Winter Time & CPAP - The Ultimate Guide
CPAP devices work by blowing pressurized room temperature air through a tube into a facial mask. The air then enters the airway where it mechanically splints open the passage to prevent airway collapse caused by obstructive sleep apnea. Winter brings drier air and breathing cold, dry air forced into the nasal cavity by CPAP is uncomfortable. Dry air can also cause the nose to work harder. This can lead to mouth breathing and dry mouth.
It is obvious that winter time can be challenging for CPAP therapy. Alongside with low temperatures we will be getting colds, the flu, sore throats, sinus infections, dry air, and other winter gifts. Below you can find some tips which will maximize CPAP therapy comfort and effectiveness during winter.
Get Your CPAP Winter - Ready
Get your CPAP equipment ready to take advantage of your CPAP therapy in winter time.
- Use a Full Face CPAP Mask
- Add Humidification
- Avoid Rainout
- Secure Power Supply
Use a Full Face CPAP Mask
Nasal CPAP masks require you to breathe only through your nose, but when nasal congestion develops, it becomes difficult to do this. Nasal congestion or resistance as experienced during a cold can lead to you breathing through your mouth.
A CPAP Full Face CPAP mask gets you around the issue by allowing you to breathe through your mouth while continuing your nightly CPAP treatment. That way not only do you get to breathe comfortably, but you also continue to reap the benefits of CPAP treatment so you can get your rest and get better faster.
Add Humidification
Use of heated humidification with CPAP treatment will help with nasal congestion, ease inflamed nasal passages and make the air more comfortable to breathe.
Most CPAP machines nowadays come with built-in or an integrated CPAP heated humidifier.
CPAP Heated humidifiers use heat to warm the water to add moisture to the CPAP air. The temperature can be adjusted for more or less moisture. The higher the heat, the more moisture you will receive. Heated humidifiers are the preferred type of humidification among CPAP users. Heated humidification not only makes the pressurized air more comfortable to breathe, but it can also reduce the amount of pressure needed for some patients.
Avoid Rainout
When the air inside your humidifier is much warmer than the air in your tubing, or if humidified air cools in the tubing as a result of cold ambient room air, it may cause some moisture to condense inside the tubing and reach your mask as water, wetting the inside of your mask and face. This condensed moisture is called rainout.
There are several things you can do to eliminate rainout. The most simple is to warm up your tube. You can do this by placing your tubing under your bed covers. This solution is not very effective cause it eliminates moving during your sleep.
Another economy solution is to purchase specific CPAP tubing covers to insulate the tubing from the colder room temperature.
Most advanced and effective solution is to use a CPAP heated tube, which heats the air as it travels from the humidifier to the mask, in order to avoid condensation
Secure Power Supply
It is winter and storms are in the schedule. Storms, snow, tree falling can cause power outage for hours or even days.
So be prepared and power up your CPAP machine to enjoy your therapy even if you run out of electricity!
CPAP Batteries can be always plugged between your machine and the wall, so even if power in the house goes out, the battery will keep your CPAP running and you will continue enjoying your CPAP therapy!
