CPAP mask evidence

Personally I feel mask fit is a lot like shoe fitting. Sort of like buying shoes to run a marathon. I have had better service in a shoe store then I have ever had at a dme. Nobody in a shoe store sat back, looked at my feet and said "Here these will do", "but it is too big", "we don't have a smaller size, you are taking these". No, in the shoe store where I bought my last pair of runners I was made to run through the store in stocking feet, I was then measured, there was discussion between two sales people about my walk and the shape of my feet. Two pairs were brought out and I had to run around the store in them. One pair was lovingly wrapped and sold to me plus I was given the address of a store where I could buy a better bra..... All this for a pair of $120 pair of shoes as opposed to a $300 mask.

BlackSpinner wrote:Personally I feel mask fit is a lot like shoe fitting. Sort of like buying shoes to run a marathon. I have had better service in a shoe store then I have ever had at a dme. Nobody in a shoe store sat back, looked at my feet and said "Here these will do", "but it is too big", "we don't have a smaller size, you are taking these". No, in the shoe store where I bought my last pair of runners I was made to run through the store in stocking feet, I was then measured, there was discussion between two sales people about my walk and the shape of my feet. Two pairs were brought out and I had to run around the store in them. One pair was lovingly wrapped and sold to me plus I was given the address of a store where I could buy a better bra..... All this for a pair of $120 pair of shoes as opposed to a $300 mask.

Shoe stores know you'll go to another store if you're not happy. More patients need to be prepared with a list of multiple DMEs and the DME needs to know you're going to walk out if you're not happy.

I think the shoe analogy is very "fitting." No one shoe is the best choice for everyone.

Many DME's are just like shoe stores, they are prone to giving you a pait of lefts, instead of a right and a left. Jim

I consider the selection of a mask is like endeavouring to traverse a minefield. I am a mouth breather and also suffer from asthma and empheysema - I suffered trials one in which I battled the pressure as I don't have much resistance. However I feel that it is not totally the mask, I purchased a Resmed Auto M series with "A" flex and the "A" flex solved the major part of my problem (as soon as I breathe out the pressure drops) The other improvement came when I could read from and write to the Smartcard, this cerainly widens the parameters and I feel that I am controlling the situation. Mask adjustments vary (weather etc) but are necessary to maintain efficiency. Comfort will never be 100%.