How To Set Up Cpap Machine

Updated January 28, 2022

Article Summary

So now that you've ordered your kickoff CPAP car, it's time to learn how to use it! In this article, nosotros'll show you vi tips and tricks on how to get started with your CPAP therapy. Here are the six steps we're going to comprehend:

1. How to Set Upward CPAP Filters
2. How to Attach the CPAP Hose and Mask
3. How to Properly Wear Your CPAP Mask
4. How to Set up CPAP Pressure Settings
5. How to Set up Up Your Humidifier
6. How to Turn On Your CPAP Machine

We'll also be going over strategies for getting used to CPAP therapy. If y'all become stuck and have questions, give united states a call! Nosotros have trained CPAP experts standing by to help you. Give usa a telephone call at i-800-356-5221 and nosotros'd exist happy to help y'all!

Ok – and so y'all've been diagnosed with Slumber Apnea, you've ordered all of your CPAP supplies and equipment, and at present y'all're staring at all of the pieces and wondering where to offset. Don't worry – we're hither to aid! We're going to accept you through the nuts of how to employ a CPAP machine and how to utilise CPAP equipment.

Though specifics on how to employ the Sleep Apnea machine and equipment will vary, these general steps will walk y'all through the setup procedure. We'll also provide helpful tips and tricks on getting used to CPAP therapy in general and so that yous'll be able to adjust quickly when your machine comes.

Don't have a machine however? No worries! We've written a comprehensive guide to CPAP machines that covers all the nuts and helps you find the auto that's correct for you.

i. How to Gear up CPAP Filters

Outset things first, found what kind of CPAP filters you have. Are yous using a foam filter, a disposable paper filter, or a bacteria filter? Maybe all three? Reusable cream filters are placed at the air intake of your CPAP machine. If you're using a disposable filter too, place your newspaper filter within the motorcar commencement, followed by the foam filter on the outside.

The bacteria filter can exist a piddling trickier. If you lot're using a humidifier, you'll need to identify this filter at the air outtake of your humidifier instead of on your CPAP machine. If you're not using a humidifier, the bacteria filter is placed directly at the air outtake of your CPAP automobile. One time it is placed at the air outtake, you can and so attach your CPAP hose to the other finish.

If you're using a heated tube and a leaner filter, y'all'll need to adhere information technology in between the hose and mask.

2. How to Attach the CPAP Hose and Mask

Allow'southward get-go with attaching your hose to the air outlet of either your CPAP car or humidifier, depending on your course of treatment. If you have problem with this footstep, double check your hose – is information technology standard or slim?

Slim CPAP hoses accept a bore of 15mm and your CPAP machine must take a compatible setting to accept the smaller bore. Some very small CPAP machines besides require a hose adapter between the motorcar and the 22mm cuff of the hose.

Attaching your hose to the mask should exist easier, every bit most hoses have a 22mm connection gage to fit onto all CPAP masks. The AirMini is the i exception to this rule, as information technology requires a special type of elbow and tubing to connect the hose to the compatible ResMed masks. If y'all have trouble, make certain your mask doesn't accept a hinge in identify that could exist preventing proper connection.

If you're using a difficult-cuffed hose and observe the connection isn't totally snug, try using a hose flexitube adapter.

You're now halfway washed learning how to use a CPAP automobile!

iii. How to Properly Clothing Your CPAP Mask

Hopefully, when ordering your mask, yous used the sizing guide to determine the proper size and shape for your face and remembered to choose a CPAP mask for your sleep position. While these steps are extremely helpful, yous'll withal demand to do some minor adjustments to get your CPAP mask fitting just right.

To do this, start by sitting on the edge of your bed. Place the mask on your confront with the straps relatively loose. Then, lay down in bed as you would when getting ready for sleep. Gently and patiently outset pulling the straps evenly on all sides until information technology feels comfortable – not also tight! You'll demand to exam it for leaks in one case y'all terminate getting your auto prepare up and make small-scale adjustments from at that place.

