Weird Airfit F20 mask question

[old dude]

So in trying out newer mask technology (newer than the Quattro Air anyway) my doctor/DME/RRT tells me about the Airfit F20 and thinks it might have promise for me. So I agree to try one, and obviously due to my very large head I'm given a size large and upgraded to a large headgear also. When I got home and gave it a try it seemed to seal well and felt OK. After a while though, the entire mask began riding up every time so that the bottom edge went over my lower lip and the bottom of the mask wound up being clenched solidly in my mouth. I finally figured out that the non-adjustable top strap of the large headgear was way too tight and was pulling the whole mask upward and off my face.

Has anybody else experienced this, and what if anything did you do about it? I'm wondering what might happen if I just cut the top strap off the headgear, but it looks like it may be needed to stabilize the mask.

[zonker]

don't have that mask, so have no first hand knowledge.

but have you tried googling "airfit f20 fitting video"? i just came up with three for that.

good luck!

[chunkyfrog]

Videos often tell you stuff the RRT was too lazy to mention--or too stupid to know.

[CPAPSteve]

I definitely would not cut the top strap. As you have guessed correctly it is for strap/mask stabilization.

Have you tried adjusting the straps while lying in bed? I don’t think the AirFit straps come in an XL size so Sison up likely isn’t an option.

I am surprised that the mask can ride up as high as you’ve described. Perhaps the top straps are too tight? I’d suggest tightening the lower straps and them tighten the top ones to just stop the leaks and see if it continues to ride up.

[MurrayNevada]

padacheek . com
Order a mask stabilizer strap and all will be well. It prevents the mask from rising on your face.

[BlueDragon]

Are your top straps already at the limit of their adjustment? If not, loosening them should lower the mask. ResMed makes a Large headgear for the F20, and I have the L size.

[Sheriff Buford]

I use the same mask and same size. I keep that top strap as loose as possible.

Sheriff

[old dude]

Are your top straps already at the limit of their adjustment? If not, loosening them should lower the mask. ResMed makes a Large headgear for the F20, and I have the L size.

Guys, I have the large headgear also but the top strap is not adjustable.

That's the whole problem!

Edit: Maybe we're talking about different straps. I'm talking about the one that goes over the top of your head. That seems to be the one causing my problem.

[LSAT]

Are your top straps already at the limit of their adjustment? If not, loosening them should lower the mask. ResMed makes a Large headgear for the F20, and I have the L size.

Guys, I have the large headgear also but the top strap is not adjustable.

That's the whole problem!

Edit: Maybe we're talking about different straps. I'm talking about the one that goes over the top of your head. That seems to be the one causing my problem.

Check out the F&P Simplus mask..Top of head adjustment strap. https://www.cpap.com/productpage/fisher ... -mask.html

[BlueDragon]

Are your top straps already at the limit of their adjustment? If not, loosening them should lower the mask. ResMed makes a Large headgear for the F20, and I have the L size.

Guys, I have the large headgear also but the top strap is not adjustable.

That's the whole problem!

Edit: Maybe we're talking about different straps. I'm talking about the one that goes over the top of your head. That seems to be the one causing my problem.

Yes, looks like we are talking about different straps. I'm talking about the two adjustable straps at the top of the frame.

[JarOfSonicMen]

I hate to dig up an old thread but... I have been wrestling with the exact same problem. A non-adjustable strap is just NOT going to work for us melonheads out here.

So, a few weeks back, I cut my top strap.

It did have something of an effect on stability, my wife started complaining that every time I shifted at night, I would have to wake up a bit to shift my face until the hissing stopped. I went back and tried the Amara View. At a pressure of 14+, the nose flap during the night blows out and over the end of my nose, causing a major leak. I went back and tried the F-30. By the time I get it adjusted to where it isn’t leaking, it causes so much upward pressure on my nose I HATE it (though the vent design is SO much better than the Amara View blowing in my wife’s face or hitting my pillow and sounding like a hurricane is in my bed).

Yesterday, since my wife was sewing anti Covid masks for a friend, I began to think about how to extend the strap and make it adjustable.

I rummaged through my pile of spares and backups. I thought I might steal the top strap from the Amara View, my mask of choice before I gained 100 pounds and my pressure went from 7 to 14... and then it came to me: I wonder if this F-30 headgear would work. I looked at the masks... superficially, it LOOKS like it might work. So I stripped the headgear off of the F-20 and the F-30, and assembled the F-30 headgear onto the F-20, and tried it on.

The F20’s top attachment points for headgear ar a few inches further back than the F30’s - this means that the adjustments for that are not 2 inches from the front like I am used to, the strap wraps way back past the ear. No need to change out the lower magnetic clips, the F20 and F30 use identical ones. With the top strap adjusted, the top attachments in place, I adjusted the bottom straps, and ran “Mask Fit” on my cpap machine. No leaks while sitting on the bed-and at this point, the straps were a lot looser than I am used to. Last night, when I lay down, I had to adjust the tops and the bottoms a bit to tighten to make it more stable-but it never got uncomfortable.

The F-30 strap on the F-20 honestly seems a LOT more stable than the F-20 with the top strap cut in the middle. The top-side straps are too long to make adjustment easy...but I figure I can add Velcro or shorten them a lot easier than I can add an adjustable top strap to the F-20 headgear! And if I don’t have to adjust them much, I won’t bother.

Now, I’ve got a pretty big head - a 7 7/8 hat doesn’t fit me, a Tilley 8+ fits pretty well - so this isn’t a problem very many people are going to have. But it sure is nice to know that there’s a ready-made solution for it, from the manufacturer.

I’ll pull data and look at it in Oscar and try out for a few nights, if there are any problems, I’ll post back here. I’m hoping I have found at least a temporary solution, until my next supply reorder from my insurance.

[Portlandguy]

I have the opposite problem. The standard mask headgear fits well except for the strap that goes over my head. I wish they made that thing adjustable.

I think I might try and get my DME a small headgear to try. I'm worried it maybe too tight though.