Optilife Nasal Pillows Mask Shower Nightly

[DLB]

I'm working through the quirks of my PAP setup. When I turn up the humidifier past 1, which is desirable for my throat and sinus, my exhalation causes condensation to build up in the mask and the pressure blows it out of the exhalation port all over my face, which is both gross and startling.

1) Curious if anyone has a solution for this or if another mask might be more resistant to the phenomenon?

I'm beginning to consider what mask I will try next.

2) Might be nice to have a full face mask for when I have sinus problems? Last night I couldn't figure out what was going, but could stay asleep, finally got out of bed at midnight and figured out my right nostril was completely blocked. I had to use some Vicks Nasal Spray to open it up and then I slept great from 12:30 to 6:00am.

3) Might be nice to try another nasal pillow mask to see if I can do better? The Optilife isn't too bad. I have chubby cheeks and a small chin though and the chin strap keep sliding forward off my chin. At this point, the mask want to pull a little in the direction of the hose wherever it is at that time and has been causing some leaks. And of course nightly shower that prompted this post is also annoying. I do like the pillows though.

Thanks,
DLB

[bdp522]

You could try a heated hose.
http://www.sleepzone.com.au/showitems.a ... %20Tube%27
OR
viewtopic.php?t=27579

Brenda

[sleepngo]

In the winter I sleep with the hose and all my mask under the covers, but I usually set my HH no higher than 1 and it can get pretty worm...have to poke my head out once in a while to cool off. I have never experienced rain out, yet. If you are having trouble with the chin strap, try finding a neck strap to loop through the wing slots not being used by the the chin strap, to stabilize the down and side ward movement of the mask, some here who have the same problem you have, just use a neck strap. Hope this helps.

Dan

[letchworth]

If you are having trouble with the chin strap, try finding a neck strap to loop through the wing slots not being used by the the chin strap, to stabilize the down and side ward movement of the mask, some here who have the same problem you have, just use a neck strap. Hope this helps.
Dan

For my OptiLife I created a neck strap out of a discarded ComfortGel headgear (cutting the headgear so that I got two neck straps out of the one headgear). I like this material because it has Velcro built into both end tabs and use one Velcro tab to affix it to unused wing slot (as sleepngo refers to them). Because I am a bit claustrophobic, I installed a parachute clip (from fabric store) to the other end of the strap and attached the other half of the clip to some elastic material-- this allows me to escape the maske almost instantaneously when needed.

Before inheriting the ComfortGel headgear from a fellow CPAP user, I crafted my original neck strap from elastic material and some bulky Velcro-- It worked fine also, but was much cruder.

This neckstrap made the use of OptiLife much more likely for me- and keeps the mask quite stable while rolling from side to side. I did make some drawings of the original design if my verbal description is hard to follow.

Good luck
letchworth

PS- I forgot to say that the neckstrap I devised is attached to the original headgear in the center of the back of the headgear by a rubber band to help lift the neckstrap (rather than work against the nose pillows- or, in my case, cushions) I have used it this way for almost 8 months and it works great (I keep meaning to make a cloth band to replace the elastic band- but never seem to get around to it).

[Pugsy]

I came home from the titration study with the optlife. It was passable but far from ideal. Never good get the chin strap part of the lower area to be secure. Used it for about 6 days.
Switched to SwiftLt for her and never looked back. The Optilife pillows are great and they are comfortable, I just couldn't get the rest of the stuff to be stable for me. Chin strap never fit right.

[bdp522]

Never good get the chin strap part of the lower area to be secure

Chin strap never fit right

That's because it isn't a chin strap, just a stabilizer for the mask.

From the web site; http://optilife.respironics.com/PDF/fittingguide.pdf
Adjust the chin support band so that it rests snugly against the chin.
DO NOT over tighten. The mouth should be able to open slightly without
pulling the cushion away from the nose.
AND;
Chin support band is sliding.
Ensure the side straps are in the
front slots.

Brenda

[Pugsy]

That's because it isn't a chin strap, just a stabilizer for the mask.

I know this. It doesn't stabilize anything if it keeps sliding around. I wasn't trying to use it as a chin strap to keep my mouth closed.

[letchworth]

That's because it isn't a chin strap, just a stabilizer for the mask.

