Protecting hair at night from CPAP mask straps?

[JKRBeloved]

Just wondering if anyone else here uses a CPAP at night, and if so, how do you protect your hair? I often have to fiddle with the velco straps while trying to fall asleep, and sometimes my hair gets snagged in them. I use a satin pillow case, so that helps some, but I have yet to find some way to protect my hair under the mask straps that doesn't give me a headache. Braids seem to bulk it all up too much.

[lambhair]

Have you tried a headwrap or something along those lines? There was a thread around here not too long ago that linked to some nice ones that could be tied different ways...I can't find it right now but I bet you could if you poked around a little.
Good luck!
EDIT:
I found it (http://www.planetbuff.com/?gclid=CKH7n-XKyZsCFRlcagodfyyHLA)....

[Longlocks3]

I think a head wrap of some is a good idea also. Maybe a buff?

Or could you do a very high bun?

I don't have many other idea for you, the CPAP in the title caught my attention as a Respiratory Therapy student.

[embee]

I do a top-of-the-head bun, but the velcro would still get me I'm sure. I'd suggest such a bun and a silk wrap.

With that mask there's no point in worrying about how you look.... I have several friends who wear them and they say it took a while not to frighten themselves if they caught a glimpse in the mirror.

[Nyghtingale]

I vote for high bun also. Must be very uncomfortable, sorry.

[manderly]

Am I the only one that read that as CRAP mask strap?? :lol:

Wear a satin sleep bonnet. The straps will have the added benefit of keeping the bonnet on too :)

[Alia]

Wear a satin sleep bonnet. The straps will have the added benefit of keeping the bonnet on too :)

This. I use a cpap(or crap :D)and use satin sleep caps. Walmart usually has the Stay-On-Satin ones over in the ethnic haircare section, which are much nicer than the exposed elastic ones.

[JKRBeloved]

Great ideas, thank you! The satin or silk sleep
cap sounds perfect. I have tried high buns, but there is so much strappiness going on at the back of my head from the mask that a bun gets pushed around and pulls on my scalp. I tried a buff the other night (and it also doubled as an all-night plop), but it also gave me a head ache. Once I got used to wearing the mask, it really isn't uncomfortable (until I add stuff to cover my hair). And the better sleep I get while using it is well worth the small inconvenience it causes. (HA! YES, Manderly, sometimes I also misread it as that!)

[Catladyintown]

Hi JKRBeloved I have been using a CPAP for around a year now. What I do is put my hair in a high pineapple bun I use a stick to secure it. Then I put a satin night cap around my head it works wonderful. HTH

[redcelticcurls]

I like satin night caps, especially when the satiny part is on the inside.

http://i29.tinypic.com/20h28mo.jpg

[Roseate]

Ooo, RedCelticCurls, where did you get that great cap? I just have the regular bonnet kind, but I feel like my hair is about to outgrow it. That one looks perfect!

[redcelticcurls]

Ooo, RedCelticCurls, where did you get that great cap? I just have the regular bonnet kind, but I feel like my hair is about to outgrow it. That one looks perfect!


I got it here (http://satinsakks.com/mainmenu.html). It *is* less mushroomy, lol.

It's sort of like sleeping in a satin encased pineapple, if that makes sense.

[JKRBeloved]

Catlady, now I'm off to find out what a pineapple bun is. Thanks for giving me hope!
RedCeltic, oh, I'm glad you posted the photo; I had no idea a sleep cap was so long; thought it was shaped more like a shower cap.

[manderly]

JKRBeloved, the one I have is more like a shower cap made of satin. There are so many different types :D

RCC, thanks for that pic and link, I never really liked my bonnet because I like to pile all my hair up on top my head and it makes the cap want to fall off a bit :) I was thinking how one shaped like that would work so much better (I was thinking of getting a buff to sleep in :)

[redcelticcurls]

Catlady, now I'm off to find out what a pineapple bun is. Thanks for giving me hope!
RedCeltic, oh, I'm glad you posted the photo; I had no idea a sleep cap was so long; thought it was shaped more like a shower cap.

Most actually are shower cap sized. I saw this longer one and wanted to try it because it was longer, and the satin was on the inside, which does make more sense when one thinks about using satin as a hair protector at night.

The regular kind at Wal-Mart are much less pricey though. I don't mind the extra price since I'm a pretty consistent bonnet wearer, so it does end up having a low cost-per-use. But, I can see where people would balk at the price.

