Pilairo!

Got mine yesterday and tried it last night. I also purchased the light 18" tubing to connect to my current tubing. The whole thing was nice and light. Easy to turn on my side. My readings this morning were about the same as with my other mask. My only complaint was that the exhale outlet (if that is what is called) is kind of loud. I intend to use my Pilairo again tonight. BTW the "one size fits all" headgear worked great. It seemed to stay in the same spot all night.
I would love to hear from those who have had the Elan cloth mask and are now trying the Pilairo as I was choosing between those 2 masks. I am fairly new at this having just completed my 4th month.
Thanks
Linda

Just got an email from cpap.com that the Pilairo has shipped. It's coming FED X, wish the would of sent it priority mail, my stuff comes faster from them by mail.

Me too! I can't wait! After viewing the video on YouTube, it looks like a dream come true.

Looking at the pictures, it appears to be a nasal pillow version with mechanics like the Respironics EasyLife nasal mask.

Well, the mask arrived. I re-watched the fitting video then gave it a try and found I had absolutely no leaking if I started out with the mask fit feature, i.e. mask under pressure, spreading the wings and seating the pillows before pulling the headgear over my head. Until my breathing settled down, exhaling was a bit noisey but that passed. I'm really impressed and eager to try it out tonight. I have to assume that putting it under the chinstrap will keep the headgear from moving. Gosh I wish I didn't have to use a chinstrap. I just hate that blankety-blank thing!!

Suz

Here's the youtube link

http://youtu.be/XNdto1jb8Hs

I got the shipping notice too, so my pilairo should be here tomorrow. I want to play with it!!!

**taps foot impatiently**

Video on Fitting using the Pilairo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbnLvcJ ... re=related

another video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C27B9Ph ... re=related

Hi all,

My Pilairo came in today, and in the name of science, I took a nap. Here is my preliminary review, after taking it out of the box, playing with it, and sleeping with it for 1.5 hours. I will update as I sleep with it more.

First, some notes of comparison. I'm going to talk about some pros/cons to the other nasal pillow masks I've tried (and Elan), so I can make a decent comparison. My hope is that this will also help you evaluate whether my review will apply to you -- how you might compare to me in face shape/nose shape/sensitivities. Here goes:

Swift FX: I am a very solid size medium in these pillows, but the headgear just pressed on me in uncomfortable places. I have to wear a chin strap, and it felt like having my whole head covered. Hot and uncomfortable. Pillows would often slip out of my nostrils ever so slightly, causing leaks. Didn't sleep well. Grade: D

Bella Loops: Pillows stayed a little more stable on me, mostly because I wore my chin strap over the bellas. But no matter which cover I had on the ear pieces (including the new Pad-A-Cheek one, which are BY FAR the best), they always hurt/irritated my ears just a little. If I loosened the straps to help my ears, major leaks. I also got slight, but not severe, leaks in my eyes. Grade: B+

Aloha: I love this mask in a lot of ways. Stability of pillows is AMAZING. I'm a solid medium in these too (I mention this because the Pilairo is one size). I didn't like putting on and taking off the mask though. If I left the velcro where I wanted it, the headgear did not stretch enough to allow it to come on/off comfortably. So I had to re-adjust the straps every night. And, my body ate through the silicone of the pillows very quickly, so I had leaks/had to get a new pillow every 10 days or so (I get 3+ weeks out of a Swift pillow). It also left me with pretty bad mask marks in the morning, so I put extra Pad-A-Cheek liners over the "hockey-stick" sides to help. They reduced, but didn't eliminate the strap marks. No leaks into eyes. Overall, a great mask, but my constant need for pillow replacement makes it problematic. Grade: A-

Elan: The comfort of fabric cannot be overstated. I love not having something rigid on my face. The Elan has two major problems for me. One: the straps are not elastic. My face swells a bit when I sleep, and the strap positioning that is just right when I go to sleep is a bit too tight when I wake up, resulting in strap marks. I put Pad-A-Cheek covers over the four strap connecters to the mask, and that helped a lot (but didn't completely eliminate the problem). The second issue is the big one for me. The Elan leaks into my eyes. Not enough to impact therapy -- my leak line actually looks great and my numbers have never been better -- but it irritates the hell out of my eyes. So when I sleep with Elan, I have to wear sleep goggles. This means I'm covering my mouth/nose/eyes for bed. It feels like too much, and counteracts the comfort advantage of Elan. My eyes have a tendency to open ever so slightly in my sleep, so this is a particular issue for me. If you don't have this issue, and/or you don't have to secure your mouth with a chin strap, Elan might be the perfect solution for you. Grade for me: B+

And now to the Pilairo.

When I took it out of the box, I was amazed at how light it is. The inside of the nasal pillow is a very soft, drapey silicone, and it feels almost like fabric. No rigidity to it at all. Feels very nice. I put it on and the strap feels like NOTHING. Honestly, it feels like even less on my head than my bella loops. The is the best minimalist design I've seen yet.

The headgear (the single strap of it) feels like a very thin rolled tube of thick t-shirt material, but it is a little textured/roughed up in the back to prevent sliding. This is one of the best features I've seen so far. I know a lot of people sew a bit of velcro onto the back of their headgear to prevent movement, but for those of us vain about our hair (raises hand ), the idea of causing all the breakage that would result from velcro kind of gives me pause. But this achieves the same effect without the potential for damage.

