Posted: Sat Jul 08, 2006 8:18 am
I know one night is not a fair or comprehensive evaluation of a mask, but these are the observations I have drawn from my first night...or should I say, first three hours with the Hybrid.
If you read my previous posts from yesterday about trying to prepare for the night with the new acquisition, I was concerned about the clips pressing into my cheeks, which, as you can see from my avatar, are not overly chunky. I do have somewhat prominent cheekbones, though, and that might have something to do with it. However, I put my PadACheeks, double padded for Swift, on them last night and before bed, they felt much better. I also decided to coat the mask seal and the nasal pillows in my benzoin tincture to ensure less leakage, just as a precautionary measure. This is what occurred.
I went to bed and for once used the heated humidifier which, from what I had read, sounded like a smart thing to do. It didn't take long to fall asleep and the mask wasn't leaking to any degree that I could tell. I woke up the first time about an hour and a half later noticing a lot of pressure on the area between the top lip and my nose. Also, it felt far more cumbersome than what I'm used to, my Aura, where nothing but the pillows touch your face. But on I went, hoping I would fall asleep again and not wake up for some time.
I woke up again 45 mins. later to the same feelings only a bit more intense at this point. I was also having trouble, from the start, I failed to mention, with the hose. Very restricted because it just rotates in a circular motion and was hard to position acceptibly. Should have been made with a 360 degree postioning, IMHO. And the noise the exhaust makes almost constantly causes one to reposition the blankets and hose to quiet it down. Other than that, I found the Hybrid relatively quiet, no more noisy than other masks and perhaps less noisy. It's just that darn exhaust/hose combo.
Woke up again 45-60 mins. later again, same thing, a bit more intense now.
Fell asleep again only to wake up, once again, an hour later; at which time, I was tired of seeing the clock with every initial digit in order. At that point, I couldn't stand it anymore and took the mask off, used the facilities and put on my Aura. All I can say after I did that is, "Ah!" I was free. I should mention, also, that when I was in the bathroom, I noticed not only did I have clip marks on my cheeks WITH the PACs, but the lower straps must have been too tight, also, because I had lower straps marks along my jawline, although lighter than the clip marks.
I do NOT want to discourage anyone else from trying this mask. These are just my own FIRST NIGHT...first three hours experiences with it. I am NOT used to, nor am I usually comfortable with, full face masks of any kind so this kind of falls into that category. And I realize, as usual, and as suspected, I am probably the minority with my opinion so far of the Hybrid.
I do want to give it another chance to see if maybe tonight could be an improvement. I might even remove the headgear entirely and position the necessary pantyhose or headbands where it's comfortable and see if that works for me. Hell, many have done that with the Aura and found it the best mask they've ever used (right, Linda???). Maybe that will work for the Hybrid and me.
I do not think it's a bad mask at all. I think it has a lot of potential, especially for those who are used to ff masks or that haven't found one that they can tolerate yet. You're hearing from a diehard Aura fan, and the Aura being a mask that is so unobtrusive and easy to tolerate, so I may be way harder on this mask than others will be.
Like I said yesterday, I'm not going down without a fight, so I will probably give it another go tonight and then perhaps one more without the headgear, unless I rip it apart today and try it without. Then maybe it will be a headgear-less night's try tonight.
Don't let me scare anyone off. Like I said, it's not a bad mask. I just haven't had much luck YET. But I'll keep trying.
If you read my previous posts from yesterday about trying to prepare for the night with the new acquisition, I was concerned about the clips pressing into my cheeks, which, as you can see from my avatar, are not overly chunky. I do have somewhat prominent cheekbones, though, and that might have something to do with it. However, I put my PadACheeks, double padded for Swift, on them last night and before bed, they felt much better. I also decided to coat the mask seal and the nasal pillows in my benzoin tincture to ensure less leakage, just as a precautionary measure. This is what occurred.
I went to bed and for once used the heated humidifier which, from what I had read, sounded like a smart thing to do. It didn't take long to fall asleep and the mask wasn't leaking to any degree that I could tell. I woke up the first time about an hour and a half later noticing a lot of pressure on the area between the top lip and my nose. Also, it felt far more cumbersome than what I'm used to, my Aura, where nothing but the pillows touch your face. But on I went, hoping I would fall asleep again and not wake up for some time.
I woke up again 45 mins. later to the same feelings only a bit more intense at this point. I was also having trouble, from the start, I failed to mention, with the hose. Very restricted because it just rotates in a circular motion and was hard to position acceptibly. Should have been made with a 360 degree postioning, IMHO. And the noise the exhaust makes almost constantly causes one to reposition the blankets and hose to quiet it down. Other than that, I found the Hybrid relatively quiet, no more noisy than other masks and perhaps less noisy. It's just that darn exhaust/hose combo.
Woke up again 45-60 mins. later again, same thing, a bit more intense now.
Fell asleep again only to wake up, once again, an hour later; at which time, I was tired of seeing the clock with every initial digit in order. At that point, I couldn't stand it anymore and took the mask off, used the facilities and put on my Aura. All I can say after I did that is, "Ah!" I was free. I should mention, also, that when I was in the bathroom, I noticed not only did I have clip marks on my cheeks WITH the PACs, but the lower straps must have been too tight, also, because I had lower straps marks along my jawline, although lighter than the clip marks.
I do NOT want to discourage anyone else from trying this mask. These are just my own FIRST NIGHT...first three hours experiences with it. I am NOT used to, nor am I usually comfortable with, full face masks of any kind so this kind of falls into that category. And I realize, as usual, and as suspected, I am probably the minority with my opinion so far of the Hybrid.
I do want to give it another chance to see if maybe tonight could be an improvement. I might even remove the headgear entirely and position the necessary pantyhose or headbands where it's comfortable and see if that works for me. Hell, many have done that with the Aura and found it the best mask they've ever used (right, Linda???). Maybe that will work for the Hybrid and me.
I do not think it's a bad mask at all. I think it has a lot of potential, especially for those who are used to ff masks or that haven't found one that they can tolerate yet. You're hearing from a diehard Aura fan, and the Aura being a mask that is so unobtrusive and easy to tolerate, so I may be way harder on this mask than others will be.
Like I said yesterday, I'm not going down without a fight, so I will probably give it another go tonight and then perhaps one more without the headgear, unless I rip it apart today and try it without. Then maybe it will be a headgear-less night's try tonight.
Don't let me scare anyone off. Like I said, it's not a bad mask. I just haven't had much luck YET. But I'll keep trying.