Mask (not machine) noise

First let me say that I am so happy there is a treatment for my husband's apnea and I fully support him using his machine. I understand the importance of him using his machine and I encourage it but now I can't sleep and having health issues. The machine itself is very quiet. The problem is the sounds coming from the MASK NOT the machine which are preventing me and everyone else in our house from sleeping. And he himself complains he isn't feeling rested when using this. I think the noise is waking him up too. I have tried wearing ear plugs and we use a fan but can still hear the noise of the mask. When he sleeps in a different room we can hear the noise and it wakes my kids up. Yes his snoring woke us up too but the rest of the family has a right to sleep too and he isn't sleeping soundly himself. We desperately need some help. The mask makes an intermittent whooshing sound. Doesn't matter if he is on his back or side. And it doesn't happen on every breath. His mask doesn't cover his mouth and has two straps. Adjusting those doesn't seem to prevent this. From what I can tell his mouth appears closed when the noise is happening. Sounds like wind. Noise doesn't appear to coincide with the breaths he is taking. I have even gone as far as to record the noises and the doctor told him we are light sleepers and gave us no help We can hear him even when he is in an other room so I can't believe this is normal and everyone else sleeping in the house is the problem. My husband feels bad about this and I know he can't help this so I don't mention it anymore but I am not sleeping myself anymore and very tired! I am reaching out to other users to see if you have some advice other than we are light sleepers!wear ear plugs and use a fan for white noise. Thanks

Without knowing the brand and model of your mask, it is difficult to tell. My thoughts are that the mask venting (to remove CO2) is "normal" and all masks HAVE to vent. That being said, if he is sleeping in another room, and still keeping the household awake... well... this is not normal. Take the recording and the mask back to the DME (the place where you bought the mask an equipment) and have them inspect the mask. Maybe something is not hooked up right. They should have display machine they can attached to mask to to see if it is working like it should. Maybe they can swap the mask if you suspect it is defective.

Sheriff

My mask is quite.
My wife didn't even know it vented until I rolled over and she felt it blowing air on her.
I would think it's leaking if it's making that much noise.

There are many possibilities, and without knowing what mask he's using, it's impossible to guess. For instance, my mask has made noise when, as I finally discovered, the thin plastic ring that fits over the 'cushion' (soft plastic part that goes over the nose/mouth) was not clicked into place properly, and/or had pinched a tiny bit of the cushion wrongly when I replaced the ring one time. Or... the small plastic patch (CO2 vent multi-hole piece) that fits into an opening in the hard plastic was not seated properly. Such small things can make a big difference, but every mask is different, so at least knowing what he uses will help us to help you.

Try a mask liner like from Pad a Cheek - it's probably leaking as he moves around. Do you use any software that would identify his sleeping patterns?

Julie wrote:There are many possibilities, and without knowing what mask he's using, it's impossible to guess. For instance, my mask has made noise when, as I finally discovered, the thin plastic ring that fits over the 'cushion' (soft plastic part that goes over the nose/mouth) was not clicked into place properly, and/or had pinched a tiny bit of the cushion wrongly when I replaced the ring one time. Or... the small plastic patch (CO2 vent multi-hole piece) that fits into an opening in the hard plastic was not seated properly. Such small things can make a big difference, but every mask is different, so at least knowing what he uses will help us to help you.

This is all true, but it still boils down to a leak of some sort.
That's the only way a mask is going to make noise. Air leaking by some where.
It really shouldn't be difficult to figure out.

Only big swooshing sound that I can think of that would be loud enough to hear in another room would be mouth open swoosh...I would think.
He's using a nasal mask and mouth is uncovered. He needs to be watched first hand when the swooshing sound is heard to either eliminate or confirm that mouth opening is a suspect.

Gr8t2bhere wrote:His mask doesn't cover his mouth and has two straps

Intermittent annoying noise...my first suspect would be mouth opening allowing the gale force winds to exit the mouth and I would want to see for myself by watching first hand.
Then decide what to do about it.
If mouth is opening...either a full face mask or something to keep the mouth shut.
If mouth is for sure staying closed...then try a different mask or a liner with this one or whatever.
But the first thing to eliminate is mouth opening as a culprit and only way to eliminate for sure is to look at him while the loud noise is going on.

We might have an idea if we could see the leak rates. What model machine does he use?
Hopefully it is a full data machine that we can get some software for.
It would also help to maybe figure out why he is reporting not feeling so great.

What does the noise sound like? All masks make a small quiet hiss from the vent, but if it's making for lack
of a better example, farting type sounds, it's a mask leak not sealing around the edge, or if a nasal mask
if your mouth comes open it's a pretty loud blowing big hissing noise sort of amplified by the mouth.
I had to move to a FF mask because if my mouth popped open with a pressure of 14, it would scare
my wife right out of bed.