Quattro headgear question

Greetings,
I've been getting some questions relating to headgear on Quattro masks. I use the original Quattro, but I have an fx and a Quattro Air as well. Dori is also transitioning Mike to the Quattro Air.

I recall advice from Deltadave persona regarding using Quattro gear upside down on the FX...(or vice versa). Might this alsp apply to the Air?

The issue is the tendency for the Fx and Quattro Air to "ride up" on the face. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Jamis

It's too soon to give a real review but we used the Air last night and it seemed to fit well but with leaks all night close to the red line. It's hard to feel for leaks because of the vents coming out at the elbow but it's very quiet. I'm hoping I can lower the leak rate with some adjustments. His AHI was 1.3 with no mask marks. It was suggested that we use a large size rather than a medium because the Air seems to run small and it seemed true and fit very well from nose bridge to chin. I really love this mask, it's much lighter than the Q or UM and the cushion seems to adhere better. I did try to reverse the headgear on the QFF but it didn't work.

Here's how I keep my QFX from riding up on me:

[img][IMG]http://i774.photobucket.com/albums/yy29 ... 7f329d.jpg[/img][/img]

Hi Dori,
Sorry you're having leak issues. Forget about what I said about tightening. I'm on the same learning curve as you are. I did take a nap using Quattro headgear on the Quattro air and it worked better for me then the Air headgear which sucks in my opinion.

M'ohms,
Could you explain the picture? The added little strap under the chin is the mod? Doesn't bother you? Interesting idea...thanks.

Jamis

jamiswolf wrote:Hi Dori,
Sorry you're having leak issues. Forget about what I said about tightening. I'm on the same learning curve as you are. I did take a nap using Quattro headgear on the Quattro air and it worked better for me then the Air headgear which sucks in my opinion.

M'ohms,
Could you explain the picture? The added little strap under the chin is the mod? Doesn't bother you? Interesting idea...thanks.

Jamis

That's a good idea, experimenting with naps first! Last night leaks were better on Air and he slept longer but I think I've uncovered a problem which needs to be solved. Because the vents are in the elbow and Mike sleeps on his sides, the vents sometimes press into his bed pillow and seems to block the vents, then he kind of "snorts" and moves his head (at least when I was watching). That worries me. I'm going to detach his hose hanger tonight and see if it's any better with the hose hanging down. This morning he seems sleepy and a bit "off" but his AHI was 1.1 for second night, never that low with his Quattro FF or UMFF, so now I'm confused! I guess I should start a new thread.

Good morning Dori,
It seems that all these Quattro masks have some issues. Did you look at the photo M'ohms posted. He ran a little strap under the chine to prevent his mask from creeping up. I'm going to give that a try.

I slept...or rather tried to sleep with my Quattro air last night using a Quattro headgear. But still had leaking issues. I'm persisting because knowing ResMed, they'll probably discontinue the old Quattro and go with the lighter and probably cheaper to manufacture Air eventually.

But for now, I'm mainly going back to the old Quattro. For me it just works better then either the fx or air. Good luck and hang in there. If I come up with a breakthrough...I'll let you know.
Jamis

Here is the link to the original post:

viewtopic/t88030/Solution-to-Qauttro-FX ... k-NEW.html

I made my strap out of an old headgear strap and fashioned a pad to fit around it so that it wouldn't dig into my chin. I don't feel it at all and I tighten it down quite a bit. I wear an oversized QFX so that the bottom of the mask sits at the bottom of my chin rather than in the cleft of my chin. When I'm asleep, my jaw drops a lot, and the longer mask keeps my mouth from falling out. Because of the extra length of the mask, I need the chin strap to keep the mask low on my face. This works very well for me.

--M'ohms

M'ohms wrote:Here is the link to the original post:

viewtopic/t88030/Solution-to-Qauttro-FX ... k-NEW.html

I made my strap out of an old headgear strap and fashioned a pad to fit around it so that it wouldn't dig into my chin. I don't feel it at all and I tighten it down quite a bit. I wear an oversized QFX so that the bottom of the mask sits at the bottom of my chin rather than in the cleft of my chin. When I'm asleep, my jaw drops a lot, and the longer mask keeps my mouth from falling out. Because of the extra length of the mask, I need the chin strap to keep the mask low on my face. This works very well for me.
--M'ohms

Thanks M'ohms,
Very clever and obviously successful. I'm beginning to worry that my biggest issue with the FX and AIR large is that they both are too small for my large face.
Jamis

jamiswolf wrote: The issue is the tendency for the Fx and Quattro Air to "ride up" on the face. Any advice from your professional experience would be greatly appreciated.

Dead easy to fix by this method and nothing to make or sew. Go to a bikeshop and ask to look at cuff straps. Select one that is approximately one foot long with lots of velcro for adjustment. When you've got your mask in place, run the strap up under your chin and loop it back so it loops just behind both quick release clips. In other words it will emulate RespCares mask system with built-in chin straps. I guarantee it will never ride up again, even if you keep it pretty loose.