Pillow Nasal Mask, Best One?

I am thinking about buying a pillow nasal mask and would like to hear comments from those how have bought them with their thoughts and the brand and type of mask you use.

I sleep most of my night on my side.


Thanks,

I really like the ComfortLite 2. I'm a side sleeper and I get a really good night's sleep using this system.

Kimberly

I've used the breeze - very good (got it from my insurance) Hardly can tell it it's on your head. Just still had to use chin strap, so it's in my closet.

I tried the Comfortlite 2 (bought it myself) and just could not get a good seal. Sold it to someone on this forum.

Am using the hybrid now (bought it from someone on this forum) and it is fantastic! Still tweaking - but think I can get the issues worked out - thanks to every one who responded to my posts!

bakerboy wrote:I am thinking about buying a pillow nasal mask and would like to hear comments from those how have bought them with their thoughts and the brand and type of mask you use.

I sleep most of my night on my side.


Thanks,

All depends … I’ve been trying them all (only one left to try is the NP Twillite/Aura/HR). You see, there are more sizes and shapes of the human face than there are masks (sizes and adjustments). That means what is great for one person will may not work as well for another … you just need to try out as many as you can. Nevertheless, compared to full face and nasal cushion masks, I think the pillow mask interfaces are the easiest to fit in spite of the variety of human faces.

Having said that, you can narrow the number of trials by knowing a bit about your own face shape and size … relative to others. That is why I think it would serve this forum well to have everyone post a relatively current picture of themselves for their avatar. That way when some says - “the blaa blaa blaa mask works great for me” or “I highly recommend that you try bla bla bla mask cuz it’s the best”, the reader can compare the facial features of the person making the comment against their own facial features. Anyway I digress from your question.

Most like pillow mask interfaces because they are generally friendly to side sleepers. Below are some things to consider when selecting a pillow mask interface include:
1)how does the hose route? … up? … down? … side? … multiple directions?
2)pillows? … soft? …firm? … available sizes? … shape of pillows? … adjustable pillow angle to shape of nares? … or if fixed, what angle relative to shape of nares?
3)headgear? … soft? … rigid? … adjustability? … stability onto head?
4)CO2 exhaust ports? … does loudness matter? … willing to use ear plugs? what direction does the exhaust blow?
5)field of view? … ease of using eye glasses?
6)easy or difficult to clean?
7)how will you deal with mouth leak issues should you have them?

The Breeze has removable (very easy to clean) pillows that are able to rotate on the shell so that you can align them to the shape of your nares … if your nares are round that is a useless feature. The Breeze incorporates a metal spine connected to a hard triangular back-piece for the headgear … I found it very uncomfortable and it also tended to hook my nose up due to the leverage of the spine … others have no problem with the factory headgear. I did like the fact that the hose routes up over the head which makes it easy for those who toss and turn in their sleep. Some find the Breeze pillows are not soft enough … I find they leak less than softer ones but what do I know?

The Adams Circuit is the predecessor of the Breeze and has strong similarities … uses the same exact pillows in fact. However, the shell into which the pillows are inserted/connected has an exhaust port that is very loud (perhaps the loudest of all). The AC shell is however more comfortable on the upper lip than the Breeze shell. The AC uses a soft headgear that is much more comfortable than the one that comes with the Breeze IMO but it also is a bit less stable or secure “on my head”.

The Swift is perhaps second in loudness of exhaust port(s), second only to AC but it is fairly stable on the head. Some complain that the back headgear strap rides/slides up on the back of the head while sleeping. One fix is to add the sticky half of some Velcro to the back strap so that it grabs your hair and stays in place … bad idea if you have long hair though … but for long hairs like myself, just wear a pony-tail and slip the strap under it. Some like the Swift design because it offers a clear field of vision and/or ease of putting-on or removing eye glasses. My problem with the swift is that the barrel (equivalent to shell) is too wide and when sleeping on my side it shifts the pillows out of my nares … others don’t seem to have that problem. Also, the hose routes to one side making it difficult to sleep on that side if you route up over your head … it does swivel in the vertical from the side of the barrel so that you can route it down under the sheets if your into that kind kinky stuff. It is a very good mask interface for those who sleep on their back or one side.

The Comfort Lite II has integrated shell and pillows assembly and one changes size by switching out the whole assembly. Some have issues with the pillows being to far apart or not keeping their position (due to very soft silicone material I think). My experience so far is that it is fairly comfortable but the soft pliable pillows tended to lose the seal and leak. The fishing line/twist tie fix is a common solution for that problem. I have noticed that it does need some sort of fix but I have not spent enough time fiddling around with it.

