jury-rigged short hose to mask elbow?

[jaybeem]

Has any one ever created an extra elbow to have the vent direct air where YOU want it to go? I don't have a partner, so the best for me is straight out. If the air shoots down, it hits my arms. If the air shoots up, it bothers my eyes.

I had a Swift FX which vented at a 45 degree angle down. Over the headboard did not help, but a hose hanger did just what I wanted.

Now I have a WISP, and unless I run the hose down towards my body and then loop it back around, the air shoots at my arms. I had gotten used to the hose hanger..now I keep getting tangled up in the hose.

Someone could make money selling re-direction elbows!

[NateS]

Has any one ever created an extra elbow to have the vent direct air where YOU want it to go? I don't have a partner, so the best for me is straight out. If the air shoots down, it hits my arms. If the air shoots up, it bothers my eyes.

I had a Swift FX which vented at a 45 degree angle down. Over the headboard did not help, but a hose hanger did just what I wanted.

Now I have a WISP, and unless I run the hose down towards my body and then loop it back around, the air shoots at my arms. I had gotten used to the hose hanger..now I keep getting tangled up in the hose.

Someone could make money selling re-direction elbows!

Snap-on re-directors would be a great idea! Maybe someone here will come up with a good improvisation!

The exhaust flow on the Wisp has been a challenge for me too. I think they assumed that everyone would want to use the loop on the headstrap to route the hose over their head, but I don't like that position. It bugs me seeing it running between my eyes and then over my forehead. Yet if I route it down, it seems to want to blow into my eye(s).

The best I have worked out is to move my hose hanger to one side of my cpapMAX pillow instead of above the middle of the pillow, and then feed just enough of the hose through the hanger loop to have it suspended down and then sort of horizontally to the right side of my nose. I switch between side and back sleeping, so if the hose follows me when I turn to my left side, I sometimes have to re-shorten the extended portion when I roll back onto my back, but it's no big deal to do that during the night.

Or, if your only problem is that the exhaust blows on your arms, have you considered sleeping with your arms under the covers? I do.

Good luck!

Nate

[RogerSC]

I ran into an article about someone rigging up a diffuser from filter material over the vent holes of a mask held on using tape. It allowed enough air flow, yet diffused the outflow over a wide enough area that it was much less noticeable. Here it is:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=54961&p=514706#p514706

Might be worth playing with a little.

[herefishy]

I have a 90 degree elbow for attaching my hose to my humidifier - it's just plastic, might require some mods, but ask around at the providers.

[jaybeem]

I do wrap my arms in the sheets, but I don't seem to be able to stay that way very long. I have NEVER been able to stand air blowing on me, so I am not surprised that it bugs me so much.

I think they assumed that everyone would want to use the loop on the headstrap to route the hose over their head, but I don't like that position. It bugs me seeing it running between my eyes and then over my forehead. Yet if I route it down, it seems to want to blow into my eye(s).

The best I have worked out is to move my hose hanger to one side of my cpapMAX pillow instead of above the middle of the pillow, and then feed just enough of the hose through the hanger loop to have it suspended down and then sort of horizontally to the right side of my nose.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try both over the head and moving my hose hanger.

[archangle]

The concern is blocking the vent holes and causing rebreathing of exhaled air.

If it were me, I'd try tying a tube made of something like T-shirt material around the vent. Leave the tube open on the far end, so that any air that doesn't diffuse through the fabric is directed down along the hose. Be sure the material you use is porous enough to breathe through.

[jdm2857]

There have been reports that covering the vents with filter material diffuses
the vent flow quite a bit. And it's more porous than any fabric.

If you do choose to use fabric, make sure that it does not accumulate
debris as a filter would. (It is a filter, after all.) That would tend to
reduce vent flow over time.

And, now that I think of it, many fabrics become much less porous
when wet. A bit of rainout and .... That shouldn't happen with the
much more porous filter material.

[chunkyfrog]

When it's too cold, I wear long sleeves.
Could cobble up a sleep shrug to wear any time of the year.

[JDS74]

Hi Jaybeem

I use a Fisher-Paykel Oracle 2 mask which has a right angle swivel connection between the mask proper and a short tube that connects to the CPAP hose.

There is a diffuser in the right angle adapter that vents air directly away from the mask but is also quite diffuse so it is not readily noticeable.

Looking at a picture of a Wisp mask, it appears as if the part of the mask to which the hose is connected may be removable. If this is so, then perhaps a F-P swivel could be substituted and achieve the air re-direction and diffusion you need.

The diameter of this part is about 0.944 inches that necks down a little ( about 0.880 inches) to fit into the mask and allow for ease of rotation. You would need the swivel, the short flexible tube, and the anti-asphixiation device at the end of the tube that then allows the regular CPAP tubing to connect.

If you think it would help, send me a PM with you email address and I can send detailed pix so you can see if it might work on your mask.