I know this. It doesn't stabilize anything if it keeps sliding around. I wasn't trying to use it as a chin strap to keep my mouth closed.

That was my problem, also, (in fact the whole rig kept falling off at night)

Thanks to you guys I have discovered I was not putting the headgear on correctly-- but even then I lost a lot of air (leaks) without some kind of neckstrap.

I am thinking of playing with the chin strap- perhaps attaching it to the neckstrap at an angle- so that it works with my chin/s instead of "flopping in the breeze"

letchworth

[Pugsy]

That was my problem, also, (in fact the whole rig kept falling off at night)

This was sort of my problem. The whole thing is just too large for my head. Just can't quite get it snug enough.
I thought maybe it was because it was used from the sleep center so I got a new one and the same thing. Now it fits my brother in law's much larger head, so much better. I suppose if I had the time and inclination I could figure out some way to have it adjust down to my small head but I just don't have either. I have the Swift LT for Her and the Opus 360 that are more comfortable and don't require a massive undertaking to get them comfortable and workable for me. I am lazy. The Optilife is passable for me but the others are much more effective and comfortable. At least for me.

[vipertec]

I'm just the opposite ,I came home with a Swift LT and couldn't stand it ,thase two little plastic things dug into my face. On the other hand I love my OptiLife it 's great, IMO ,I found the chin strap doesn't move as much if it's a tad loose ,I got a FullLife as a FFM for when the allergies get bad and I need to breath thru my mouth, I had problems with the FullLife at first because I had the wrong size cushion ,I dubbed it the Leakmaster 5000 ,well now that I have the right size cushion it doesn't leak any more,at least not too bad.
The Optilife is a good mask and you may have to mess with it a little bit but once you get it set you'll never know it's there. good luck!

[ozij]

1) Curious if anyone has a solution for this or if another mask might be more resistant to the phenomenon?

My favorite, most comfortable mask is one the least resistant to this phenomenon - so I use a hose cover, and a heated hose.

Rainout is worse for those of use who need lower pressure.

O.

[DLB]

All,

Thanks for your inputs. I also made a makeshift neckstrap and it seemed to help stabilize things a lot, but I think I had it too tight in relation to the side straps from the headgear and woke with one of the pillows out of nose and my leak data was through the roof. Oddly, only had a AHI of 2.9 though. I'm going to try again tonight and loosen the nect strap up a bit.

I also played around with a size larger and size smaller pillow without any success. I have a few other issues with the design, but don't want to take the time to vent right now.

I am thinking that I will try a different style mask at some point, but for insurance purposes want to make nice with this mask for a while.

I also looked at the heated hose and some of the DIY solutions. I am going to order a hose cover. I'm leaning towards the resipronics cover because it looks like I could pull it all the way up the mask hose portion too. I would rather leave a few inches by the machine uncovered.

Thanks,
DLB

[bdp522]

You could go to http://www.padacheek.com and get a hose cover. Karen(forum name Padacheek) has wonderful hose covers and will custom make any length you may want.

Brenda

[letchworth]

All,

Thanks for your inputs. I also made a makeshift neckstrap and it seemed to help stabilize things a lot, but I think I had it too tight in relation to the side straps from the headgear and woke with one of the pillows out of nose and my leak data was through the roof. Oddly, only had a AHI of 2.9 though. I'm going to try again tonight and loosen the nect strap up a bit.

Thanks,
DLB

Wondering how it is going? I also wanted to mention that, for me, the extra neck strap works best if connected in the back to the headgear strap. I use a rubber band and neck strap is perhaps an inch below the headgear- thus lifting the neckstrap and creating gentle upward motion to the neckstrap. (I tried it without the rubber band and had more leaks--- your mileage may vary)
letchworth

[DLB]

Letchworth,

Thanks for the suggestion. I may give the rubber band a try. My AHIs have been pretty good lately, mostly below 3, but I am still struggling with getting my leaks down. I haven't had a night with AHI below 1.0 yet, but I am making pretty good progress.

I have been struggling with ear infections and had a ruptured ear drum this past Friday. Tubes were installed on Monday. Now I'm on steroids and more antibiotics.

So, I am pretty happy with my CPAP results given the situation. I have had to rely on some nasal spray to be able to breathe through my nose at times, but trying to keep it to a minimum.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

DLB