Overall, the headgear strap is soft and comfortable, and it seems like it would last well through washing. I think I have an average-sized head, and it fits perfectly. Not too tight, not too loose. But the soft fabric nature of the headgear would make it VERY easy to sew a little smaller. No having to sew webbing here. So this is something to keep in mind for people with smaller heads and/or children.

The one negative about the headgear is that it attaches to the pillow base with two small connectors made of hard/firm plastic. These are joints that will adjust based on the angles of your face, but they still touch your face, and for me, these are marks waiting to happen. So I wrapped some resmed cloth protectors over them.

Now to the pillows. As I mentioned before, the part that touches your nostrils is soft and drapey. Very thin silicone. I see how they did the "one size fits all" business. The prongs of the pillows are conical, narrowing at the tip and flaring at the base. So you essentially seal at whatever part fits you best. I have seen some people complain that these nasal prongs are very long. I think what's happening is that those folks have large nostrils, and so the pillows are sealing further down the cone, with more material in the nose. That might be something to consider if you are used to using large cushions in other pillows. For me, this was a non-issue. I am a solid medium, and there was not too much in my nose. In fact, I felt nothing, and it was very comfortable.

If you are one of those people between nasal pillow sizes, or with one nostril bigger than the other, this will be an excellent design for you.

Once inflated, the soft drapey silicone felt a lot like the Elan. Felt like a balloon hovering. As my pressure adjusted with my Auto, I could feel slight adjustments in the inflation/fullness of the hovering. If you have a lot of sudden major pressure shifts during the night, this may bother you. I will pay attention to this over the next few nights. But even as the inflation adjusted, the seal stayed perfectly.

That is one thing the Pilairo has going for it: an AMAZING seal. ZERO (!!!) leakage into my eyes so far.

Now, I will say the base of the pillows is more substantial than what I'm used to with other nasal pillows. This whole "nothing touches your face" thing that F&P claims? Poppycock. It touches your upper lip. My face is on the small side, and this covers the gap to where my mouth starts. This doesn't bother me at all -- I'm all about avoiding eye leaks -- but if it's something you're sensitive to, be aware. The Aloha touches much less of your face.

The hose that comes attached to the mask is also ridiculously short. Would it have killed them to make it a bit longer, like the FX? Ugh. If they sell an extension, I might buy it. My climate line hose is a little heavy, and I like to keep it a bit further from my mask.

We'll see how that thin, comfortable, drapey silicone holds up to every day use. One of my main problems with the Aloha is silicone degradation, and if that happens with the Pilairo, it'll be a pity. I'm also not sure how expensive replacement pillows are, though the overall affordability of the mask has me optimistic.

Overall, lightest and most comfortable mask I've tried! I'll be sleeping with it exclusively for a while to see whether this first impression lasts. Tentative grade: A!

My Pilairo came in today, and in the name of science, I took a nap. Here is my preliminary review, after taking it out of the box, playing with it, and sleeping with it for 1.5 hours. I will update as I sleep with it more.

Thank you for such a great review.

the_nap_ster wrote:The hose that comes attached to the mask is also ridiculously short. Would it have killed them to make it a bit longer

Use the Feather Weight tube that came with your Elan as a hose to go between the Pilairo and your hose.

So glad the pilairo seems so promising for you, Napster. Thanks for the comprehensive comparison and please keep us posted on how things go over time.

squid13 wrote:

the_nap_ster wrote:The hose that comes attached to the mask is also ridiculously short. Would it have killed them to make it a bit longer

Use the Feather Weight tube that came with your Elan as a hose to go between the Pilairo and your hose.

Genius. Thank you!

Does this mask put pressure on your upper lip and teeth? Does it leave marks on your face? Thanks for the great reviews!

napster - great review! My nap with the Pilairo was as you describe but my full night didn't follow suit. It did seal like a champ and I was amazed at my non-existent leak line this morning. However, it left me wondering about the advertisement's claims that the mask virtually hovers over your nose as I found that, oddly, it felt heavy on my face. I have a medium to small head and even after tugging and pulling at the headstrap, I couldn't keep the mask from bumping into the tip of my nose, which was pretty sore this morning, and no, I don't have a large nose! If I took my fingers and manually lifted it away from my face, it was pure heaven. Finally, in the wee hours, figured out that if I took the headstrap and pulled it down to the bottom of my skull it was loose enough to be comfortable. Another issue I had was the sensation of not getting enough air, and found myself gulping air through my mouth to catch up. I increased my pressure from 7 to 8.60 and that took care of that. Had about 60 central looking events after I did that but think I still wasn't sleeping steadily so perhaps best to disregard them until I have another long, recorded sleep. It is, for sure, noisier than the Aloha and I had to adjust the swivel by hand. Neither one of these issues is a deal breaker, but it would have been nice.... I'll give it another try tonight but confess I'm not quite as enthused as I was yesterday.

KimberlyM - it sits on the upper lip but there was virtually no pressure. Nope, no marks on my face this morning.

Suz