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← Return to Full face CPAP masks
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Sleep Health | Last Active: Mar 9, 2021 | Replies (20)
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@johnbishop- Greetings John! I wondered what your thoughts are about having the hose exit above your mask (point up) vs. what I see in nearly every picture showing someone wearing any type of mask with the port in the down position?
My numbers are generally quite low (below 1.5 down to .07), but nearly every day my mask reads leak and on the Resmed Air App so I l often loose15-20 points! When I've mentioned this to my sleep Dr. he really seems to think this is a non issue. He is more concerned about my apnea's not getting above 4 and time of use, which for me is generally 7-8 hrs daily. Jim @thankful
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Hi Jim! @thankful - I had a Dreamwear Full Face mask with the hose connection at the top and really liked the hose connection at the top. I only used it for about a month after getting it due to not being able to breath through my nose with the mask up against the lower part of the nose. I switched back to a full face mask over the nose after trying 2 other masks similar to the Dreamwear one that didn't go over the nose. I'm thinking about setting up an appointment with an ENT doc to discuss if a septoplasty might help my seems to always be plugged up nose. My sleep medicine doc told me I had a deviated septum but he didn't think it would help my obstructive sleep apnea so I just forgot about it until recently. Like you I've always been told that minor mask leaks are not a big deal. My numbers are generally between 1 and 4 but occasionally I will have one of those 5 or higher nights and it's usually when I have trouble breathing through my nose.
I have been thinking about giving the ResMed F30i Full Face Mask a try because I liked the hose connector at the top. The F30 was the last one I tried but felt claustrophobic because I couldn't breathe through my nose and wasn't able to focus on breathing through the mouth. I use a CPAP hose stand which holds the hose above the head and I swivel the connector upwards to keep it away from my cat that likes to snuggle and play with hose.
My Phillips Respironics app that works with my DreamStation Go CPAP shows 100% for mask fit all of the time. It does record my nightly disconnects for the bathroom trip but I know it's not that accurate because I can feel that small air leaks around my mask once in awhile since I also use a cloth comfort cover over the mask that goes between the mask and my face. My Mayo sleep therapist told me about them when I was complaining about having a CPAP nose 🙂
I was doing some research and watching some YouTube videos for the ResMed AirFit 30i and one tip I saw said to see a sleep therapist and get measured before ordering one because they have several sizes of the mask as well as the headgear and getting a good fit is important. I think the hose at the top solves a lot of problems if it works for you. I would give it a try!