[SweetO]

I was doing random searches related to pumping and I came across Missmadscientist’s old thread about pumping pressure values:

https://www.breastnexus.com/showthread.php?tid=27856&pid=196175#pid196175

All vacuum therapy is based on the studies done on negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT), where the vacuum is used to drain the wound and stimulate growth of granulation tissue. In her thread above, Missmadscientist says that multiple studies have shown that roughly 125mmhg is the best pressure for growth of granulation tissue (and hopefully other types of tissue). I’ve seen her thread about negative pressure before and I don’t know why it never occurred to me to compare the “ideal” npwt pressure to the pressure used by Brava. For some reason I have always just assumed that Brava was using whatever pressure is commonly used  for NWPT, because their system is based on that concept and the earliest models of Brava used real NWPT pumps. Actually Brava’s pump is designed to maintain a relatively even pressure between 15mmhg and 35mmhg.

For the sake of simplicity I’ll assume that the Brava pump maintains a pressure of 25mmhg for most of the night. That means  that it’s only producing 1/5th of the ideal pressure. I assume Brava decided to use this pressure because they wanted to prioritize comfort over growth. I saw a study that directly compares 25mmhg to 125mmhg. The higher pressure caused the granulation tissue to grow about five times faster than the tissue under lower pressure. That doesn’t necessarily mean that it would cause breast tissue to grow 5 times faster, but it seems possible. The same study also said that variable or intermittent pressure, the kind produced by nursing pumps, causes faster growth than continuous pressure, the kind produced by the Brava Pump.

Those are the main reasons I’m strongly considering switching to the Ardo Calypso nursing pump that I mentioned earlier in this thread, but there are even more reasons. My Brava pump, which used to be extremely quiet, has suddenly become a lot louder which makes me worried that it’s already breaking down. It’s a used pump, and Brava pumps are notorious for breaking down after 1 or 2 “cycles”. A Brava “cycle” is 700 hours, and 1400 hours sounds like a pretty decent lifespan for a pump, so I’m not saying thar the pump is poorly made. On the other hand, the Brava pump cost about 150 to 200 dollars, while a used Ardo Calypso pump only costs 30-40 dollars if you only buy the pump without any of the unnecessary nursing accessories. If I’m going to have to replace the pump every 3 to 5 months, I’m not going to pay hundreds each time. Another thing I’m worried about is the possibility of the Brava pump breaking during a session and injuring me. Sometimes when a Brava pump breaks it just shuts off and never turns back on, but other times the pressure sensor fails and the pump just keep pumping until it causes injury, unless you can wake up in time to disconnect it. I don’t know if I should switch to the Ardo pump right away to avoid that possibility.

I’m also planning on making some yoga mat padding rings, because my blue tac padding works ok but it’s nowhere near soft enough to use at a higher pressure. I’ve tried making yoga mat padding before but I couldn’t create a seal because the mat was waaay to thick and spongey. Nowadays I know better, so I’ll use a much thinner and denser mat. I read over on the noogleberry forum that 6 to 8mm thick is the sweet spot for maximum comfort without compromising your ability to create a seal.

Hey girl!

Question: How could you make the Calypso pump work for the domes? <3