Swift Lt for Her VS regular Swift mask

I was happy read the wonderful reviews of the Swift Lt for Her Mask - I am newly diagnosed and was given a Swift FX Nasal Pillow Mask to try out - it is okay - I have been wondering if the Swift Lt for Her - is a noticable improvement on the the mask I have now. So many of you have mentioned that you tried out a variety of masks before finding the best fit .

Have any of you experienced both masks? Thanks for the feedback.

I have both. I prefer the FX because it's lighter and softer and more comfortable overall.

But the LT for Her is my second favorite mask. It is more stable against your face than the FX, so less prone to leakage (but with my tweaks, my FX is solid as a rock, too). It's also very lighweight, but not as light as the FX and there's more stuff touching your face with the LT.

I wear the FX most of the time, but sometimes use the LT, just to have a break. The first few nights with the LT remind me what a great mask it is, but then I'm always happy to come back to the lighter and softer FX.

Interesting - I was anticipating the Swift LT for Her to be lighter and therefore more comfortable than the Swift FX.

Thank you for your comments - I certainly learning a lot!

I posted this a while back on another thread, but it's relevant here too. I'm currently using a Swift FX with a Swift FX for Her back head band and XS and S piilows. As a newbie I think the mask is a pretty decent fit all things considered.

I did have to go back to the DME and talk to the RT concerning some adjustment items. And they and I compared FX and the FX for Her physically by lying them side by side while i was there. The results? Here they are:

1) Silicone part of frame is IDENTICAL in overal LENGTH and placement of the strap holes. But the FX for Her has additional notches on the top silicone band. Hence the FX for Her can be tightened more snuggly. Since my top adjustment on the regular FX is not on the tightest or even the next to tightest slot and since the other linear measurements on the silicone part of the frame were identical, I saw no reason to swap this out during my adjustment visit. [The top silicone band doesn't need to be very tight to get a good seal on this mask in my opinion.]

2) The cloth back strap on the FX for Her is SHORTER than the back strap that comes with the FX. The color is different too, but that's cosmetic. The original FX back strap on my mask was simply too long for me to be able to adjust it properly to get a good seal. That's what brought me back to the DME to talk about the mask in the first place. Adjusting the back strap (not the top head strap) is what pulls the nasal pillows into the right position for me. This strap adjusts with two velcro ends. On the regular FX, I had the two ends tightened as much as possible, but the strap was continuing to slide all the way down over my ears and onto my neck. And this was pulling the pillows out of correct alignment. After fighting for something like 40 or 50 minutes one night to get the mask's back strap to stay put so the pillows would seal properly, my hubby suggested duck tape to get the extra slack out of the back strap. That worked in one sense---I was able to get to sleep that night, but it also meant I could not easily readjust the back strap if needed. The shorter FX for Her backstrap is so far working. There is some room between the velcro ends when it's on my head. So as the strap starts to stretch out, there is some room for readjusting this strap.

3) The FX ships with Large, Medium, and Small pillows. The FX for her ships with Medium, Small, and Extra Small pillows. But Large pillows will fit the FX for Her and the Extra Small will fit the FX. Pillows can be bought as replacement parts or you can also try The Great Pillow Exchange thread here at cpap.com to trade the pillows that don't fit you for the pillows that do. My RT also suggested that I try the XS pillows and the DME gave me a pair since my FX didn't come with them. At the RT's suggestion, I'm trying out both the XS and the S pillows on alternate nights to figure out which size is really more comfortable for me and which gives me a better seal. I've only had two nights with the XS and I don't really have a well formed opinion yet on whether the XS fits me better or worse. than the S.

Some other things to consider with the FX and the FX for Her:

Some people (including me) have some trouble with hair getting caught up in the silicone part of the frame. Most nights this doesn't bother me, but sometimes it does. My hair is shoulder length, much curlier than average, quite fine in texture of each hair, and somewhat thick in the sense of how much hair is on my head. Curls, the fine texture of the individual hairs and overall thickness of the amount of hair may all contribute to the "FX pulls my hair problem".

The frame is really soft and flexible. In spite of it fitting rather loosely on my head, it usually does a decent job of keeping the pillows in place when I move around in bed. It's not really any more uncomfortable than my old braces head gear was to sleep in. [It's less painful since it's obviously not moving my teeth around, but the hose attached to my nose is more annoying than the braces pain in many ways.]

The back strap does have a tendency to slip around. That's annoying because if it slips far enough, the seal on the pillows can break. My RT and people posting reviews of the FX on cpap.com have suggested that sewing a piece of velcro onto the hair side of the back strap will let it "catch" your hair and stay put, without actually pulling your hair out when you remove the mask. I don't sew so I haven't done this (yet). I'm thinking very seriously of getting some fabric glue out and gluing some velcro back there because even with the small FX for Her back strap, I have more movement of that back strap than I'd like.

Overall, I'm happy enough with my FX/FX for Her. It was one of only two masks that I could stand at the DME and I'm not yet ready to switch to my second choice.

Hope that helps.

Janknitz wrote:I have both. I prefer the FX because it's lighter and softer and more comfortable overall.

Hi,

I am just the opposite. I have both, but I like the LT much more than the FX.

The issue I have with the FX is that I cannot adjust the angle of the nose pillows like I can on the LT. I have slightly slotted nares, so there is one particular angle where it works best. Also, the back of my skull is flat, so I cannot get the head gear on the FX to hold the mask in place...it keeps slipping. I found that I could make it work much better by flipping the headgear upside down so the rubbery part goes in back, and the strap goes over the top. Even then, the floppy hose is always in the way. I like how it goes up and over on the LT. And the worst is that the FX exhaust blows down on my arms, where as the LT blows outwards. The air on my arms drives me batty.

Every person is different, and every face is different, so the true test is to try it yourself.

-john-

Again - Thank you - Thank you. It is because of the generous support of all of you in this forum that I am making the progress I am with my CPAP machine - I do believe I am feeling clearer and stronger during the day as a result of using my CPAP - My work is in oncology at a large hospital - some days are so very difficult - all days require a lot of energy - I am certain if my patients knew all the help you are providing me with -(and therefore I have more energy to share with them ) they would be singing your praises as well!

Thanks for all the imput people.
The main deciding factor is the lack of ability to place that hose over my head.
So I will stay with the Swift Llte for her.
I started and stayed with the nasal masks first was the Opus 360 then the Swift Lite
then hers won hands down.