CPAPfit Pillow Illustrations - feeback wanted

[SleepGuy]

First, thanks to all of the awesome people on the forum who have helped me develop and improve products over the years.

In the latest round of pillow development, not only did I get some great reviews but some really helpful feedback to improve the product.

I hired an illustrator to help with the pillow and came up with the attached illustrations.



We worked hard to get the anatomy correct, superimposing xrays to scale with the model.

I believe that one of the reasons the CPAPfit pillow works so well in the back position is that it allows you to achieve a 20 to 40 degree cervical curve. Doing this necessarily opens the airway by extending the throat and tongue muscle. You can test this out yourself. Take a deep breath. Scrunch your chin down to your chest and, while exhaling slowly, arch your head back. You can feel the airway open as you arch your head back.

Standard pillows act as springs (see illustration). That spring works on the bottom of the cranium to push up the head and constrict the airway.

The pillow I have created allows the cranium to drop all the way to the mattress level, resulting in a slight curve in the neck and open airway.

Putting these illustrations together made me wonder how much standard pillows actually contribute to sleep apnea, at least in the back position?

In any event, I would appreciate any and all feedback on these illustrations, whether you use the pillow or not.

Edit: The pillow is fully adjustable for side sleeping as well, so please comment on this companion illustration--I would appreciate it.

[LSAT]

Sleeping on one's back is the worst position for OSA sufferers. I don't see how the pillow or the head will stay in that position through the night. Most people move around.

[jaycee2]

I use a Tempurpedic cervical pillow. I don't know what degree the head is tipped back. I must sleep on my back due to other issues. I've noticed that my mask doesn't leak if I tip my head back like in the illustration. For back sleepers with neck issues your design might work. It really depends on the individual.

[englandsf]

Like LSAT I wonder WHY you're working on getting people to sleep on their backs? Unless there is a medical reason to NOT side sleep that will only make OSA worse for 99% of people.

[SleepGuy]

Like LSAT I wonder WHY you're working on getting people to sleep on their backs? Unless there is a medical reason to NOT side sleep that will only make OSA worse for 99% of people.

Good point. I am not encouraging anybody to sleep in any position. Personally I sleep on my back just like the illustration and my AHI is 0.1 consistently every night. So this configuration works for me. I don't tolerate sleeping on my side very well.

The CPAPfit pillow is equally good as a side-sleeper and since englandsf and LSAT both use the pillow, I assume this is how you use it?



Please feel free to comment on this illustration as well. I would appreciate that.

[englandsf]

Yes indeed, but only when I'm congested enough to need an FFM. My P10 is fine with regular pillows.

Not trying to be critical BTW, just confused. If you're saying "IF YOU MUST" back sleep then use this pillow I'd have to agree you're doing a good thing...

[SleepGuy]

Not trying to be critical BTW, just confused. If you're saying "IF YOU MUST" back sleep then use this pillow I'd have to agree you're doing a good thing...

Please be critical. That's what I am after--critical thinking from people who know more than I do....and who have different experiences.

I appreciate your clarification--

So the message should be that for sleep apnea / cpap treatment, side sleeping is best. This pillow is great for side sleeping with a cpap mask.....

But if you don't tolerate side sleeping, then this pillow is also adjustable for back sleeping with an ideal 20-40 degree cervical curve, which extends the tongue muscle and opens the airway....

Thanks!

[lytepole]

Hi SleepGuy -

I'm going to give you honest feedback based on someone who has never tried any "CPAP pillow" which I hope will help.

After reviewing your illustration, I went and looked at the pillow on Amazon. My next step was to also look at memory foam contour pillows and I actually placed a contoured memory foam pillow in my cart, but haven't purchased yet. It is immediately obvious how the memory foam contour pillows would help with the proper alignment as per the illustration. It may be helpful to a novice buyer to have a corresponding actual picture of your pillow in use with a back sleeper obtaining the cervical curve you reference or short video clip showing how to obtain the desired alignment. The other real pictures are all side sleepers or just the pillow, which leave an uninformed buyer having to fill in the blanks of how to get what looks like a rectangle into the shape recommended by your illustration.

I know a lot of people here love your pillow, but I haven't tried it yet, so I hope that my feedback might help you know how novice CPAP pillow users might view things.

[englandsf]

Is this the pillow I have - with the cut outs for side sleeping with and FFM?

For that the pillow is great - nothing touches the side of the mask.

[SleepGuy]

Hi SleepGuy -

I'm going to give you honest feedback based on someone who has never tried any "CPAP pillow" which I hope will help.

