Aloha Pillow Mask Review

Elle wrote:Unless there is a teeny magician in the mask the prongs are "adjusting" when you nudge them out of place with movement. To think it is anything other than that defies the laws of physics.

Movement during the night places them at the point of greatest stress - no genies involved. I made that same comment but was being facetious at the time. Just some good natured humor to add to some glowing reviews of the appliance. You aren't really nudging them "out of place." They are in place but movement is its reaction to the stress and consequently there is less pressure/stress on them when they move to their final resting place. Oh Lord, I made it sound like a death.

NateS wrote:On this "self-adjusting" issue, I am wondering whether there might be another explanation. I take the mask off in the morning by lifting the back strap and pulling the straps up and forward over my head. I am wondering now whether that's when the pillows get cranked back partly out of hooks - when I take it off in the morning rather than self-adjusting during the night.

I like the "self-adjusting" explanation better and it sounds wonderful if true. I am just now wondering whether there is a less exotic explanation and that it just happens during removal of the mask.

For those finding the pillows on a different setting in the morning, how do you take your Aloha off?

Maybe I will try putting the mask on at full insertion and immediately taking it back off and see where the prongs/hooks land. Can anyone else please try that too?

Regards, Nate

Since my pillows moved from all the way in out to the 4th notch the first night I left them there. I have found that if I peal the mask off from the rear there is less pull on the prongs. I start in 4th notch and they are still in 4th notch when I hang the mask on the hose hanger the next morning.

You are scaring me with that autoadjusting mask

If I understand well the phenomenon: you go to bed and you adjust (tight) your mask at the point you feel there is no leaks and it's comfortable. You fall asleep and you start moving all around putting pressure on the pillows, and voila the setting changes because of the stretch you apply to the straps, you wake up with the mask adjusted different but still no leaks. Ex. the mask was at the 3rd notch the night now it's at the 4th notch.

Am I right?

Could it happens that the pillows completely disconnects or become TOO loose? Have somebody experienced that situation?

After a bit of flack from the DME I use, I just ordered the Aloha. He tried to convince me that a different mask (OptiLite, I think it was) was just as good. He said he had to order it (of course, had the OptiLite in stock) which would end up costing him money. Why do they always pull that? He said about two weeks, which means four of course.

Sounds like the only thing this mask doesn't do for you is play lullabies! Maybe on the next version...guess I'll have to break down and get the Aloha after reading all your glowing revues.

rosacer wrote:You are scaring me with that autoadjusting mask

If I understand well the phenomenon: you go to bed and you adjust (tight) your mask at the point you feel there is no leaks and it's comfortable. You fall asleep and you start moving all around putting pressure on the pillows, and voila the setting changes because of the stretch you apply to the straps, you wake up with the mask adjusted different but still no leaks. Ex. the mask was at the 3rd notch the night now it's at the 4th notch.

Am I right?

Could it happens that the pillows completely disconnects or become TOO loose? Have somebody experienced that situation?

This was my biggest fear with this mask, those tiny settings. lucky i use the pillows tilted all the way in one direction but i masked up last night i noticed that the connector on one side had moved all the way over to the opposite side. Had it moved during sleep? Or had not handled it correctly causing the movement? I will download data tonight and check for leaks for sure.

~UB

Maybe we can get a couple of those cute little wedges the dentist uses to separate teeth when doing crowns.
Just shove them in there to make it stay put.

Those settings are just markers. the pillow slides in smooth, but not so much that it's too much. It does adjust itself during the night but it's not broken the seal. The longer you use this aloha, the more you'll see that it does. Have you noticed that this mask requires no gels for your nose to get use to?
It pivots in every direction and adjusts on those little rockers. Looks like Respcare raised the bar (I mean rockers)!

My final mod to the Opus 360, which I have been using for four leak free years, involved anchoring the hose on the forehead (actually an in-line hard plastic down-tube is anchored) freeing the 360 degree swivel to allow movement of the nasal pillows in all directions. I currently used a standard four point headgear (Respironics Simplicity) with the top strap tight and the lower strap loose, adding stability ala the original panty hose mod. I'm hoping the Aloha is a step in the right direction and does allow some self-correcting through the night. Otherwise I'll just have to keep modifying when I need a replacement.

neverbetter wrote:Those settings are just markers. the pillow slides in smooth, but not so much that it's too much. It does adjust itself during the night but it's not broken the seal. The longer you use this aloha, the more you'll see that it does. Have you noticed that this mask requires no gels for your nose to get use to?
It pivots in every direction and adjusts on those little rockers. Looks like Respcare raised the bar (I mean rockers)!

