Pilairo full review

Fisher and Paykel Pilairo full review.

Well this is going to be interesting.

The Pilairo is F&Ps latest nasal pillows mask, it has been available aroudnd the world for a while but has only just appeared in the UK. Its main sales proposition is its minimalist design and light weight, with only one detachable pillow fitting both nostrils and a single elastic headband it is certainly minimal, and the plastic frame is very light.

The silicone nose piece inflates to seal around the end of the nose, and fits my flat, wide nose really well. The bit that goes up your nose doesn't go very far but does inflate a little, which for me meant a few nights of irritation.

It does make a very good and stable seal however and leaves sight lines clear, and does not interfere with spectacle wearing. The headband is very effective and seems to apply the correct tension to keep the mask in place.

The plastic part has a soft silicone bit that stabilises the pillow, and a ball jointed swivel with a permanently attached short and very flexible hose. Venting is through a number of holes in the swivel joint and is directed up away from your partner but not wholly successfully. The vent forms quite a strong jet at pressures above 8hPa but is very quiet. This is not to say the mask is quiet though, more on that later.

Fitting is easy, CPAP on or off, just hold the wings back with your thumbs and insert the nosepieces into your nostrils, no need to push them up they just inflate to hold in place. Moving around the mask stays in place due to the soft silicone. I find it nearly impossible to make this mask leak from the nose. The venting of this mask seems to make exhalation easy, however I have had to increase my pressure by 1 to maintain my AHI at the same level, despite needing to do that this is a remarkably easy mask to breath out through.

Cleaning is easy, the strap clips off, the silicone pulls off, my usual cleaning regime is to clean contact parts nightly and the rest weekly and so far this is working well, just a bit of handsoap and a lather up in the hands of the silicone bit with a good rinsing is all I am doing daily so quick and simple.

Reassembly is simple, but you must ensure that the silicone is properly mated to the plastic or very noisy leakage will occur. Ahhh yes, noise. I touched on the noise earlier. The vent is very quiet, but the thin tube can add some turbulence if it is not straight, and the silicone will separate from the plastic if not carefully assembled resulting in a very loud hiss that follows your breathing pattern, this has woken me a couple of times and now I am very careful with assembly, you must ensure the tab in the top of the silicone is dead centre with the slot in the plastic, and that it is in the groove all the way around. No matter how careful you are this is not a quiet mask though, turbulence in the elbow makes for a noisy inhale.

Unless you sleep on your side in which case you will have a small mark from the strap, this mask leaves minimal marking on the face, certainly none that lasts beyond the morning wash or shower. Side sleepers who rush out in a morning may want to pas the strap a little but that is common with all headgear.

So in comparison with my other masks, this seals way better than the Sleepweaver Advance and Elan, but is not as quiet as them. It is better to wear than the Swift FX. And by far the least visually obtrusive. It seals better than any mask I have tried so far.

Conclusion? Mixed really. It will be my nasal pillow mask of choice for a while, the seal and lack of facial marking makes me like it a lot. Fisher and Paykel need to make a "quiet" version of this mask as they do many of their others and this would make me like it more, as it is it is very good but let down by the noise.