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Medical Supplies CPAP

CPAP EquipmentMedical supplies CPAP devices can be purchased from many different clinics, home care stores and even online. But what are the best prices and are you buying the right supplies for your particular CPAP machine? When do you need to replace your supplies?

Well it turns out that most of the supplies will last between 6 months and a year. Depending on how well you take care of all of the components. Plastic and rubber does age and when it does it becomes brittle. Which then leads to cracking and leaks of the pressurized air. Once a leak starts, the machine will not be able to deliver the proper pressure to manage your sleep apnea.

Medical Supplies CPAP – Cleaning and Maintenance

My particular instruction book recommends that the mask should be cleaned every day. Cleaning can be accomplished with mild soap. Clean both the inside and the outside of the mask to avoid body oils building up and causing the rubber or plastic to prematurely age. Clean your mask every morning when you get up to ensure that it also has time to dry before you need to use it in the evening. The water reservoir for the humidifier should also be emptied out. Then rinsed with warm water and allowed to dry during the day as well. This not only prolongs the reservoir container. It also avoids mold from beginning which you do not want entering your lungs.

Also you should wash your face with mild soap as well prior to using the mask. This will help to avoid body oils and perspiration contacting the mask more than necessary. This is by far the best way to prolong the life of all of the supplies you will need for your CPAP.

Once a week all components need to be washed with mild soap to remove any body oils that might have accumulated. Again do this in the morning so that the straps, mask and hoses have an opportunity to dry properly before they are reused that night.

Were can You Purchase medical Supplies for CPAP devices?

We have found that the best place to purchase these supplies is at a home care center store. They tend to stock everything you need for all of the different machines and they have someone on staff all of the time to help answer any questions that you may have. Support is important to help people make adjustments and also monitor progress that you are making with your apnea. These locations will be more expensive, but the support you get is typically included. You will want to speak with a respiratory specialist who knows these machines and who also can look at the memory chip to assess your progress.

This last comment is actually very important. The information on the memory chip will tell the therapist how often you use the machine, whether you have any major leaks and how well you are doing relative to your sleep apnea. They may make a suggestion to increase or decrease your air pressure to improve your sleep apnea.

While you may be able to purchase some of these medical supplies at other locations at less expense, it is important that you consider the support that you get for that price.  An alternative is to purchase extra components as your system ages while at the same time going in for a check once and awhile to confirm your air pressure and progress with the CPAP device.

CPAP Supplies Online

We have never used an online store to make purchases of this type for any medical supplies. If any of our readers have done so perhaps you would not mind taking the time to leave a comment about the results and satisfaction level with your purchase. By the time you take into account shipping costs and also problems that you might have with returning parts that do not fit properly, it might be just easier to purchase from a real store were you can try your device with the supplies.

Parts supplies that you might order include:

  • Mask
  • Straps
  • Connection hose
  • Long feeder hose
  • Filters

That’s our opinion about medical supplies and were you may want to purchase them. If you do purchase online, take the time to make sure that you are buying exactly the right parts for you r particular CPAP machine. For more information about medical supplies CPAP, click here.

 

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One Response to “Medical Supplies CPAP”

  1. I am still using the same mask and hoses after six months with no problems. I think they will be good for awhile yet!

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