Aloha vs Opus 360 Mask?

[Issac]

I got my aloha the day before yesterday and I thought the same thing, but I'm delightfully surprised. Delightfully surprised how well it seals with my bi-level pressure. Very comfortable. My numbers look real good. I could have used a half inch more on the strap, but I'm good. Let's see if tonight is as good as last night. Thank you, everyone for the reviews.

[nanwilson]

Ok Guys and Gals, I'm up and ready to report...got my coffee so here goes. I got the Aloha so that I would have less on my face..........uuummmfffff....tried it last night with just my boil & bite, I'm still a freekin mouth breather....crrraapppp. got up fished out my chin strap & put it on over my mask, worked fine for the rest of the night. I tried tape before the chin strap but I have a drool factor with the mouth guard soo, tried to peel it off and I remember now why I didn't like tape with my Swift LT. I am up and have wicked face marks, I'm sure its the chin strap, I know when I used the LT I kept my big yap shut with the ace bandage trick around my mouth and head. My ahi, etc were all good as they usually are 0.1 and my leak line was 30, so no problems there......its just that I will have to go back to experimenting with keeping my yap closed...big problem there...right . I will try the chin strap on first instead of on top and I will try the ace bandage, whichever one leaves the least marks on my wrinkly face will be the winner. I did like the freedom of not having a mouth piece and having the mask on tight like my Hybrids, I'm sure I can experiment more and keep the Aloha looser. I wore the medium last night so will stick to that for now, once I decide which pillow is best I'll post for trades with you. Pugsy, how in the name of heaven did you make the straps small enough to fit your small structure...I have a large head and had the straps on the ends. You ladies with small heads must have a job to keep it on...or have already lab-ratted an idea or two . Tonite, I think I will try the straps looser and will make myself a new ace bandage for my big mouth. Over-all I think this is going to be a good mask, time will tell on how long it lasts, as it does look kinda flimsy. Thank you friends for all of your feedback, etc, you convinced me "I had to have it".
Cheers
Nan

[SleepyToo2]

Nan, I use my Aloha over the Puresom Ruby chin strap that I have. Fits perfectly - loosish, but not leaky (most of the time). I need some tweaks to the straps tonight, though. The Ruby is a fairly robust strap, and it stops the mask from touching the skin in most areas. Certainly stopped (or severely limited) my leaky lips. Never had a problem with drooling, though, so I can't comment on that!

[Suzjohnson]

Hi Nan! I had to take a nap this morning and put on all my stuff except the tape on my lips and I discovered that with the Deluxe chinstrap
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/deluxe ... hleak.html, my mouth stayed shut!! It's wide enough so that you can pull the outer edge up, nearly to the bottom lip and that did the trick. I don't get pressure marks on my skin from this chinstrap either.

Suz

[nanwilson]

Thanks Sleepy and Suz......that is the chin strap I have Suz, I must put it on too tightly, will try again tonight with it looser and on the face first. I've already made a hose cover for the little hose...........matches my big one I was hoping that I could get away without a chin strap but I guess not....oh well, I have enough old lady wrinkles now so a few more will not be noticed .
Have a great weekend..........
Nan

[Suzjohnson]

Thanks Sleepy and Suz......that is the chin strap I have Suz, I must put it on too tightly, will try again tonight with it looser and on the face first. I've already made a hose cover for the little hose...........matches my big one I was hoping that I could get away without a chin strap but I guess not....oh well, I have enough old lady wrinkles now so a few more will not be noticed .
Have a great weekend..........
Nan

Thanks Nan! You too!

Suz

[Pugsy]

Pugsy, how in the name of heaven did you make the straps small enough to fit your small structure...I have a large head and had the straps on the ends. You ladies with small heads must have a job to keep it on

I actually let a little bit of the rounded end of the strap sort of overlap the other part of the strap where there is no velcro.
I may just cut that little bit off...there is more than enough velcro part left over to keep the strap closed.
Top strap works okay with the velcro round end touching the other part but the back strap needed to be just a wee bit more snug. I think about an inch of overlap is what I have. Since I probably will keep the mask I probably will just cut off that excess.

[the_nap_ster]

Aloha Report 125909.2

Well, I was cautiously optimistic about the Aloha pillows holding up longer than my Swift pillows (which seem to last three-four weeks for me), but it appears that might not be the case. I am about two weeks into my Aloha-ness, and over the last few days, my formerly perfect leak numbers have been less than perfect. The leaks were severe enough to vent air on my upper lip/cheeks and drive my APAP to constantly increase pressure, so they kept me up at night as well.

After replacing the pillows... back to my Aloha happy place. So it looks like these guys might only work for me for 10-14 days or so. It might be that my biology is somehow creating a Aloha-dissolving miasma, or it may be that they just go quicker for everyone. For the record, I wipe off the pillows with PAP wipes daily, and wash in diluted baby shampoo weekly (which I've only gotten to do once on these pillows). So my skin oils aren't staying on there forever. But in the interest of full disclosure, there you go.

