Resmed Liberty difference b/w S and L mask?

I am participating in the trial (thanks, fortomorrow!)

I had numbness in my lips after about 3 hours of wearing the mask. I loosened the straps but then the nose piece felt unstable. I ditched it and put on my UMFFM.
I know that there are several nerve sites around the lips. This mask seems to compress every one of them for me. I got to thinking that maybe I need a large? I am also on the hybrid trial. I would love for one of these to fit me since I can't scratch my nose with the FFM.

Thanks,
Trish

I hear you. I am on my second week of a try with the liberty and am having all kinds of problems. The most I have been able to go is 6 hours. IF I can avoid waking because of a large scale leak, within 2-3 hours I feel like the top of the mask is caving my top teeth in.

There are lots pf folks who have had success with the liberty. I just can't seem to get it dialed in for me. I am going to my DME today to switch out for a hybrid. But I also know that I may have to go with a standard full face - which I hate, but does provide the therapy I need. Your DME usually can give you a 30day trial. You could try the other size mask.

as far as I know the only difference is that the mouth piece is longer vertically. I don't know about the lip nerves. I'm running the large liberty test drive but there are quite a few people on the list so it wouldn't get to you for another 8 weeks or so. PM me if you're interested.

I had the mask a little tight. I loosened it and got a feeling that the nasal pillows would leak. They never really did. I just had to trust it wouldn't leak more. It was like "did I leave the water running" type of feeling that's turned out to not be true.

That being said, the mask is too tight in the middle and loose on the sides.

From the pictures of the hybrid, it looks like it might be better if that is your problem. Its hard to tell from a photo.

from an email inquiry at cpap.com

what is used to determine the size on the Resmed Liberty Mask?

I can only make a suggestion...

Measure the width of your lips at a rested state. Your are measuring from crease to crease. If the measurement is 2" and smaller, you would more than likely use a small. 2.5 " and wider would use a Large.

This is a mere suggestion and not guaranteed.

Thanks, I will have to check that measurement.

I am looking forward to the hybrid trial.

Trish

There's a liberty sizing guide but I don't know how well it works: http://www.cpapsupplyusa.com/Community/ ... try27.aspx
(there used to be one on the resmed site but i couldn't find it back ??)

pudellvr wrote:I had numbness in my lips after about 3 hours of wearing the mask. I loosened the straps but then the nose piece felt unstable. I ditched it and put on my UMFFM.
I know that there are several nerve sites around the lips. This mask seems to compress every one of them for me. I got to thinking that maybe I need a large? I am also on the hybrid trial. I would love for one of these to fit me since I can't scratch my nose with the FFM.

I had almost given up on the Liberty for the same reason, 'til one night when I found that if I pulled the upper velcro straps upward, rather than straight back, and velcroed them to the "upper headband" part of the headgear, it suspended the mask in just the right place. That took most of the pressure off of my upper lip, and some off of the lower lip as well. Don't know if this will work for everyone, but might be worth a try.

Here is what I've learned from my experience with the Liberty:

1. For the mouth cup - smaller is better. I tried both sizes and had to tighten the headgear for the large mouth cup a lot more than I did for the small size. If the small mouth cup covers your whole mouth - use it.

2. For the nasal pillows - larger is better. I only tried the small and medium size at first because the large barely fit in my nares. However, I went to the large size in desperation when I could never keep the other two sizes from leaking - And it worked!!! Use the largest nasal pillow that will fit your nares.

3. Place the top of the mouth cup right under your nose - as close as it will sit so it rests on your gums and not your teeth. Wearing it lower will press your lip between the mask and your teeth. I damaged my lip pretty badly before I figured that one out.

4. Put a piece of tap across the top of your nose and covering the outer edge of the nasal pillows. Most nights I didn't have a problem with the pillows popping out, but occasionally my nose would get runny and slick, and then the pillows would just pop right out and no amount of adjusting the mask would keep them in. I found that a small piece of tape was all it needed.

I've used the Liberty, ComfortGel FF, and the FlexiFit 431 FF masks so far. Of the three I like the Liberty best, followed by the ComfortGel. One of the things I love about the liberty, besides being able to scratch my nose, is I can disconnect the hose and drink water through a straw while wearing the mask. I don't have to unstrap or move it at all because the hole for the hose connection is right in front of your mouth.

I hope this helps.

Where do the mask companies get their measurements for faces from???

Am I crazy to thing these should work better out of the box than they do?

Ok, got that off of my chest.

Trish

I am a big fan of the Liberty mask and the Hybrid, I was using the Hybrid for a long time and I think it is the most comfortable of the two. But with that said when I was switched over to the ResMed VPAP ASV machine I got much better data with using the Liberty mask. My pressures are rather high with the ASV it will often go up to 25cm to prevent an apnea , but this makes it hard to keep the nasal pillows in place, so I made a simple mod that fixes the problem. I have also done this same mod for the Hybrid mask, here is the link in the Lab Rats awards viewtopic.php?p=280295#280295

whitebeard - I have been showing your modification to someone in chat - last night he said his wife thought it was the Hannibal Lecter torture outfit or something like that and she thought she could do better - we will see

I plan to use my Liberty tonight all night - so far I only have a few hours on it. I found the headgear lacking (and too big for my head - I now know they sell a small one too but that means ordering it and paying out more) and have designed my own but need to still sew it up but did try it out with safety pins in it for a couple hours last week. I also had a clip break the first time I tried to fit the mask when I got it but cpap.com replaced that. I don't expect to have the problem with pillows slipping out as there is not a big distance between my nose and my mouth but if I do, I know where to look for a fix.

jules you know I use my mask every night with this mod, have been, for over a year now including the time with the Hybrid. Anyway It works for me and as bad and uncomfortable as it might look, it really isn't at all. Anyway I also should mention that Target has the clips for this mod in stock now, they are in the christmas decoration section. 25 piece Tree/Net Light clips for $1.99. I am still using the original clips I first started off with so they last along time. I have changed the hair elastics a couple of times. ( the ones that go over the forehead) they get stretched out! Anyway it might not be pretty but it is effective and really not at all uncomfortable, but it does take a little more effort to put your mask on every night!

I can let him know - I have his email address

In the mean time I have my headgear sewn - I am not sure this will be the final version yet. I will of course post it with "teddy" when I get it working. On my face the pillows aren't going to fly out of the nares I don't think. I have enough trouble jamming them in and getting the mouth cover over my mouth.

I would imagine anyplace that sells holiday decorations might have the clips - no Target where I live for 80 miles but we do have a well stocked ACE hardware 3 miles away and a mediocre Wal Mart about 30 miles away. ACE might be pricier but they are convenient.

jules I will be looking forward to your post on the headgear . It sounds like you are further out in the "sticks" than I am, it is 7 miles to the True Value Hardware and close to 40 to the Target and not quite 25miles to Wal-Mart. It isn't bad except when in the winter when the roads are covered with snow and ice! And that is coming on way to fast for me!