Airsense 10: Hose connections always develop leaks, solutions?

I have a family member whose heated hose develops a leak at the point where it connects to the mask. To my horror, they developed a "solution" by putting a rubber band on it to try and fix that, but it isn't effective based on mask leak data.

I suspect the issue is that their body weight is being placed on this connection point at night. They say they typically hold onto the hose while they sleep, so the mask's line goes from their stomach up to their face (Resmed P10 mask, which would make sense vs a mask where the connection is above the head). If they roll over in any way, then body weight on top will cause that to deform.

I have a few ideas for solutions, but welcome input:

1. Get them on a mask where the hose comes down from the top. This way, they get used to the heated hose going above them (under the pillow) and not face body weight pressures.

2. Ask them to try putting the hose under the side of the pillow, then come up and around towards the face. They don't need to hold it. The downside here is that if they want to switch sides, they need to move the hose at night. I do it instinctively with my own setup, but they will have to get adjusted to it.

3. Find the optimal hose replacement schedule and just change it more often.

Does anyone else have other ideas?

CPAP supplies are necessarily consumable by definition.

ResMed says...

Based on general wear and tear, we suggest that you use the following as a guideline to replace your CPAP parts:

Every month:
- Mask cushions and/or nasal pillows
- CPAP machine filters

Every 3 months:
- Mask frame (not including the headgear)
- CPAP tubing

Every 6 months:
- Mask headgear
- Chin strap (if applicable)
- Humidifier water tub

That said, in 10 years of nightly PAP therapy I've never had to replace a hose for the reason you describe above. It's hard for me to imagine a sleep scenario where someone could regularly put that much pressure on a hose to cause that damage at that particular point without interupting their PAP therapy and/or waking up. I also can't imagine how this could be happening repeatedly without the patient knowing the reason. (Makes me wonder if maybe they're also having nightmares about wrestling with snakes, lol.)

Regarding other ideas...

The main reason I used to hold my own hose during sleep (no jokes please ) was because it tended to slide off of the bedcovers, thus pulling on my mask and waking me up as I moved naturally between positions during sleep. Sometimes I'd lose control of it anyway and would have to wake up enough to relocate it and pull it back onto the bed. In the process the corrugations in the hose would drag over the wooden bed frame, resulting in an annoying noise that my sleeping bride didn't appreciate at all.

So to solve the noise problem I purchased this inexpensive fabric hose cover on Amazon for $15 or so, and it works great for that.

Anyway, the fabric hose cover is relevant here because an unexpected and much-welcome side effect has been that the hose cover's fabric has enough natural friction against the bed covers that the hose now stays in place when I let go of it. I still have to find the hose and tug it with me as I change sleep position from one side to the other. But I always find it right where I left it, on my stomach or next to me, and it never goes missing anymore while I'm sleeping.

Really really appreciate your input here! Definitely am going to increase the frequency of changing the hose to every 2 months now, and maybe more often if needed at least for the time being.

I'm going to talk to the patient about the scenario you describe, because if that is what's occurring (it's a real possibility here), then a hose cover may also help prevent it from sliding and reduce the chance their body weight is rest on it.

Thank you for sharing the personal experience, I definitely would not have thought of that issue.