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portiemom wrote:I am going to carefully take some embroidery floss and finger crochet some covers tight enough just over the three inch portion that goes over the ear.

Sounds like a good plan. The only place that the loops themselves cause me any discomfort at all is the part that goes over the top of the ear and behind just a little ways and even then it is very minimal. I did briefly try the hair things. It caused the straps to be too close together near the ear to be comfortable and wanted to pull too much. I only had new hair things though. They weren't stretched out much. If they had been well used might have worked better.

portiemom wrote:Now I love the Bella Loops, but they are fickle, one night great, next I'm futzing with them all night.

That's what I'm sayin!! Is it us? Is it the Loops? Blah!

ems wrote:

portiemom wrote:Now I love the Bella Loops, but they are fickle, one night great, next I'm futzing with them all night.

That's what I'm sayin!! Is it us? Is it the Loops? Blah!

I am allowing for the possibility that it's us - our heads and our noses and our ears.

Seriously, the circumference of every other part of our body varies from hour to hour and day to day with barometric pressure, water retention, room temperature, blood pressure, etc. etc. why not our heads, noses, ears, etc.?

Let's not be too hard on poor Bella, since everybody seems to report this experience with every mask they try or use.

Nate

NateS wrote:Let's not be too hard on poor Bella, since everybody seems to report this experience with every mask they try or use.

This is so very true. Sometimes we have bad nights even with our favorite go to masks. Things happen.
If the Loops get too picky....go back to the traditional headgear for a little bit. Revisit the loops later.
Try the newest Aloha...satisfy that curiosity itch if you can.

One person's treasure can be another person's trash.

I just had my first night with my Bella (loops attached to the Swift FX pillows). AHI: .17, my best yet. Leak rate under 15 L/min all night, with one spike at 23 L/min (also pretty great for me). And most importantly, I *felt* like I slept well, something I haven't felt yet even though my AHI is always under 1.

The downside: my ears are a little sore, and I woke up with pretty serious strap marks. I'm a side sleeper, so I expected this. I'll definitely get the Pad-A-Cheek covers for Bella when they're ready. And I will loosen the straps a little and see if I can maintain the happy-making numbers.

The verdict: So far... I'm a fan, and they're going into my rotation. I've also ordered a set for my fiance, because I think he'll love them. We'll see!

Nate and Pugsy... you both make sense. However, I wonder how much may be psychological as well. I guess the answer to that may never be known.

Last night I switched the pillows from the x-small to the small. Slept with the mask on all nite. Will that happen again tonight? Who knows.

ems wrote:Nate and Pugsy... you both make sense. However, I wonder how much may be psychological as well. I guess the answer to that may never be known.

Last night I switched the pillows from the x-small to the small. Slept with the mask on all nite. Will that happen again tonight? Who knows.

If anyone is interested in a "Don't do as I did …" here is my contribution:

When the Bella Loops would get displaced during the night, I would first try my best half asleep and in the dark to gently get the nasal pillows perfectly back into place to stop the hissing, but after about 10 minutes of struggle I would sometimes get frustrated and do the one thing that worked when all else failed: I'd grab the left and right top or bottom pair of laces and yank! This made the Loops so tight that there was nowhere else for the nasal pillows to go but up my nose. That would shut up the hiss for the rest of the night, but of course cause me to wake up with a sore piggy nose in the morning.

Over-tightening is a no-no! Keep them on the loose side and try to make only teeny adjustments! (Also, I found that adding the grey elephant loops made by the snuggle people tended to give me a wider range of forgiveness with less adjustments needed.)

Best wishes, Nate

There are so many variables each night for us, the mask, our bed pillow, hair and many more. I think all of these play in to what I like to call the "fickle mask syndrome." For me and my very curly hair, small face and ears, and the fact that I need a very firm pillow for my spine also play a big part in my nightly mask adventure. I do wish I was a committed and good Lab-rator, but alas I am not. I wish I could send all my successful and not so successful draw full of masks to Dreamstalker, along with a list of things that work for me and I KNOW he could lab-rat a perfect mask for me! Then once that was done, I would find another QUEST to set my sights on.

I can remember when I went to bed it was easy, I just went to bed. Now it's a major production every night when I go to bed , so many things to do before you get in bed and go to sleep.

Squid13 you are so right on, I now need to plan to go to bed before I get to tired to get "adjusted" for sleep, sometimes when I'm ready to fall asleep, the nightly "routine" wakes me up so much I can't fall asleep, and then I'm mad that I'm no longer sleepy. So that is why I NEED at tv in the bedroom, don't have one in there, but need one to lull me back to being sleepy.

I'm new to CPAP and have several issues which made me hope and pray Bella loops would work for me. I have hair that goes in every direction as it is during sleep - several cowlicks and fine hair just add to the fun. In addition, I have severe arthritis in both my shoulders and can't reach the top of my head with my left arm, making it impossible for me to even put my hair in a ponytail or use clips to pull it up, much less be able to affix a chinstrap or headgear. I was so glad to see the Bella Loops!

I've used them about 9 days so far with very few problems. Still getting the hang of fitting them, but most nights no leak at all. Have never had my machine report a night of poor mask fit. My AHI's are always below 2, and mostly below .55. I've had some very minor nasal irritation but have only once or twice even bothered using Ayr on my nostrils. My worst problem was my ears had some soreness that I was able to put up with since I was so motivated, but it was a problem. So I ordered the "Snuggies" which give you four covers, two for the headgear and two for the loops.

Had some problem installing, LOL. First tried the longer set, since they were the length of the loops, but they did not have the same circumference as the shorter ones. After putting one on, I realized it would be nearly impossible to easily adjust the straps with it on. So I decided to try the shorter covers. They were much larger and easier to apply using the paper clip to help guide the Bella Loops through the fabric. I found they fit perfectly across the part of the loops that go behind the ear. Then I put the original covers which pad the cheek area back on, and they both fit together well, covering all needed areas with no overlap. Last night I used them for the first time and they were like heaven - I felt no discomfort at all!

I noticed many people felt the Snuggies were too thick and/or bulky, but I find that even though they are loose on the loops, it has no effect for me putting them on my ears. I just feel a nice soft fabric against my skin. Perhaps they changed the material - mine are made from soft jersey like my jersey sheets, and the fabric itself is not too thick. I think they used the exact material as in my sheets, because the color looks like my sheets did when they were new, LOL.

I did notice that ResMed states people who have ears which are not detached at the lobe will often have trouble with the loops because their design depends on circling behind the ear. If there is no detachment of the lobe, there is nowhere for the loop to go except across the lower part of the lobe. They also stated that if it did not feel comfortable first trying on, that was a sign they were not suited for the user.

I find them comfortable but have more leaks than with regular headgear.