Assorted venting, heated hose, nasal aire II

Accommodating to CPAP is such a pain in the rear. It seems like everything is one step forward, 7/8 step backwards. A couple of cases in point...

We bought two heated hoses from Down Under. Very fast shipping, very nice customer service. Warm air was initially a bit unpleasant but my wife and I accommodated. Problem is that they come with this grey fabric cover… which is glued on. Fabric is NOT durable. It gets dirty and requires washing. No can do. Plus, I like to inspect my hoses periodically. The hose cover, being permanently fastened on, makes this impossible. Answer? Cut it off. I’ve already ordered two snuggly thing covers to replace the badly designed ones. Tch tch. I don’t want to steal proprietary secrets of construction and if I did, the mere cutting off of a cover wouldn’t deter me.

Also the heated hoses come with a plastic single use(r) elbow fitting. This is to reduce strain on the tubing since it has some sort of wire imbedded in it. Very nice for them to send the fitting. Problem is that the fitting is a cheap translucent plastic tube that can be concealed in the palm of your hand. One of our two has already gone missing in a cluttered two person bedroom. Finding it will be a needle in the etc problem. Sigh. I’m going to switch to a short length of tubing with a tube-tube connector. Hard to lose, and easy to remove with one hand from the heated humidifier, unlike the super tight fitting plastic piece.

On another front, I wanted to try the Nasal Aire-II so I did my due diligence and bought the sizing star first. It came with no instructions and the videos do not show in detail the sizing criteria. OK, says I, if no one is saying anything, then the criteria are probably commonsensical. Hah. Suffice it to say that I probably would have gotten as close by going with the medium, star unseen, as I have doing it the ‘right’ way. Maybe I’ll get a replacement nasal prong section from the manufacturer. Maybe I’ll make a slingshot out of the darned thing. My conclusion is that I can’t recommend the NAII unless you can have it professionally fitted or can afford the money and delays to get the right fit. Don’t think the sizing star is a magic bullet. It isn’t even a good arrow.

I know I’m picky but why in the world can’t we buy a decent solution that works out of the box? We have to cut, hack, tape etc etc just to get the functionality that we paid good money for in the first place. Don’t they beta test these things?! Why is almost every CPAP component that I buy is well on its way to being the New Coke of medical gear, untested and impractical without huge effort on my part?

Agh!!!

OK, I feel better. Tell me where to send the therapy check…

Thanks-

Ted


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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): humidifier, hose, tubing, CPAP

Wow........aggravating to say the least.

I am a NA II user, my second favorite mask at the present time. It is also the first mask that I got from my DME when I started PAP over a year ago. It seemed pretty simple, stick the thing in your nose nares, and what ever fits is what you need. (I wear a small)

I know that you can BUY a replacement piece for the NA II, but I hope you can get an exchange for the one you need. Anyways, it is available at CPAP.COM

Just a hint, the nose takes a week or so to get used to the NA II and because of soreness, I used a little "Oral Gel" and rubbed it up in my nose when I went to sleep, and it relieved the pain at bedtime.

Best of Luck to you, I hope it all gets better for you.

From best I can tell from using my masks and the experience of others mask users; in order to truly appreciate the various mask choices, you must have an attraction to S&M. Going in you’ve just got to love the pain of being bruised, strapped, sore and wind blown. Anything short of those fetishes and you’ll be reaching for the Oral Gel and Sunburn Sprays, and looking for ways to use Moleskin, nylons and soft-covers on some part of the mask or your body.