortunately, I don't know how well the seal lasts because I never wake up feeling really 'right', so don't use it anymore to speak of.

I have used the 432's cousin mask, the 431 and I found that getting the right balance between the upper and lower straps was really the trick to getting the mask to work for me. Balance is a good word for it, too. I found that if I tightened one, the other seemed to lift up; like a see-saw. It took me 2-3 nights of loosening and tightening both straps until I got the balance just right so that it was light on my nose and comfortably snug around the chin. It doesn't help that the 431/431's weakness seems to be the forehead pad.

In order to get the chin flap resting securely under my chin, the top of the mask is really snug around my nose. Almost as if my nostrils are bring pushed in a tiny bit. Is this right?

Jenny,
I had this same issue in the beginning and had to modify the grey foam.I just took a photo of it ,but am not having any luck posting it.Anyone help with the photo hosting?

Bill

Hi, can you try to describe what you did to the foam? Just the general 'point' of the change? Thanks from N.S.!

Lets give this photobucket a try.



http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y54/71 ... IM0709.jpg




Bill.

I found the same thing to be true as S-Dubya except that my skin becomes oily during the night and I end up loosing the seal after a few hours.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I thought I might have to add the word sex to my topic to get any. (kidding!)

It sounds like we're in the same situation Julie. I have a feeling the medium will be too big.

Thanks Bill for the photo of your fix. If I get the nerve, I'm going to give it a try. Because I really want to make this mask work - it's #7.

I'll have to try again to see if the moisture I felt was from rainout or my skin becoming oily.

Okay this is a crazy story. I've been dealing with a DME since I got my machine. When I called the doc's office to ask which full-face mask I should ask for (this doc is in a practice with many others and many locations) the nurse said - "tell me again - what insurance do you have?" When I told her it was Blue Cross, she said - make an appt. with our sleep center and come on in. No one had told me that they like 6 month appts. to check your machine and mask!

So I go in and they have a bed ready - told me to take off my shoes, she then set up my machine, changed the filter and tried a resmed ff mask on me. She told me to take a short nap and she'd be back soon. Told me to get in all sleep positions and try to get the mask to leak. So I did that and we could not get a fit. Then we try the medium and that did not work either. She finally brought in the FP 431 (put the medium on) and it worked better than the others. She said it came with the small and large cushions as well. She said my insurance had changed and that I was eligible in 3 months to get a new set-up. Get that - on an HMO!

Here I had been in limbo, at the mercy of a DME who would just yank out a mask, sit you in a chair, scratch her head and say - yeah that will work just fine for you - no setting it up with my machine or anything. I guess this is not the newest model, but it seemed comfortable enough during my "nap."

Let me know how yours is working. I know I will have lots of adjusting to do!

Sleepyred

It took me two weeks of trying with my 431 before I gave up. After a couple weeks of mouth taping and my mirage I tried again. This time I followed the directions on the instsruction card. That seemed to help. I was told by the dme that they had used a large cushion during my sleep study, but I ended up using the small. It seems to fit too tight along the cheecks and too loose at the top. It also may be leaking when I am asleep. Oh well. Good luck