Taming the Airfit P10

[Hosehead4ever]

I know Pugsy did a post on taming the Mirage Quattro mask. I would find a thread about taming the AirFit P10 headgear. The only way I can keep it in place is to wear a hat. I'm hoping others have other suggestions. I don't have long hair so I can't put a ponytail up there. Are there any of you with short hair who have found a way to keep the straps from slipping together and coming off? Am I having an uncommon problem? I would complain to Resmed but I couldn't find anywhere to submit comments/complaints. Help?

[robysue]

KatyDidAgain,

It's taken me some real time to figure out the Airfit P10, and the P10 has not yet replaced the Swift FX as my preferred mask for a number of reasons. The total lack of meaningful adjustments on the P10 headgear is one of my problems with the P10, as is the rigid base the pillows clip into.

That said: I finally figured out the that farther apart I spread the two ministraps on the headgear on the P10, the more comfortable and the more stable the mask was. So if you're not spreading those ministaps as far apart as possible, try spreading them further apart and see if that helps.

As light as this mask is, you also have to worry about hose weight pulling at the mask. I find that when I use the P10 that I have to use a light weight hose cozy on the main hose---Padacheek's heavy hose cozy simply makes the main hose so heavy that it pulls the mask off my nose unless I am super careful to arrange the hose "just so". So you might also need to consider how you are running the main hose from the machine to your face.

[Pugsy]

I can't take credit for the Taming of the Quattro...that was Janknitz.

My hair is really, really short and for the most part the P10 straps stay separated like they are supposed to be. Sometimes that back strap wants to slide up towards the crown area of my head and sort of come together with the top strap of the P10 but not very often. For me the P10 is remarkably stable considering how loose I wear it and how much tossing and turning I usually do.

Where are you putting the back strap and where are you putting the top strap? How far apart?

[OkyDoky]

I don't have a problem with the hose pulling on the P10 because I drape it over the headboard and actually like the solid frame. I tried the Swift FX and Nano with the swivel hose and found the hose attaching directly to the cushion pulled on it and I had more leaks.
Now about the straps on the P10, I love the minimal light weight design but I too cannot keep then apart. I just slide them both to the back of my head and for me it works. I did find that if you have enough hair, metal hair clips that you snap in place will snap over the headgear. I haven't tried the clips at night because I haven't needed to change headgear position for it to work for me.

[chunkyfrog]

I suspend my hose above my head, taking the hose weight off the mask.
With two spare headgear, I swap them when my leak numbers tell me the elastic has relaxed a bit much.
I wash the headgear by shaking vigorously with very warm water and dish drops in a clean plastic, screw top jar.

[Hosehead4ever]

Pugsy, thanks for the correction. I think I just attribute all the knowledge around here to you by habit. As for the straps, I've had them so far apart that they started to tear at the join. It is like you said, the bottom one wants to come up and meet the top one and the they slip right off the top. I'm going to try a chin strap tonight, and I hope that I can put that on over the mask to keep it tacked down. That's the only thing I can think of.

[Pugsy]

I think for some people the backs of their heads don't allow for much to keep that back strap from sliding up.
While the backs of our heads aren't flat...some are flatter than others. Also there is a little bump at the base of the skull called the occipital protuberance...and it's a lot more pronounced in some people than it is in others and if a person has a big occipital protuberance it can help anchor that back strap better. Mine isn't very big and I can barely feel it so I know it isn't much of an anchor point to stop the back strap from sliding up.

For me that back strap sliding up thing doesn't happen very often so it's just a minor annoyance for me and the overall mask itself and it's light weight flexibility and fit outweighs that slight annoyance. We all have different things that trip our trigger when it comes to these masks and our own personal preferences. No mask is ever totally perfect as there seems to be always some little something somewhere that we would maybe wish was just a little different.

