Headgear slipping

I use Swift FX nasal pillow mask and I think my headgear slips off the back of my head too easily. My hair isn't long enough to pull it up on top of my head. I do try to pull it up over the straps and that seems to help a little. Can anyone suggest a mask that doesn't have this problem as much?

I don’t actually use that mask but do use others, liked Dreamwear, that have a back strap that will slip. This is how I solved that problem: I also use a soft cervical collar and I just run a line ( I use a small Velcro strip) to anchor the back strap with the foam collar. Works like a dream.

jagzoo wrote:I don’t actually use that mask but do use others, liked Dreamwear, that have a back strap that will slip. This is how I solved that problem: I also use a soft cervical collar and I just run a line ( I use a small Velcro strip) to anchor the back strap with the foam collar. Works like a dream.

What do you wear the cervical collar for? Is it for a neck injury?

KTinTexas wrote:I use Swift FX nasal pillow mask and I think my headgear slips off the back of my head too easily. My hair isn't long enough to pull it up on top of my head. I do try to pull it up over the straps and that seems to help a little. Can anyone suggest a mask that doesn't have this problem as much?

I use the Bella Loops with my Swift FX. My original Bella came with both the loops and the full headgear. For the first year or so, I wasn't sure I liked the Bella Loops, so I switched back and forth between them and the headgear a couple of times, (3-4 months between switches) before I decided the benefits of the loops outweighed the drawbacks *for me*. Others may feel differently. FWIW, I have enough hair to pull up over the back strap of the full headgear that slippage wasn't an issue. I just decided that the minimal loops were less intrusive for me.

The loops don't slip at all, without needing hair to keep them in place. It did take about a week for my ears to get accustomed to them -- at first they ached slightly in the morning. Interestingly, after switching to the headgear for a few months and then back to the loops, I didn't have to go through that adjustment period over again. One thing I did notice, though, is that they're very soft and stretchy. If I woke up to briefly change positions, the loops would stretch enough that the mask would fall away from my face until I got settled back down. Never had a problem with leakage while actually sleeping -- at least not that I was aware of. I also use a sleep mask over my eyes, and finally figured out that if I pull the lower edge of the sleep mask down over the upper edge of the FX, it doesn't fall away from my face while I'm changing positions anymore.

Just a thought. It may not work for you, but since you already have the FX mask, it would be easy enough to try.

KTinTexas wrote:I use Swift FX nasal pillow mask and I think my headgear slips off the back of my head too easily. My hair isn't long enough to pull it up on top of my head. I do try to pull it up over the straps and that seems to help a little. Can anyone suggest a mask that doesn't have this problem as much?

My hair is long enough to wear in a ponytail and then I slip the back strap under.

However, this is the second time today recommending Bret's PapCap today

... but it can be used as a very stable platform for pretty much any mask headgear.



viewtopic/t33203/PAPCap-Short-Review.html

I realize it's been a while, but I was just sorting through some of my old cpap equipment and ran across the original headgear from my swift fx. I noticed that I had put a twist tie around the adjustable part to keep it from slipping. I've been using the bella loops for so many years, I had forgotten that. The soft silicone on both the headgear and the bella loops does loosen over time and starts slipping. I like so much about this mask, and the bella loops in particular, that I just get new loops every couple of years. They're even available on amazon -- a little more expensive than on cpap.com, but free prime shipping on a small order.

Try hair spray on the hair where the slip occurs. I have short hair and headgear slips unless I lightly spray the back of my hair.