[Natalia]

I put in another vote for buff. They seem like the coolest thigns to sleep in. I hate when my head gets overheated and with a CPAP i can imagine too much on your head could get very suffocating. A good family friend, and accuaintance and my BIL al have them. Im not sure which model you have but i think abuff would work with the ones they have

[Roseate]

RCC: Thanks for the link! Oddly enough, the company is in a smallish town near the vanishingly small town where I was born. I recognized the area code...

JKR: the sleep caps you get from most places are much more shower-cap like, that one is extra-special.

[manderly]

RCC, I never understood why they put the smooth satin on the outside. :rolleyes: They want to make it pretty instead of functional for your hair. Thanks for the site, I'll order one next week :D

They remind me of the old fashioned sleep caps that look like really long floppy dunce caps. :lol:

[redcelticcurls]

Roseate, glad to support your area economy! :D

Manderly, I had to laugh at the dunce cap. The first couple of days, I had the image of Dopey the Dwarf in my head. The cap is comfortable though. The end does narrow down towards the tip, and the tip hits me at BSL or so. It's not like it is keeping the width the whole way down. The closest analogy is having an encased pineapple without the scrunchie.

[manderly]

That must be perfect for curls :)

[Purplemayden]

Do those Satinsakks have a tie at the back of the neck to keep it on?
I wonder if it would just slip straight off if you had shiny straight hair.
My 2 eldest of 4 daughters need their hair braided each night before bed and I am having trouble finding the time to do it.

[manderly]

Do those Satinsakks have a tie at the back of the neck to keep it on?
I wonder if it would just slip straight off if you had shiny straight hair.
My 2 eldest of 4 daughters need their hair braided each night before bed and I am having trouble finding the time to do it.

They appear to. Watch the "how to" video on the site :)

[redcelticcurls]

There's stretchy elastic and velcro in the back. The velcro is low down, it doesn't catch.

interesting point about shiny straight hair though. I wonder how that would be with the cap.

[embee]

When I say Top-of-the-head bun, I don't mean just a high bun. Bend over and brush all the hair to the front and make the bun on the *top* of your head. Surely the CPAP straps will be elsewhere?

Actually, it took me a while to be able to do this... I used to get a "hair ache" from the direction change. But now it's fine. My hair is used to being up like that for night and in a low nape bun for day and the hair ache problem is *gone*! :)

[Petra]

When I did a sleep study with the CPAP to see if I had severe enough apnea to need one I ended up with my hair in two low piggy-tail braids (Heidi braids) and stuck them under the lower/chin strap keeping them pinned in one place. My braids are pretty skinny, though and didn't create a bulk problem. I'm not sure if that would help with preventing them from getting stuck in the velcro, though.

Hope you get it figured out!

[JKRBeloved]

Embee I'll have to try putting it way way up on top. That could work for me.
Petra How did your sleep study turn out?

I tried a Buff last night, and it worked really well. I guess the last time wasn't as successful for me because my hair was also damp and scrunched/bunched up for a plop, adding too much bulk and tightness under the four crisscross-crossing straps. And I found a lovely $5 sleep cap at Walgreens this morning that I plan to try tonight, just because I'm guessing it's even smoother than the soft cotton Buff.

[Petra]

JKR--Lucky me I only have very mild hypopneas when I sleep on my back (AHI index right at 15)--so I just don't sleep on my back! I do some of the positional techniques to keep myself on my side--pillow in the low back, knee pillow and occasionally if I get bad and catch myself on my back more frequently than normal, I tape a tennis ball to the middle of the back of my tank top when I sleep. That one is really uncomfortable if you try to roll over--it definitely wakes you up!

My major issue ended up being PLMD--periodic limb movement disorder--in other words I thrashed in my sleep--which was keeping me from getting enough REM sleep and causing my daytime fatigue. My ferritin is chronically low, so I take iron supplements when needed and take a very low dose of the drug Mirapex that affects dopamine levels--one of the mechanisms that Dr.'s think causes PLMD. Both things have dramatically helped my fatigue issues and now I don't thrash or kick poor DH in bed.

And--JKR your hair is absolutely and totally fantastic. Seriously. I want my hair to look that totally cool when the rest of it is grey--your hair is my goal! It's spectacular.

[JKRBeloved]

Dear Petra, thank you so much for your kind comment. Your sleep study results are very interesting. Do you know if PLMD is related to restless leg syndrome? My sisters lives with that, and probably sleep apnea as well, but when she went in for the study she had a claustrophobic reaction to the mask and they weren't prepared with an alternate mask that tends to soften that reaction, and ended the study without a full test for her.