Finding mask in London?

[MargaretX]

Hi,
I live in Germany but I am sometimes in London. Is there anywhere in London where I could try out CPAP masks and buy one?

At the moment I have a ComfortGel (pressure is 14, so the Swift FX I had for a while at 12 is not good any longer). This is the second one I had because I was told my nose was too big for anything else. But I find I get leakage unless I fit it too tight. (Not so much a large nose as deep indents both sides). I'm a bit frustrated with the possibilities I have here so wondered if I could try more masks out in the UK somewhere.

Thanks!
Margaret

[proterra]

HI Margaret
Try contacting this company they may be able to recommend somewhere in London.
BSSAA
Chapter House
33 London Road
Reigate
Surrey
RH2 9HZ [ Map ]

Tel: 01737 245638
Fax: 0870 052 9212

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: www.britishsnoring.co.uk

[Barely Awake]

Intus have some dummy Sleepweaver Advance masks (they aren't useable as they have an eyelet) so they might post you one to see if you can judge if they might fit you Margaret. I have a pretty big and quite misshaped nose and it fits me comfortably.

You could PM Tom @ Intus from the members list of this forum and ask him.

[MargaretX]

Thnks very much, I will try that.

[Tom @ Intus]

Hi Margaret,

Just replied to your PM, hopefully we can help you out with the SleepWeaver's trial period!

Tom

[MargaretX]

Thanks, I'll try it out.

Regards
Margaret

[MargaretX]

I gather from the lack of reactions that there is nowhere particular in London where I could try out a variety of masks.

Margaret

[martin]

Sorry , Margaret. most of us are well out of the big city. Possibly do a search of sleep clinics attached to hospitals and they might know of somewhere local but I get the impression that mask fitting seems rare due to not being allowed to reuse masks once the packaging is open.

[Tigers Fan]

You are correct. You'd need to travel to the HQ of Resmed or Respironics for that. Or the US of A, of course!

[proterra]

Margaret Have you tried contacting the British Snoring association from the link I sent you.?

[MargaretX]

Thanks to everyone.

proterra, I overlooked your message for some reason. Will investigate.

So it sounds as if everyone is fitted by their hospital. It sounds as if I'm just as well off here. I could go to the ResMed office in Nuremberg but I didn't want to be tied down, so I went to a company that represents several, but a few things went wrong at the fitting, for instance I was interested in a particular mask and they told me it's only available in small, but it turned out that was not true (maybe it wouldn't have fitted well anyway). Perhaps I'll just phone ResMed again and explain the problem.

I will drop a line to the snoring company, though.

[Anniett]

Mask fitting

I believe that ResMed has a try out / fitting service for their masks in London:

ResMed Centre for Healthy Sleep - London
8 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 9SP
Tel: 0207 151 0220 and Fax: 020 7151 0221

You would need to make an appointment but if you ring them they are very helpful.

Anniett

[MargaretX]

I emailed the snoring association, but at the same time I see that in their online shop they only have a few models, mainly nasal masks. I used to use a nasal mask which was super, but when my pressure was put up to 14 I couldn't use it any longer.
When I first started this thread I just wanted to try on a couple of masks. I've since realized that masks in the UK are about half the price of those in Germany, and I'd be buying this one privately. Of course I could find one here and buy it from the UK, but that seems a bit off, using the services here and not buying.

[Barely Awake]

Not sure why you couldn't use a nasal mask with a pressure of 14, as I have used a number of nasal masks on 18 and 20. Unless you mean you had a problem with nasal pillows leaking at that pressure, in which case there are plenty of alternatives without turning to a full face which through greater surface area is almost certainly going to be less comfortable and more leaky than what you are used to.

[MargaretX]

Yes, I should have said nasal pillows - sorry, I don't know the terminology very well. Nasal mask is what I want. The nasal pillows mask was a Swift FX but I went back to ComfortGel. Then I saw a Fisher & PayKel demonstration of Zest. These are all nasal masks, as you say. I liked it but then went to a supplier of various companies and they told me it only existed in Petite and I could only use the ComfortGel. Which they attached by binding it really tight, although I'd been demonstrating how you have to attach these masks loosely and let the front inflate. So the next day I had acne all over where the mask was attached. I loosened it and I'm back to square one - too much air getting out, constantly refitting it and noise.
I'm assuming that Zest or ZestPlus can't be worse than ComfortGel. Weinmann also has a good reputation here.