Giant Duckbilled Hosehead

RosemaryB · Post by **RosemaryB** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:42 pm

christinequilts wrote:What's ironic is the original ComfortLite was described as fitting like a baseball cap.
So much for all there improvements with CL2

That looks more comfy without the star trek part on the forehead. Was it the Borg that had those wrinkled foreheads?

grybeard77 · Post by **grybeard77** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 3:55 pm

Don't knock our efforts until you have tried to make some thing you like even better.........

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 4:35 pm

As a veteran Lab-Ratter herself, I don't think Christine was knocking anyone's efforts. I took her "so much for there (their) efforts" to mean Respironics' efforts when they made the ComfortLite 2 to replace the original ComfortLite.

And I took RosemaryB's Star Trek comment to be that the ballcap fix looks more comfortable than the star trekky looking design of the CL2 itself.

I think christinequilts and RosemaryB are both as awed by the ingenuity of Denny's (and yours, grybeard77) ballcap "fix" as I am!

BadBreath · Post by **BadBreath** » Fri Jul 06, 2007 11:47 pm

I took all of the comments to be positive and quite accurate.

I think with the ComfortLite Masks they are going for rigidity, in both the base and the downtube. The original design spread the support for the mask across the forehead, much like the ballcap mod, but it also extended the support throughout the rest of the rigid headgear. Since sidesleeping translated pressure and movement through the headgear to the mask, they modified the CL2 to place the rigidity centrally, but this focused the contact to the head on the forehead, creating too much uncomfortable pressure, and in my opinion was still too rigid overall and movement continues to unseat the mask from it's seal.

The ballcap moves the rigid aspects off the face and to the bill, expect for the thin long line of contact where the bill meets the cap. The ballcap is already designed to soften that contact (which is why the headband needs to remain intact) and is flexible by the nature of the cloth material, so movement and pressure does not transfer to the mask (except from the sides of the bill, which is why you need to bend the bill's outside edges.) This is also why I think you can not trim the edges of the bill too much, as you will compromise the amount of support from the forehead (and is why it just won't work for everyone).

I think this sums up the challenge for all of the mask interface designers. It has to be rigid enough to hold the mask in place but flexible enough to adapt to a soft, pliable surface that moves around throughout the night. The masks that are simple and extremely flexible often do not stay in place, and the masks that are complex and rigid are often unseated by external forces.

And so the search goes on...

grybeard77 · Post by **grybeard77** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:39 am

I believe BadBreath has summed up the effort to change the CL2 mask interface into something it wasn't designed for is 110% accurate. Every time I have made an adjustment to the forehead pad to make it more comfortable, it becomes less stable. And conversely, every time I did some thing to make it more stable, it made some thing else more uncomfortable.

I like BB's ball cap conversion, original and Summer version and I will keep fussing with it as well as my version. BTW, my best part of my version was after cutting off the top half of the CL2, I used a ComfortCurve head gear to anchor it and have used it that way for the last 3 or 4 months.

Further, I think we have beat this subject into the ground and until some one comes up with some thing newer, I'm outta here....

One last thought, we need a flexable link like a drinking straw has so it can bend, to keep the nasal pillows/seal in place while the rest of the mask moves around when our bodies move.

BadBreath · Post by **BadBreath** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:59 am

we need a flexable link like a drinking straw

Exactly! Rigid yet flexible. I was actually browsing the store yesterday for a plastic cup that comes with the more permanent flexi-straw for use on my Opus conversion. I need a non-metallic piece between the mouthpiece and the nasal pillows, so you can adjust it and it will stay in place but flex when necessary.

Great minds think alike (or do we just represent the lowest common denominator??).

grybeard77 · Post by **grybeard77** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:42 am

I'm afraid to guess the answer to that one.....LOL