Pro Tip: Consider Getting a CPAP Pillow Some types of CPAP masks have a lot of bulk towards the front end of the face, making it difficult to sleep in a favorite sleeping position. CPAP pillows are a great way to become around this problem.

These specialized pillows are designed with special cutouts in them– creating space for the extra majority of a mask. This makes the pillow less probable to intermission the seal when trying to go comfortable.

Pro Tip: Consider a Mask With an Open Field of Vision Masks with wide viewing angles brand it like shooting fish in a barrel to read a volume, lookout man a movie or TV, or send a text, and are available in full face, nasal pillow, and nasal CPAP mask versions. So no matter your preferred mask way, there's a mask with an open field of vision for you lot.

For anyone who'southward tried to practice anything productive before bed with a bulky mask, yous know how difficult it tin be. Do yourself a favor and consider buying a low-profile mask before yous fifty-fifty start CPAP therapy. Here are some examples:

Pro Tip: Make Certain Your Face up is Washed Before Putting on Your Mask Doing this pace will help reduce wear on the silicone and make the mask take a improve seal. Washed faces are less oily and create a ameliorate seal because there's less space between the mask and the face. Unwashed faces have a thin layer of human oils that make it difficult to get a dandy seal with the CPAP mask.

• ResMed AirFit F30 Full Face up Mask
• ResMed AirFit P10 Nasal Pillow Mask
• Philips Respironics DreamWear Nasal CPAP Mask
• ResMed N30i Nasal CPAP Mask

iv. How to Set up Up CPAP Pressure Settings

When your new CPAP car ships, the right force per unit area will already exist set, as the pressure you lot demand is a part of the prescription. So when the machine arrives at your door, information technology will be ready to go with the correct force per unit area setting, and you lot won't need to practice this on your ain.

During your sleep study, your dr. volition have calculated the proper titrated pressure for your CPAP therapy. It is not recommended that you lot make adjustments to your pressure settings without consulting your doc first. Otherwise, you lot may miss out on the best possible treatment and may find your therapy is less effective.

5. Setting Upwards Your Humidifier

For most people, a humidifier isn't an optional piece of equipment. Humidifiers are used to add together moisture to CPAP therapy air, pregnant you volition exist less likely to have a severely dry nose or oral cavity if y'all use one. Humidifiers are included with some machines, while on others they are an optional accessory. If you lot think you might need one, make certain y'all include it with your new machine budget.

To apply a humidifier, just fill upward the water sleeping accommodation to the line (the water bedchamber should have a line imprinted in the plastic, telling you where to stop) with distilled h2o. It's important to use distilled water. Tap water will leave a hard pic at the bottom of your water sleeping room, and it will exist difficult to make clean. The quality of tap water varies in different locations, with some homes having poor tap water. Recollect, you volition be breathing in the water in your humidifier, so it's of import that it's free from all impurities.

Pro Tip: Cleaning your humidifier can be easy or difficult depending on what kind of h2o you apply. Equally stated before, tap water is the worst kind of h2o you lot can use, as information technology leaves a chalky motion picture behind. Cleaning the chalky picture show can exist done using vinegar, which does a skilful chore of cut through the deposits, and will work better than lather and water.

Pro Tip: Using a humidifier makes information technology easier to stick with your therapy. If you've never used a humidifier with your CPAP therapy, you lot don't know what y'all're missing! Humidifiers add moisture to your therapy air, and the added moisture helps reduce dryness from your sinuses or rima oris, leaving you feeling refreshed in the morning. Without the humidifier, the pressurized air tin can exit yous feeling severely dry and parched when you wake up. This is a common frustration with CPAP therapy, however, information technology is one that's easily fixed.

vi. How to Plough Your CPAP Machine On

Now you know how to utilize a CPAP motorcar! You've gear up all of the pieces and now it'southward time to start your CPAP therapy. Before turning information technology on, place your motorcar on a apartment, stable surface near your bed, giving the vents at least 12 inches of space from walls, bedding, or curtains. Plug your CPAP machine into a nearby outlet, avoiding an extension string if possible. If y'all really need one, opt for a heavy duty extension string.

