Problem with Aloha pillows

[mdintx]

Hey Folks,

I've made the decision to return to using nasal pillows to eliminate the bridge soreness I'd been experiencing. I've used the Swift LT and Opus 360 in the past. Due to the great reviews, I've been giving the Aloha a try. Overall, it's been working well. I feel a lot better in the mornings. But I've been having occasional problems with moisture building up on the face of the pillow which has resulted in leaking (.02 to .08 readings per the LCD display on my S8). It hasn't happened every night. I use a touch of Lansinoh to minimize irritation. This has never been a problem in the past (though I used a generic in the past and now I'm using the brand name). I lowered the humidity setting and it helped a little. I tried the small pillows but they were too small. I haven't tried the large having never used a large pillow before.

Have any of you had this problem? Any possible solutions?

Thanks,

Mark

[jwerley]

Md I have had your exact problem and I also use Lanisoh. So I decided to start using the large size to see if that helps with the leaking.....and it does!!! I don't know the reason for this....if my nares got bigger or the pillows stretched out???? But for the last two nights I have had no leaks!!

Hope this helps....Janice

[kaiasgram]

Md I have had your exact problem and I also use Lanisoh. So I decided to start using the large size to see if that helps with the leaking.....and it does!!! I don't know the reason for this....if my nares got bigger or the pillows stretched out???? But for the last two nights I have had no leaks!!

Hope this helps....Janice

Me too! I used the mediums for a long time and only decided to try the large size recently because I had some irritation where the medium pillow hit my nasal passage on one side. I was surprised, but the large size works well, even with the Lansinoh. I'd say give the next size up a try.

[the_nap_ster]

I'm going to ditto everything said here. The small nasal pillows are comfortable for me, but the medium don't build moisture (and are also comfortable), so I use those. I also found putting a hose cover on my short hose worked to minimize this problem too. I think the sturdy Aloha pillows just allow a little more space for condensation to build, so keeping that warm air as warm as possible through the tube helps get it to my sinuses, and not derailed in my pillows!

[Java Time]

I also switched from nasal mask to the Aloha nasal pillows recently. I don't use the Lanisoh cream, but I did find i needed to mess with my strap adjustments for awhile to minimize leaks. I also have had to play with the adjustment where the plastic tabs that control angle stick into the pillow.

The biggest thing that helped me as a side sleeper was using the Aloha velcro loop thing at the top of the headgear and routing the tube in front of my face and up over my head. When I just let the hose dangle loose, it tended to leak a lot more for me.

I also find that if I am leaking during the night I can adjust the cheekpad arm things up a little bit on my face and that helps.

I've had my Aloha for about 2 months and it does seem to be stiffening up a little bit. I may need to replace the pillow, before my 6 months is up (my insurance minimum).

Overall I have been really pleased with the Aloha, it has been nice to have less of my face covered during the warm months of summer.

[mdintx]

Well, it was much worse with the large pillows. Leak was up to .12 and I had .8 AI whereas a I normally have .0 or .1. I woke up with fatigue and a solid headache

I think I'm going back to the medium but using a hose cover as far up as possible. Let's see how that goes....

[Pugsy]

Do you happen to have the barrel cozy for the Swift FX or LT from Padacheeks? I just tried it (mine is for the FX) and while not a perfect fit it is workable on the Aloha nasal pillows.
I know that before I got the heated hose that the barrel cozy helped a lot with the condensation in the nasal pillow from my own breath. Hose cozies can only help so far and if it is the moisture from our own exhaled breath condensing in the nasal pillows....even turning the humidifier off won't help.

[mdintx]

I don't have a barrel cozy. I will just use hose cover I have and draw it up further and see how it goes. If it helps, I may go a head and get a barrel cozy. I didn't have this problem with the Swift LT or the Opus 360 using the hose cover so I'm hopeful that will fix things. Otherwise, I may go back to one of those or maybe the Swift FX. I haven't tried that one yet.

[BigLou]

md and others............I just started using my Aloha mask about 1 week ago ( was using Swift LT, seems to leak too much and the pillows seem too squishy). I was using Ayer gel at first with the swift and the aloha and decided that since I didn't have any nasal dryness or irrtation to begin with, that this may be causing the pillows to slide around during my most active sleep time (usually 2-4 am). So I am trying Lansinoh ung. now and am in the process of determining if this, along with trying the various nasal pillow sizes will help reduce my leaks.

I am like Pugsy and don't like a whole lot of hardware on my face hence the pillow style of mask. With the Aloha...Small was too small (afraid it would suck up my nostril !) , Large pillow was horrible, Medium pillow is appearing to be the best compromise between comfort and leak. Just to let you know that I scored a 0.0 AHI with the aloha large pillows but felt like absolute crap in the a.m.. Just goes to prove that AHI isn't the whole ball of wax as far as CPAP success goes.....if only the sleep docs would realize this.

One more thing.....I am also experimenting with APAP within a very small range (9.6-11.4).....was sleep studied for CPAP @ 10. On Xpap for about 2 months now. Good luck to us all. I do like the Aloha even though those little prong pillow clips seem kind of cheap. I have also noticed the condensation inside the pillow box upon exhale but it hasn't seemed to be a problem for me....I think?