After reviewing your illustration, I went and looked at the pillow on Amazon. My next step was to also look at memory foam contour pillows and I actually placed a contoured memory foam pillow in my cart, but haven't purchased yet. It is immediately obvious how the memory foam contour pillows would help with the proper alignment as per the illustration. It may be helpful to a novice buyer to have a corresponding actual picture of your pillow in use with a back sleeper obtaining the cervical curve you reference or short video clip showing how to obtain the desired alignment. The other real pictures are all side sleepers or just the pillow, which leave an uninformed buyer having to fill in the blanks of how to get what looks like a rectangle into the shape recommended by your illustration.

I know a lot of people here love your pillow, but I haven't tried it yet, so I hope that my feedback might help you know how novice CPAP pillow users might view things.

lytepole, thanks for your feedback. I am working on more content. Did you see the video review? The guy who did that I think did a fine job explaining how the pillow works, how it's adjustable. My only comment on the video is that he has it oriented with the zipper "top" edge at the bottom view so you can't really see the gusset sleeping edge or the profile.

The pillow is really different than a pre-contoured pillow for many reasons. For one thing, memory foams build up heat. Also, they don't adjust higher than their cut. If it starts too shallow, then you have to put a towel or another pillow under it. Third, they really don't provide all that much support. It's kind of like an illusion because all of the support just melts away from the place that has the most pressure on it--plus it also pushes back, so you end up with a large pressure point wherever your body is pushing down the hardest on the pillow.

The CPAPfit doesn't do any of that: It's like a shapeable sleep platform that provides firm support right where you need it without pressure points....

I am thinking motion graphics will ultimately be the best way to demonstrate the pillow....Maybe that's where I need to focus some investment....

[tortoisegirl]

I think those are helpful illustrations on how to adjust the pillow. I personally don't see how sleeping on your back while using CPAP would be so bad, as long as your pressure was titrated for that and/or you use an auto machine with a sufficiently high max pressure. Without CPAP, sure it could be worse to back sleep. Is there much literature that actually recommends folks with apnea using CPAP should avoid back sleeping?

There are plenty of reasons folks will continue to back sleep with apnea who are being treated with CPAP. For me, my neck can't tolerate stomach sleeping (which I prefer), and my shoulders can't tolerate side sleeping. I don't think that providing an illustration of the use of the pillow with CPAP while back sleeping would be construed as a suggestion to back sleep, especially with a companion side sleeping illustration. Thanks for sharing that with us SleepGuy, and good luck! Best wishes.

[lytepole]

Did you see the video review?

Hi SleepGuy -

I did not see the video review. I went back to Amazon to see why - I had to page down 8 times to get to that video review. The video does do a great job explaining it. However, as a frequent Amazon shopper, I can honestly say I rarely page down to the reviews and am unlikely to watch a full 8 minute video if we were not having this conversation on a forum. I typically look at the overall ratings and read a couple reviews and make a purchase decision.

A short motion graphic up at the top with the product pictures where shoppers can find it easily would be awesome!

[Paralel]

What design did you end up going with for the final V2? I know you were testing something like 3 different shapes.

I love mine. I can't use any other pillow.

[mike1953]

Hi Sleepguy,
The side sleep drawing is just how I use my pillow and it works great. I also have a cervical spine injury with fused vertibra and plates and screws holding everything together and this pillow is great. Super neck support whether on my back or side, (mainly a side sleeper) its great.

[AfibApnea]

Please consider the following (from a technical illustrator):
Ordinary Pillows:

• - The color of the "airspace area": (the area where there is no contact between the user and the pillow), although not graduated (going from one color to another) seems to associate itself with the other red areas in the illustration. I gather this (association) is a situation you are trying to avoid. To make it more apparent (that this is not associated with air passages or spring-back) I might color the area a set of alternating (darker red/white/darker red/white) diagonal lines.
  - Spring-back: I'm not sure that the graphic illustrates spring-back as emphatically as you would like it to (which I assume is to cause the head to lean forward and by so doing restrict the air passages). Regardless of whether you decide to modify the illustration to emphasize this, I would use the dotted line blue arrow (you use in "CPAP Fit", but this time curved) to indicate the results of spring-back.

CPAP Fit (side position):

• Please extend the dotted (body) line through the pillow to indicate how the pillow accommodates the neck.

Pillow Side Position:

• Since I am a side sleeper, I would like to see how a normal pillow affects my position and air passages.

The only kind of pillow I have been able to successfully use when wearing a face mask (any kind: pillows, nose, full) is a "bean pillow" (buckwheat husks I believe). This is because the pillow tends to maintain its shape, and allow me to prop the mask off the end of the pillow. It is this proppage (cantilever) that is the most critical component of keeping my mask from moving. I have never had any luck using a pillow that makes contact with the mask.