You sound like you might benefit from the ability to snug up that back strap just a little to help keep it from sliding upwards.
Unfortunately we don't really have much way to snug it up easily and we for sure don't want it too snug. If you were a sewing person you might be able to stitch up that strap just a little so it wasn't quite so loose. There also is the old velcro trick that Swift FX nasal pillow mask users have been known to do to help keep that back strap from sliding up....stick a little velcro on the strap so that the hook part of the velcro sort of grabs whatever hair you have and helps prevent sliding upwards. I have never done that as I was never annoyed enough by the slippage to worry about it and if I had long hair I don't know I would want to have it all snagged up in velcro anyway.

If you feel the back of your head and your occipital protuberance is available and you haven't been bringing that strap down below the bump...you might try that placement of the back strap. That's where mine goes...way down the back and just below the bump so that I can get whatever help I can from that bump.

[Guest1]

If you feel the back of your head and your occipital protuberance is available and you haven't been bringing that strap down below the bump...you might try that placement of the back strap. That's where mine goes...way down the back and just below the bump so that I can get whatever help I can from that bump.

I think this is the key to ensure P10's stability. One more thing I would add is that the 2 arms of the headgear (starting from the pillow side), should rest in the crease where the top part of the ears meet the face. This ensures further stability and reduces movement.

Parting the top part of headgear (one side below the occipital Protuberance, other side towards top/front of the head ) adds further stability

I use these 2 things and my max=min=0L/min most nights. I have never had a large leak on P10 for the last 45 days (same pillow). My max leak has been 3L/min.

[RuthArt]

I have a Swift FX that I have been trying to wear....I'm thinking it must be for males because I have to cinch the top strap so tight that the
back strap is almost to my crown and it will not stay on the back of my head; ...I have a very small head. It's making me very frustrated
when I want to use it because my nasal mask is giving me fits too so I alternate.

I hope there is more that can be done to help get a good fit. (I'm still having trouble finding the right size for the nostrils, I've tried
everyone except large, I have small nostrils, but get leaks on all sizes, probably because I can't get it to fit properly

[RogerSC]

I have a Swift FX that I have been trying to wear....I'm thinking it must be for males because I have to cinch the top strap so tight that the
back strap is almost to my crown and it will not stay on the back of my head; ...I have a very small head. It's making me very frustrated
when I want to use it because my nasal mask is giving me fits too so I alternate.

I hope there is more that can be done to help get a good fit. (I'm still having trouble finding the right size for the nostrils, I've tried
everyone except large, I have small nostrils, but get leaks on all sizes, probably because I can't get it to fit properly

I'd like to respectfully suggest that you start your own thread with an appropriate title, and I expect that you'll get lots more comments.

[palerider]

I have a Swift FX that I have been trying to wear...

why would you post this on an unrelated thread?

[RuthArt]

I posted my reply here because I feel the headgear is similar to the P10, that's all. Sorry

[Pugsy]

I posted my reply here because I feel the headgear is similar to the P10, that's all. Sorry

No problem really. If you needed/wanted more specific advice then you would be more apt to get it in a thread of your own but if you comments were really meant as just a comment and not a request for help then you are correct...the headgear issue is similar to the headgear issues that some Swift FX users have experienced.
I will say this though...if your back strap is up by your crown area then there's no way the nasal pillows are going to fit properly. That will make the angle all wrong along with the tension all wrong. The Swift FX back strap needs to be on the back of the head and lower to work and if it won't stay there then something needs to be done.

Is your back strap dark blue or gray/pink? There is a difference in sizing of that back strap and while I could barely make the larger dark blue strap work on my head...it was just barely. The lighter gray/pink straps are shorter and thus will allow for more tightening before the straps for adjusting start touching each other.

[Hosehead4ever]

First, although I looked like Hannibal Lector, putting the chin strap over the headgear for the P10 worked beautifully and I couldn't tell there were two straps up there because of how small the P10's straps are.

As for the Swift FX, I never could use the regular one. And the "For Her" version doesn't come with the large pillows. So I would end up ordering the "For Her" headgear and then separately ordering a large pillows.

[chunkyfrog]

My lower strap rides in the shallow dip formed by the suture between the occipital and parietal plates.
(ABOVE the occipital). My hair keeps it from traveling farther up.
Some comfort that I am only a carrier of the MPB gene, but not a sufferer!