I wasn't going to say anything but since you created this post Neverbetter, I decided to go ahead. I thought maybe I was imagining something. Last night, somehow my chinstrap came undone and the mask moved off the back of my head (NOTE: After last night, I think I'm going to return to anchoring mask via my ponytail). When I woke up, the pillows were still securely positioned. I'll NEVER quite figure out how that happened. See, I've got proof of a great/continued seal. I must also make mention that during this time, there were only four events since I forgot to insert the SD card.

Regarding gels, you are correct. Several of us, including me, have stated we stopped using Lansinoh cream altogether.

Man I thought I'd found the Promise Land when I got my Swift FX....but this Aloha absolutely blew me away (pun intended) on the second night I had it. I never dreamed that I'd have zero....yes that's right..zero leaks for the whole night!!! First of all, thanks to all in this forum who basically sold me on it with their reviews even though I was happy as a lark (and that's pretty darned happy if I understand right) with my Swift FX!!! But now I've reached the pinnacle I mean...what's better than no leaks and a low AHI??? (Oh yeah...there's that...Ooolala!) Where do I go from here?

Well i ordered an aloha mask yesterday. It doesnt look like they have them in Australia yet so I ordered on from cpap.com in US. After all the good reviews I just had to get one.

You may know how I whined, begged, called everyone to try and get the Aloha and was told no at every turn, then finally after reaching the head of the DME I have to use, she got me one telling me they will NEVER carry them, and will not provide me with replacement parts. So who cares, I'll get them somehow. That was a while back, and I got a call today from her asking me to try the Opus 360 as her F&P Rep swore to her their mask is exactly the same. I told her about the positives of the Aloha and how I LOVE IT, and how it doesn't even resemble the Aloha, still she wants me to try it give her my comparison thoughts. I am glad to do it, but to me this is a real no brainer!

portiemom wrote:You may know how I whined, begged, called everyone to try and get the Aloha and was told no at every turn, then finally after reaching the head of the DME I have to use, she got me one telling me they will NEVER carry them, and will not provide me with replacement parts. So who cares, I'll get them somehow. That was a while back, and I got a call today from her asking me to try the Opus 360 as her F&P Rep swore to her their mask is exactly the same. I told her about the positives of the Aloha and how I LOVE IT, and how it doesn't even resemble the Aloha, still she wants me to try it give her my comparison thoughts. I am glad to do it, but to me this is a real no brainer!

That's pretty funny. My DME, who sells the Opus and had it on one of his display models, warned against it when I asked for it before the Aloha came out. He handed it to me and let me handle the stiff sidestraps and the very, very tiny cellular foam glued onto the stiff straps as the only thing between your cheeks and the straps. He offered to let me take it home and try it, but said a lot of customers always complained about it and/or returned it because of the stiffness and discomfort of those straps on their cheeks.

As I recall, the Opus cheekstraps are stiff and inflexible in both the horizontal and vertical planes, whereas I find the Aloha is inflexible in the vertical plane but fully flexible in the horizontal plane, so that it comfortably wraps around your cheeks.
I also don't recall the Opus providing a rotating barrel for adjusting the angle of entry of the nasal pillows into your nostrils, nor a method for holding the pillows so that they cannot shift left or right once in place.

Just for fun, why not ask her what she has to say about those differences in design details.

Why not check out:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=76633&st=0&sk=t&sd= ... aloha+opus

Aloha vs Opus 360 Mask?

8 pages

Regards, Nate

Sleeping Vader.....I was going to write a post tonight, but you took every word right out of my mouth including my former use of a Swift FX prior to getting my Aloha about 2 weeks ago...It has changed my life!!! Nothing more to say except why would you use any other mask??? It is a whole lot easier to make a chin strap work for those that have the open mouth problem than it is to find the perfect mask!!!

Again...Thank God for this forum and all of you wonderful people!!!!

Aloha!!!!!!! and take care all!