Fisher & Paykel Brevida AirPillow Seal XS-S

Fisher and Paykel make the Brevida seal in exactly two sizes, and this one is the smaller of the pair, covering Extra Small through Small. The AirPillow itself is a hollow silicone cushion that your machine inflates a little further as therapy pressure climbs.

The seal snaps onto the mask frame with a confirmation click you can hear, and it lifts off again just as easily. Nothing else in the box changes when you replace it, because the diffuser and the elbow are their own separate parts entirely.

Key Features:

• Diffuser is separate: The diffuser carries its own part code and sits on the elbow, so replacing the seal leaves it untouched.
• Traps less air: The smaller seal has slightly less space inside it than the Medium to Large version does.
• Fourteen day cadence: Fourteen days is the published replacement figure for the cushion fitted to this particular mask.
• Silicone: The product page describes the part as a soft silicone cushion, with no fuller materials table published.
• Latex free: Neither the mask nor its accessories are built with natural rubber latex, which the guide states.
• Reprocessing: For clinical reuse the mask is validated for twenty disinfection cycles, though the diffuser is not.

Anyone whose Brevida has started leaving marks or losing its seal overnight needs this part instead of a whole replacement mask. The AirPillow is the component that ages first, because it is flexing with every single breath you take through it.

Note: Fisher and Paykel also make a Medium to Large AirPillow seal under its own part code. Check which half you measure into before ordering, because the two are not interchangeable.

How the AirPillow forms its seal

Most nasal cushions rely on strap tension to hold silicone against the skin. This one works the other way around, because air from the machine enters a sealed chamber inside the cushion and expands it outward until it meets the contours around each nostril.

Since the pressure doing the sealing is the same pressure driving therapy, the fit firms up exactly when it needs to. It also means overtightening the headgear tends to make leaks worse rather than better, by distorting a shape that was designed to expand freely.

Where the diffuser fits in

The diffuser is a small vented cover that spreads the exhaust stream so it leaves gently instead of as a jet. It attaches to the elbow, a separate component from the seal, and carries a part number of its own.

Fisher and Paykel measured what it actually does. Taking the diffuser off makes the exhaust noticeably louder, and they note the part barely alters airflow, so the mask runs correctly with or without it.

Care, and knowing when to swap it

Hand clean the seal after every use in warm soapy water, then leave it somewhere shaded until dry. The headgear and the diffuser cover need attention only once a week, and the diffuser wants gentle handling rather than scrubbing.

Fisher and Paykel put the cushion on a fourteen day cycle. Watch for the silicone going cloudy, stiff or tacky, because a seal that has lost its elasticity stops expanding evenly and starts pushing air toward the eyes.

Here's everything that comes in the box.

• One Brevida AirPillow silicone seal, sized Extra Small to Small