Bravo modification - pantyhose tights

Ok, I tried to describe this elsewhere, but a picture works better, so here's the fix.









I tie the pantyhose tights leg very loosely on this modification. I move it around until it feels comfortable on my nose.

The pantyhose tights leg at the back is secured with a velcro loop. This keeps the headgear on my head (which was a problem) and also keeps the sides stable. I can sleep on my side better with this modified Bravo than with the Swift II, even with the side hose looped through the top of the mask as someone here recommended.

I do like the Swift II pillows better than the Bravo, though. Each makes my nose sore in a slightly different place, so switching masks works well.

But right now I have the pillows that are separated, since this is a traded mask. It may work better when I get pillows that are still attached. I've tried them with a rubber band wrapped around the pillows to stabilize them and this was a little better, but not a huge difference.

With this mod, for me, it's a bit of a tossup between the Swift and the Bravo. My AHI on both of them is about the same, with highs under 1.3, and often under 0.5. Leaks are similar. If I sleep on my back, I can have zero leaks, but higher AHI. I'm now sleeping only on my side (using a pillow stuffed backpack) and my AHI rarely goes above 1.0, but I have slightly more leaks. Nothing real bad, but rarely a straight line, either.

This mask did not work at all for me without the pantyhose mod.

An alternative mod is to put the pantyhose over the hose part and under the side of the headgear. It looks the same but is woven differently. I decided the one illustrated above worked best for me, but for someone else, this alternative way of weaving the pantyhose around the front of the tubes/headgear might prove successful.

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): hose, swift, AHI

neverbetter wrote:Remember, on the Bravo as well as the Swift I and II,
TIGHTEN the BACK FIRST with the top loose , then tighten the top to get a snugger fit. If you tighten the top first, it will not be as stable and the headgear will sit an inch above your ear and feel as if it's going to hike up off your head at night. Same with Swift .The Bravo headgear should be down to your ears and the y area of the headgear should curve in back of your ear, not an inch above. The headgear will be much higher on your head and lower on the crown of your head in the back and FIT LIKE A DREAM. Try it.

The Swift gives these instructions, I don't remember if Bravo does. It probably does. It's so important to the light design of these masks.

This is from the Bravo NA II thread, but I thought it was important to put here, too. I did try this after I read this suggestion and it made a difference, but not enough of a difference for the headgear to stay as stable as the Swift headgear, which works a lot better for me than the Bravo. For some people, they might not need the modification if they do this correctly.

When my wife saw this post about tightening the back first , she was angry with herself for not posting it when we bought ours. We figured this out the first night after the Bravo seemed to lift off the back of her head when she laid down. Once we figured it out , it's her favorite headgear (and we have everything being a husband and wife team on PAP). She wears it with the Bravo as well as the NasalAire II. It's super with the Nasalaire II. I need to buy another one because she won't give it up. She even tried to make it yucky and sticky with coke-a-cola to keep me away from it (just kidding, honey). But we do need to get some more . What a great little invention that bravo is, and very inexpensive . I think we paid less than 80 bucks. I save my insurance buys for expensive masks like the hybrid or liberty. Learned my lesson on the liberty, it's not up to our standard of a good knock off, but I do want to try the new quatro. Since we pay over 800. a month for insurance (company pays half), might as well keep them coming every 3 months.
Have a friend in a sleep lab ( a shout out to ya ,buddy) that has been a huge help.
The stocking thing looks great! wife did something similar with the aura a year or two back after seeing rested's fix. Very cool.

Isaac, has your wife seen this?

http://www.mergenetsolutions.com/innome ... adgear.pdf

I borrowed it from Babettes post on another thread, but it about says it all.

Ya did it, Rose! Good modification. Good job!

Let's see, now....where did I put that trophy....

Ah, here it is! Congratulations!

Thanks, Rested Gal! It was fun to do. The pantyhose tights idea is great, so thanks to you! That made all the difference.

Oh, then I should have given you the modified Lab Rat trophy! (Thanks! )

rested gal wrote:Oh, then I should have given you the modified Lab Rat trophy! (Thanks! )

Love it!!!! The modified trophy would be an honor. Modified with pantyhose tights and dental floss someday, too?

I thought I'd add a few more observations/tips:

1. Don't cut apart the pillows right away. The video makes it look like this is a first step, but it's not. I have the cut apart ones (lightly used mask so they were already seperated) and they don't work well for me since they are too unstable. I've been using a rubberband, and later an O-ring #33 1 1 1/16 diameter for faucets. This did stabilize them, but I was having problems with chafing under my nose by morning and finally realized it wasn't the pillows, but the rubberband/o-ring that was causing the problem. I am now looking to trade one of the other sizes for some still attached one in my size. So, only cut them apart after trying the attached version for several nights. The attached ones are attached at the front, so they won't chafe under the nose.

2. For some reason, the headgear seems to fit better now and last night I tried it without the strap. Slightly more leaks than with the PH tights strap, but it did not slip off my head like before. It appears tha the secret is tightening the back strap first and leaving the top fairly loose as others have noted. I tried this in order to see how it would work to leave the front tubing hanging down instead of routing it over my head, since the PH tights strap won't work with the tubing hanging down. My AHI was still 0.9, so the leaks didn't affect the therapy much if at all.

3. Make sure the black side of the headgear is facing out, not the yellow side. It is possible to put the mask together wrong side out and to put it on upside down, but weird . This was confusing at first. As a seamstress, I would expect the colored side to be facing out, because all the seams show and it looks less attractive the right way.