I had the misfortune to buy two of the products below. Follow the link to check it out.
The product is marketed as a Micro-CPAP, making large machines obsolete!
I did not for a moment think their tiny piece of equipment would replace a full blown CPAP machine.
However, I was interested enough to see if the Micro CPAP, (click on the link below), might improve sleep quality – it does not and in fact makes nasal breathing more difficult.
I parted with USD24.99 x 2 via PayPal.
I dismantled one of the devices and there is nothing inside which would enhance air intake through the nose. In fact the so called filters retard air flow instead of enhancing it.
Without supplying any pressure it cannot work the same way a CPAP does by inflating air passages. Pushing tubes up your nose is hardly going to address the issue of the soft tissue in your throat closing and obstructing the airways. Apnea is not generally caused by a blocked nose and if it was such short tubes would not do much as blockages are usually further up.
Sadly this is targeting those who have troubled sleep and cannot afford consultations to get a proper diagnosis and a CPAP machine if that is the solution. As mentioned in another thread this equipment and its adjuncts are excessively expensive in Oz.
For interest, how did you come across the scam device? Was it an advertisement on social media (e.g. Facebook), spam email in your inbox, through a internet search or a recommendation of a friend?
If it was on social media or by spam email, had you carried out an internet search for CPAP equipment recently… or clicked like in a social media on another CPAP product.
If you had searched for CPAP or clicked like, social media tracking cookies/apps use this information to bombard targeted advertising of products through their platforms. Such is done to increase likely sales/success of the advertising, but increases the risk of being targeted with sham products or scams.
It would he interesting to know how you stumbled across this scam product - as other members may learn from your experience.
Pintrest has scam listings and accounts, unfortunately no differently to other social media type platforms. It might be worth reporting the listing, it is still exists using the process in this link:
The main selling point of the scam was that it used “hundreds” of small fans that raised the pressure to levels required in a very small package. That raising the pressure (or indeed any pressure that is noticeable) of course doesn’t happen, so it is a huge fail on that front and desperate people still fall for the “sell”. Using CPAP nasal pillows or cushions is not a scam for the purposes of delivery of air pressure to the user. If I understand what you have posted, I support your point that the nasal plugs on their own are never going to address the issue, but this was never the way it was being promoted, it was sold as providing the needed pressure.
ResMed among the other providers have a few variations on these nasal cushions/pillows for users. While I prefer a full face mask (it covers both the mouth and nose), some others prefer just nasal masks (it covers only the nose and with this some people require a chin strap to stop the mouth opening during sleep), others like the pillows/plugs/cushions (I never got a good seal with these but others love them and a chin strap may still be required). Some masks have also used pillows and a mouth mask combination, again I don’t like the pillows so has never been on my shopping list.
There are also a huge amount of ads and comment regarding nasal devices to clip the nose or open the nose passages (some looking like medieval torture devices) to assist in stopping snoring. I have no idea if any have any scientific backing for their claims, they are something I regard as snake oil (though if you have compromised nasal passages, a device to keep them open may help). If there is way for someone to make a buck by selling a “cure” to the desperate, then there will be those actively peddling the wares. Looking for independent and trustworthy research to look if a device may be worthwhile is always a great first step before parting with any cash.
It depends on the product. This product has many of the supposed benefits of the airing model, bears a strong resemblance to it, uses much of the sales material (including images) but makes no mention of “airing”, blowers or batteries. It gives glowing endorsements but no details at all on how it works or whether it provides any pressure.
As far as I can see it is a passive device, just a bit of plastic. Does it qualify for a shonky award like the device that you put in your power point that does magical things to the radiation nearby without consuming any power because it is a just block of plastic.
Perhaps @gtheron could tell us if the one they tried has blowers and batteries or not.
If a device with tiny blowers and one with none at all both produce no useful result does it matter how they are marketed?
It says it is a CPAP device. By using that acronym “CPAP” in the name, it is asserting that it does provide a continuous positive airways pressure. If it doesn’t provide that pressure then the use of “CPAP” is a further marker that it is a scam device, I am sure it does not provide any pressure or at best a pressure so low it is completely ineffective (if it has a fan or fans). People on seeing “CPAP” would have a belief/expectation that the device does provide pressure to keep airways open.
Sure, the device is a scam so is a candidate for a SHONKY award. As there are many varieties of this, perhaps it would just be easier to broadly condemn the original and clones as a group. No, it doesn’t matter how they are marketed if they produce no useful results they are scams,
If a device is only marketed with keeping the nose ‘open’ and that it helps a user who has a collapsing septum, that might be based on some truth of efficacy (even if it is not a good answer to the problem). That would be different to describing the device as a CPAP device. While sleep apnea would in all likelihood not be treated by any of these devices, a device that is designed only to keep the nose open may assist those with what is also termed as Nasal Valve Collapse (NVC). Some devices and strips have provided some temporary relief and nasal dilators are one treatment offered by Ear Nose and Throat doctors for some of the reasons for collapse, though surgery is the gold standard for fixing the problem.
The clips that close the nose off would seem to me, to only exacerbate the mouth breathing problems and mimic the issues of NVC/deviated septum.
I use a ResMed FX nasal pillows mask in combination with a strip of paper surgical tape on my lips which stops my mouth from opening during sleep. Takes a little getting use to but works fine. myAir score is consistently in the high 90/100 with mask seal usually at or close to 20/20.
I am not against the nasal pillows, my issue is that they don’t work well for me. I have friends who love the pillows, each user has their preferences and I’m not one to argue if it is right or wrong, if it suits the user then it is great.
