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Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure or  CPAP for short are small quite machines that significantly improve a persons quality of life. Apparently 4% of men and 2% of women have sleep apnea. They all can benefit from using a CPAP machine.

The picture on the left is a typical machine that comes as two separate units. It contains the CPAP or Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure machine. There is also an attachment that provides humidity to the air as it passes through the machine.

Humidity is very important from a comfort perspective. What it does is adds water vapor to the air as it passes through the machine and into your airways. This water vapor prevents your nasal passages and your mouth from becoming extremely dry during the night. I use a CPAP machine and strongly recommend the humidifier model for your personal comfort. Every night, distilled water should be added to the reservoir. In the morning it should be rinsed out and cleaned. Then left to dry during the day to prevent any possibility of mold developing in the reservoir or in the tubing. Mold is ugly looking. But if you have allergies to mold, then you will want to really make sure the unit is clean. Make sure that no mold is allowed to grow in this environment.

How Does a Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure CPAP Work

And why do you need one in the first place? First of all I am not a doctor, but I am a user of one of these machines and cannot say enough positive things about it. So after reading this material, check with your doctor to see if you even need a CPAP machine. The only way to properly know if you need one is to have a sleep study completed and then the results will quickly tell the doctor what is required.

In my case, I snored very loudly, I stopped breathing and I gasped. I was also very tired almost all of the time because I was not getting enough sleep. In fact my sleep was being disturbed an average of 39 times an hour during my sleep study which lasted all night.

Adding Air Pressure

The Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure machine works by adding air pressure to your airways, which opens them up allowing air to easily pass through them. But more important at the back of your neck, the flesh around the airway relaxes and closes the airway while you are sleeping causing you to stop breathing until the CO2 levels build up in your body and causes the brain to issue a panic mode command causing you to move and begin breathing.  With a CPAP machine, this airway does not collapse and you will continue breathing easily all night.

In addition, I also have asthma and my nasal passages are always a bit swollen. The positive air pressure causes my airways to expand like a low pressure balloon and I can actually take a full breathe easily. For those people who always breathe easy,  try breathing through a straw all of the time and then breath normally and you will get the picture. It makes a huge difference in comfort as well as my sleep!

Keep the CPAP Clean

One of the most important things you can do is keep your Continuous Positive Airflow Pressure machine clean, especially the mask and the hoses. Oils from your skin will build up on the mask or nasal pillows if you are using nasal pillows. Not only is this yucky it also causes the plastic to deteriorate over time as well. I have only had mine for 2 weeks, but apparently they only last about 6 months if you take good care of the mask and the hoses.

Also mold can build up in the mask and the hoses if you do not wash them every week with mild soap and water. If you are allergic to mold, this can be a significant additional problem to avoid.

Reluctance of Patients to Use a CPAP

I have talked to five or six people about CPAP. They were all reluctant to use one of these machines, including myself. However they all tell me as well, that once they started using the machine, they were so happy with the benefits, that will never stop using the machine, even when they travel. My friend takes his CPAP every where he goes on business trips and vacation.

It can take a little time to get used to wearing the machine. There is some discomfort with having this thing on your head and the hose that goes with it. But after a couple of weeks of use, you will quickly find that when you do not wear it, you are so tired etc, that you wonder why you resisted. Your partner will appreciate it from the beginning. NO MORE SNORING! That’s right you stop snoring whenever it is on which most partners really appreciate. The machine is very quiet and causes no more noise that a small fan at low speed!

If you think you might need one of these machines, check with your doctor today and have a sleep study completed. For more information about CPAP machines, click here.

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