Mask leak from hose fitting?

[kaper]

I'm new to CPAP - got my machine a week ago.  It's a ResMed AirSense 11, and I was given a ResMed N30 mask.  I tried the mask for 5 days but it was causing problems for me; very painful to septum and it actually felt like it was obstructing my breathing.  It's an enclosed mask, with holes to align with the nostrils, and I feel like it just doesnt align for me.  It disturbs my sleep a lot.

Last night I tried a Philips Wisp mask.  It is much more comfortable but it leaks a massive amount of air - shockingly so, compared to the N30 which doesnt seem to leak at all as far as I can tell.  With the Wisp a large amount of air comes out of the connection point where the tube clips in to the mask itself.  The elbow piece, with the squeeze tabs.  You can feel the air coming out from 12" away and hear it constantly.  Looking at it, it seems obvious that it would leak; there's nothing in that assembly that would prevent it.  Is that normal for a Wisp?  I'm really surprised by how much air comes out of it.  I think I could get used to the Wisp comfort-wise but I'm concerned by how much air leaks out of it, not around the fit with my face but from the assembly itself.  

I'm a bit disheartened at the moment; ended up abandoning CPAP last night because the distractions of pain (N30) or air leaking (Wisp) keep waking me up all night.

[pholynyk]

As a long time Wisp user, I can assure you that the air coming out at the elbow is a design feature. If you look closely at the elbow, you should see a set of tiny holes there. These are designed to vent the excess air stream which mixes with your exhaled air and carries off the CO2. They also serve to help regulate the pressure by venting excess air during your inhale period.

The ResMed algorithm is designed to allow for that venting, and only reports excessive air flow as 'leak'.

If you download OSCAR and have an SD card in your machine you can get a better idea of what's happening than with myAir.

[kaper]

Thanks for the reassurance!  Looking at it again I see that the vent is intentional - just surprised me compared to the N30 experience.  I'll try the Wisp again this evening.  Is no adjustment needed on the machine itself for a venting vs non-venting mask?  

I'll also take a look at OSCAR - I could already tell that myAir wasn't telling me much.

[pholynyk]

All CPAP masks vent, somewhere close to the nose. Some right at the nose, some at the top of the head. Some masks have diffusers that gentle the air flow, some just have holes of various sizes.

The ventilators used in hospitals, in infectious situations, have two hoses, one to supply the air, and one to capture the excess air so that it can't infect the room air.

[Rich66]

I was originally given the Wisp to use by the DME. They gave me the size Large nose cushion. After two years or more of wondering why I kept fighting leaks, I finally figured out that Large was too big. I don't have a large head, let alone a large nose. So I switched to the "small/medium" size cushion (their only other option), and it was too small. What an odd configuration. So I switched to a Resmed N20 with medium cushion, and then switched to the small cushion. You might try some experimenting to see what works for you.