CPAPtalk.com

neverbetter wrote:Papit,
I finally figured out what the heck that paper clip thing is on your avatar photo of you and the Swift FX (because you would never tell me...) Anyway. It's a paper clip that is bent to bend the pillows to the shape of your nostrils so you don't have leaks. Am I right? Am I right? I'm right. That's why you made those rings for the Aloha. I get it. I finally get it.Your angling the rings to tilt the pillow just like you probably used the wire to bring the pillows towards each other. The wire paper clip thing was driving me batty, but I see now that your an innovator who needs to innovate ways of managing your leaks so you can use pillow masks. You might have a deviated septum and need to aim your pillow toward the open part of your nostril (I'm no doctor, but I read on Sleepnet years ago that the nasal aire was the perfect mask for deviated septum because it opened their nostrils for them).Makes sense. I hope one of your "fixes" helps other people who have trouble enjoying pillow masks, too.I could never go through all that. When the Swift FX kept collapsing on me, I gave up. The Aloha works like a dream for most and I hope you get a mask for you that works like that. You are one heck of an engineer. Looks like if they don't make one that works for your nose, you will! I admire your good old fashioned American ingenuity.

Issac wrote:I saw someone with the Swift FX use a white support of some sort that seemed to make the pillows stand up like Aloha's . I don't know what he used, probably plastic to make rings. That, too could be a solution to the Swift FX if the pillows are too week. Papit, have your tried the Swift LT pillows? I found the LT to be the most similar to the Aloha, but the pillows might be closer together. I can even wear an LT (with Lanolish).

chunkyfrog wrote: ". . . Last night, I tried the Aloha again, but with a finger sized Sili-band to pull the pillows closer together. (shaped like a little ice cream cone-- ) I tightened up the straps a little more, and --I think it's going to work! Leak rate--13.2!
And I slept for 8.2 hours--pretty much straight through.
The previous night, I had to switch back to the FX after an hour, as the leaks on the Aloha were simply maddening.
. . .

BadBreath wrote: "While I find the aloha pillows uncomfortable, otherwise it was the best "right out of the box" mask for me, light and relatively stable. On considering modifications (as usual) I realized that the top strap lifted the stiff side support pieces off of the top of my ears and actually reduced stability, allowing the mask to move when I would bury my face during side sleeping. So I just removed the top strap altogether. With the side supports resting on top of my ears, much like a pair of glasses, the increased stability eliminated the unseating of the pillows completely, while the back strap no longer rode up the back of my head during the night. It's counter-intuitive, but I suggest you try it.

portiemom wrote:Nate, Nate, Nate, I'm surprised, don't you mean the Aloha Pillows are not superior for you, as oppose to saying they ARE inferior to the Swift Fx, for me and I would imagine others they are superior for US than the Swift. I find them to be spaced perfect for me where the Swift Pillows are too close together..........so in the interest of those that may be interested in either nasal pillow mask, don't you think you should clarify your conclusions to IMHO or just stick to the facts. Lovya posts Nate so don't get crazy, I'm just sayin

portiemom wrote:Ooooooooooooo Nate, Nate, Nate FORGIVE ME PLEEEEEASE, I should have said PAPIT, PAPIT, PAPIT1 I am soooooooo SORRY NATE!!!! You know I'm your BUD!

Papit wrote:[Updated on 5/27/12] The conclusion I've come to thus far is that the pillow design of the FX is clearly superior to that of Aloha's (even with its angular adjustment feature). The overhead short tube connection feature of the Aloha is completely lacking in the FX unless you rig it up as I did a few months back. I've been using that overhead tube routing along with the 'compression clip' that I designed for the FX for months now to optimize an already good pillows fit. The pillows seal of the FX has been super.

I even forbid myself … the use of every word or expression in the language that imported a fixed opinion, such as certainly, undoubtedly, &c., and I adopted, instead of them, I conceive, I apprehend, or I imagine a thing to be so or so; or it so appears to me at present.