The Opus is a great design but many have had problems keeping it leak free. It has a 360 degree swivel so you can route the hose in just about any direction and can therefore provide a clear field of vision. It too has the shell-pillows integrated into a single assembly. It has been the most problematic for me and I think, like the CL2, the silicone material is too thin and soft and therefore loses shape/support and pillows get out of alignment and I get leaks. Some say the trick is to wear it very loose but when I try that, it shifts all over the place and loses the seal just the same. For me, it worked good while sleeping on my back but terrible for sleeping on my side (again, the pillow material is too thin and the pillows loose their shape with the smallest amount of stress). If you sleep on your back and don’t toss and turn much in your sleep, this could very well be an excellent mask on par with Swift but with significantly quitter exhaust port(s).

The OptiLife is one I just tried out for the first time this weekend. Like the Swift and Opus, it sports a clear field of vision but the hose routes down. I tried adding the Activa flexible hose to re-route it back over my head the way I like so it is possible to do that with this mask. It also sports an integrated chin strap (not to hold your yapper closed) for mask stability but I found that it was useless for me as it just would not stay under my chin … but it did not matter cuz it did not seem to affect the stability for me and the mask stayed put most of the time. This mask works very good in any position so long as you stay put and don’t toss and turn … and even if you do toss and turn it will work ok but you may need to adjust it as you toss and turn (fairly quick and easy tug to re-seat the pillows).

The NP Twillight/Aura/HeadRest is the only one left for me to try … anybody have one they want to sell me at a discount? From what I have read about it, it tends to have issues with rainout (condensation) and many do not like the headgear … despite those issues, many are willing to deal with it and or modify it to overcome them such as decapitating the headgear and/or using an Aussie heated hose to mitigate the rainout.

The cool thing about the pillow mask interfaces is that many of them are easily modified.

I started out with the Breeze and it tore my nares up so bad that I took it back to my DME after only three days and switched it out for a Swift. After joining this forum and learning more about masks, I realized I did not give the Breeze a fair trial. I bought a new one from CPAP.com and patiently experimented with it. I ended up hacking it all up and modifying it to suit my needs. After having tried five other nasal pillow interfaces, the one I initially hated the most is now my favorite. Moral of that story, don’t be trading your masks right away just because you had a few initial bad nights with it. Hold on to it for a while and come back to it later, you never know how bad or how good it really is until you have tried out all of the others.

Wow that was a long answer to your question … now you are probably more confused than when you asked it.

Long, but REALLY informative....
Great job

I ditto what Bonnie said -- great info, Roberto!

bakerboy, in addition to what you're reading now, here's a link to some interesting old discussions about quite a few masks:

LINKS to MASKS - nasal mask, nasal pillows, nasal prongs
viewtopic.php?p=35286

Thanks so much for all the nasal pillow information, Roberto and Rested Gal! I like my Twilight NP so much better than my original mask, which was a ComfortGel Nasal mask. I'm still fiddling with it, though, and am really starting to wonder if there's a PERFECT mask out there! Your summary is a big help, Roberto, and I've saved RG's links for future reading!

Dreamstalker was right on with his evaluation of the Optilife mask. It was the second and last mask I have used and I like it a lot. Had a problem with mouth leakage, but taping cured that problem and caused me no real misgivings.

Lately, I have pitched the tape and started to use one of those boilable mouthguards you can buy at WalMart for just over $1.00. I boiled one of those and bit down till it was almost penetrated by my teeth. Then trimmed the outside of the guard along the gumline severely and boiled again to soften the trim marks. This stops my mouth leakage almost completely and allows me to open the mouth if desired.

Edit: I wear a T-shirt and clip the hose to the bottom of the shirt. This allows rolling to either side without side pressure on the mask. The T-shirt kind of binds up when I roll , though, and am considering tying a pantyhose around my waist to clip the hose to. For a once-upon-a-time macho fighter pilot this is a major step!!! But at 72 years, pride gives way to comfort!
Love that Optilife!

Good information as I am considering a change to a nose pillow mask. When you try all these different masks, will your insurance pay for them or is the first on insurance and the rest on my dime?

Thanks.

Jaggles wrote:When you try all these different masks, will your insurance pay for them or is the first on insurance and the rest on my dime?

That depends entirely on your insurance. My DME company doesn't like to give me masks I request, they like to choose for me, so I just buy out of pocket since the copay is almost the same price as the full price from cpap.com.