Aloha mask issues

chunkyfrog wrote:Nate: You guys made the hockey sticks too long

Sorry!

Oh well, back to the drawing board!



Nate

Papit wrote:

NateS wrote:Studying Papit's current Statistics chart, I can quickly see that his AHIs are higher than mine, but his Leak numbers are lower, which poses the question as to whether I can rely on my AHIs.

This is why I keep striving to get my leakage down - If I could get my leak numbers down like the ones in his charts, would my AHI numbers be higher but more accurate? I would like to know the answer, but will only know if and when I can trim the Leaks.

Nate
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Nate, I think Pugsy and others would agree that an average leak even up to 40 is not a show-stopper, but as you know Resmed's alert line is at 24 L/min. What were your average 95%-ile leaks using the FX and what were they with other masks?

Papit, Pugsy, et al: Here's the answer to your question:

With Swift FX Headgear:


(I have omitted a short period of days between above and next graph where my pressure setting was botched up and my AHIs shot way up)

With Swift FX Bella Loops:


With Aloha:


At first I said: "These numbers don't look right to me - both periods can't be 56 days!" but I guess I was wrong. By pure coincidence, both periods seem to total just 4 days short of a 60 day period.

Nate

Gosh, Nate, those numbers look really good to me. I guess my chinstrap pushing my jaw bones up into my ear canals isn't enough to keep my lips from fluttering. Going to have to resort to blue tape. Your days used is a funny coincidence! I would have questioned it as well. Me thinks you have a really advanced case of excellent timing.

Suz

Papit,

Any more word on your inventions/modifications/ideas/improvements/contacts with mfr regarding the Aloha?

I would like to figure out a way to change the angle of entry just slightly into my nostrils. I tried the o-rings and floss but they don't seem to do what I have in mind.

When I slightly squeeze together the sides of the base on which the pillows are mounted, then it seems perfect. I tried a wide rubber band over the sides of the base but it kept slipping off.

Regards, Nate

PS - I did come to the conclusion that when you start getting frequent leaks and are tempted to overcome them by tightening the mask straps to jamb the pillows tighter against your nostrils - don't! Instead, it means it's time to get new pillows and leave the straps alone! Bingo - back to good leak numbers. (I haven't tried the boiling yet.)

I've come to the same conclusion on the leaks also. Pillows don't seem to last long. I've got 2 to boil and a couple of FX pillows so I guess I'll boil them all together. Haven't seen a post from Papit in awhile, hope he's OK.

I bought the Aloha mask last week and have been using it for several days. It feels ok although sometimes can be a bit uncomfortable at first but it seems stable on my face now. According to my machine i don't get any leaks at all with it however my AHI has shot up. it now hovers around 5-8 AHI and i noticed my throat is a bit sore when i wake up. I tried upping the pressure and lowering it as well but can't seem to fix this issue.

You might want to try raising your humidity a bit. That helped me a lot. Odd that your AHI has gone up. Did it go down at all when you increased your pressure?

Suz

I stumbled upon this by accident a couple weeks ago and will pass it along to Aloha users FWIW:

Remember the wire Papit attaches to his Swift FX to adjust the angle formed by the way the pillows tilt towards each other when they enter your nostrils, and my lament about not finding a way to control that angle with the Aloha?

Well, I found there is a way after all, which works for me.

After you have put on the Aloha, look in the mirror and take hold of the corner of the black "hockey sticks" resting against each cheek, and slowly move them a centimeter or two up or down, so that the horizontal leg of the "hockey stick" that leads towards your nose is either perfectly horizontal, or slopes slightly downward or slightly upward away from a perfect horizontal.

If you do that, you will see that the angle of left and right entry into each nostril adjusts slightly to form either a narrower or wider top angle between the nasal pillows.

Pick the position which suits your nose, and the flat base of each nasal pillow will be more likely to form a good seal at the base of each nostril.

In my case, a perfect horizontal makes the best seal, and has cut down my leak rate very substantially. I had previously been tugging the corners slightly downward.

And the "hockey sticks" tend stay where they are put all night, thanks to the velvety cover material.

Regards,

Nate

user from Singapore wrote: Pugsy, what would we do without you?
Your posts (and PMs) are great, you are so helpful and most of the time your extensive and practical knowledge associated with your wisdom makes all of us look at our data with a different perspective. Many thanks.

I second that wholeheartedly.