Do you experience allergies? Are you a mouth-breather? Do you get claustrophobic easily? Believe it or not, these are questions you should be asking yourself when choosing the right CPAP mask for you. By assessing your sleep habits, breathing patterns and general comfort preferences, you can confidentially chose the best CPAP mask for you and enjoy a positive experience with CPAP therapy to treat your sleep apena.
Today we'll review the three most popular CPAP mask styles with pros an cons of each.
Nasal Pillow CPAP Mask
This mask is known for providing minimal contact with your face, the nasal pillows rest on the entrance of your nostrils and blow pressurized air directly into your nose. This CPAP mask works best with low-to-mid-pressure CPAP sleep apnea machines, as the direct airflow can be uncomfortable at a higher settings.
This CPAP mask is best if you experience claustrophobia, toss and turn in your sleep, have a lot of facial hair and/or breathe through your nose.
Avoid this type of CPAP mask if you suffer from allergies that block your sinuses, are prone to nasal dryness, require a high-pressure setting or breathe primarily through your mouth.
Nasal CPAP Mask
This triangle-shaped CPAP mask covers the bridge of your nose to the upper lip area, delivering a more indirect and natural airflow than the nasal pillow mask. For this reason, a nasal CPAP mask is often recommended for CPAP machines with higher-pressure settings. With plenty of versatile options to choose from, the nasal CPAP mask is a popular compromise between the lightweight nasal pillow and the heavier full-face CPAP mask.
This CPAP mask is best if you toss and turn in your sleep, want a wide variety of options to choose from, require a high-pressure CPAP machine setting and/or prefer a more natural airflow.
Avoid this type of CPAP mask if you suffer from allergies that block your sinuses, have trouble breathing through your nose due to a medical condition and/or breathe primarily through your mouth.
Full Face CPAP Mask
Unlike the above styles that focus solely on the nose, a full-face CPAP mask covers the nose, mouth and face. This is designed in part for people who breathe primarily through their mouth, however the large surface area means a higher likelihood of leads. Due to the bulkiness of these masks, this is not ideal for active sleepers.
This CPAP mask is best if you suffer from allergies that block your sinuses, have trouble breathing through your nose due to a medical conditional, require a high-pressure CPAP setting, sleep on your back, breathe primarily through your mouth and/or prefer a more natural airflow.
Avoid this type of CPAP mask if you experience claustrophobia, sleep on your stomach, toss and turn in your sleep or read and watch TV in bed.
No matter which CPAP mask is right for you, you'll need to have a plan for keeping it clean. Cleaning a CPAP mask can be time-consuming, so choosing the automated CPAP cleaner, Sleep8 CPAP Cleaner is the perfect choice!
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