The Aloha is still the best mask I've ever tried when it comes to comfort and leak numbers. But it may require me to replace the pillows every 10-14 days. The printer is cheap, but they'll get you on the ink. For me, the cost is still be worth it, but if other people have similar experiences, it might be helpful for everyone to know.

For the record, I am going to try boiling my old Aloha pillow and seeing if that re-perks it. Ooooh, I love experiments!

Over and out!

-- Tiffany

[Suzjohnson]

Aloha Report 125909.2


For the record, I am going to try boiling my old Aloha pillow and seeing if that re-perks it. Ooooh, I love experiments!

Over and out!

-- Tiffany

Me too! You'll have to post the results!

Suz

[portiemom]

My Aloha is working just as it did the first time I used it! I too had to cut the overlapping strap of as it was about an inch too long, and did add some velcro to the hard plastic to tighten the straps. The pillows are just a firm as when I opened the mask almost one month ago. This is the first mask I've used that hasn't started leaking after a few wonderful nights, it remains constant each night, and I am loving it!

[lagasan]

I've been using the Aloha for a few weeks and have no new leaks. I use Lansinoh every night so maybe that helps. I wash the pillows every day.

Still loving the Aloha. I LOVE that I can sleep in any position and the mask adjusts. Sometimes I have to reach up and give it a little shove, but nothing major. I love having no face marks in the AM. The Opus 360 gave me marks that lasted for hours. The Aloha is nice and loose.

Anne

[Papit]

"I got the Aloha mask yesterday (Wed. April 18) and I tried it last night. I much prefer the Aloha headgear. The straps are routed below the cheekbones instead of directly over them, and they come covered with soft flannel, so no need to purchase or make strap pads. And the Aloha might be a little quieter. . . "

Slarty, how's it going for you now after a month of use? Do you use it all the time now? I got mine just a few days ago and agree with all your favorable comments. However, the bottom of the pillows reservoir makes contact with my upper lip and, as you mentioned earlier, that's less than what you were hoping for when you ordered the mask. Have you been able to find a combination of adjustments that lifts it clear off your lip? I'm using the front upper slot (of the two choices for the top head band), and I pull the prongs as far out as the reservoir channel stops allow, but still find the reservoir in contact with my lip. Any ideas?

What about you Squid and Nate or anybody else: Anyone figure out how to get the pillows reservoir off your lip? From my avatar photo, there doesn't seem to be anything out-sized about my bone structure I don't think. Thanks.

[Papit]

I am still having great success with the Aloha, adjusted the pillows and I think I found the right position for me. I love the headgear, but I do think that the connector piece to the long hose should be curved up, instead of straight out from the short hose. I route over head and it makes it pull in a strange angle, anyone else have this problem? And have you found a better way to route the long hose?

Your curved-up idea sounds like a good one. Hope the mfr. picks up on that.

Here's how I handle the short hose, which I also like to go back behind my head like you do. When connected overhead to the top head band, I noticed the tendency for the short hose to reposition itself by "flopping" both way over to the left and way over to the right side of my face in response to occasional head movements. At first I tightened it somehow at the top head strap and got the hose to stay centered over my face. But then I decided I actually much preferred the short hose to be allowed to "flop" over to the right-most or left-most position. Here's why.

In those two outer hose positions, as compared to a centered position, the hose is completely out of my field of view. Even though I may not often need to 'see' or look at anything with my mask on, I much prefer to have a wide open unobstructed field of view. Why? Because it gives the whole mask a much better, less-confining feel for me. (This could be especially helpful to any of us who sometimes might feel a bit claustrophobic in our masks. ) So allowing the hose to flop to the far right or far left sides of my face allows me to 'have my cake and eat it too' so to speak; i.e., I can route the hose atop my head AND still have my field of view unobstructed. I get the most "floppiness" by connecting the very end of the short hose to the velcro loop fastener that you mount at the top center of the upper strap. Check it out.

[Suzjohnson]

I also noticed it's quieter that way. I can hear the exhaust air hitting the hose. Not annoying per se, but why listen to it if you don't have to. I would think that routing the hose up and over might change the angle of the pillow and help get it off your upper lip. Just a thought...

Suz

[Papit]

". . .Washing the thing... It is a bit of a pain removing the prongs each morning and reinserting each night. But I have to (wash) the thing without getting the headgear wet. Other than that, easy to keep clean. . . ."

What I do, Anne, is I place the head gear into a small sandwich baggie with the prongs protruding out of it and leave them attached to the pillows and short tube. I keep my hand around the baggie so water won't enter it and wash the pillows and short tube by holding the end of the short tube under the hot water spigot for a minute or so. The water then flows out through the pillows. I also reverse the water flow by then holding the pillow openings under the spigot for a minute. Then I shake the water off, remove the baggie and hang the entire mask up to air dry. Voila. Cleaned in 2 minutes or less.