Now, making sure your face is freshly washed, position your mask back on your face and spike it into place. So, when comfortable, turn your CPAP machine on. You lot'll experience the pressure begin to increase, so just try to relax and go on breathing evenly. If the pressure initially seems kind of high, consider trying to apply the "ramp" feature on your auto. A "ramp" feature means that the pressure starts out very soft and depression, and gradually increases until it'southward bravado at your ideal pressure.

The benefit to doing this is it may make falling asleep easier. Not all machines accept the "ramp" feature, so if you think it's a characteristic that would be important to you, look for it in a machine's description.

Don't know if a motorcar has "ramp"? It'due south easy! Call one of our CPAP experts at ane-800-356-5221 and nosotros'd be happy to help yous find one!

How to Clean a CPAP Machine

So afterward y'all've used your CPAP machine for a little while, it'due south now time to make clean it! Here are some tips to become started:

1. Start by wiping downwardly the outside of the machine instance, and remove any dust or dirt on the outside.
2. Make clean the hose past running vinegar or balmy soapy h2o through it, and and so rinsing with water when finished.
3. Permit your hose to drip dry before adjacent use.

Well-nigh of the cleaning yous'll demand to do for your CPAP car will be washed for your mask. Over time, the mask gathers facial oils and deposits from your mouth or olfactory organ and will need to exist cleaned and sanitized. Follow these steps when cleaning a mask:

1. Disassemble the CPAP mask by removing the headgear and ejecting the cushion from the frame.
2. Soak the headgear in warm soapy h2o. Delight use fragrance-costless and colour-gratuitous soap to avoid degrading the material.
3. After the headgear has been cleaned, make sure you wring out the lather until there is no more than residue.
4. Allow the headgear to dry.
5. Make clean the cushions in mild, fragrance-free lather. Be sure to remove all deposits that have nerveless on the cushion.
6. Allow to dry
7. Wipe down the frame and remove any deposits that accept collected.
8. When all components are dry, assemble the mask parts together. The mask is ready for side by side use.

How to Become Used to CPAP Therapy

Getting used to CPAP therapy isn't always the easiest thing to practice. The mask is new and tin be uncomfortable, the sensation of pressure hitting the face tin can be hard to become used to, and you may no longer exist able to slumber in a favorite position. How can you cope? At that place are a few things y'all can try to make therapy more comfortable. Try these steps:

• Consider wearing the mask around the house, even when yous're awake. This volition help you get used to the feel of the mask on your face, and make you less sensitive to the feel of the straps.
• Practice breathing with the mask and automobile on, this will assist y'all go used to the air pressure as information technology flows through the hose and mask.
• Try to locate the exhaust vents on the mask, and practice breathing with the mask on and machine off. This will help you realize that you tin can exhale even when the machine is not running, which can help ease fears of suffocating.
• Try to find a slumber position that's both comfortable for you and doesn't touch the mask. Bonus! If you can, consider side sleeping. Side sleeping will make things easier for your CPAP car, as it tries to do its job. Sleeping on your dorsum is the worst position to be in, as it makes it harder for your auto to work.

What Are Some Side Effects of a CPAP Machine?

CPAP side effects are pretty common problems, and some you may observe right abroad. Depending on your situation, you lot may experience some of the post-obit:

• Bloating and cramps in the abdomen
• Dry mouth and sinuses
• Nasal drainage

Bloating and Cramps: This could be caused by swallowing air, either from the pressure being besides high on inhale or because your breathe relief isn't working well enough to stop air from going downwardly the airway. Sometimes a simple pressure adjustment is enough to fix this CPAP side event. In some cases, your doctor may prescribe a BiPAP machine instead of a CPAP or APAP machine.

Dry Rima oris and Sinuses: Nosotros advise using a heated humidifier as the preferred mode to go along your mouth and sinuses from drying out. If your mouth is dry the morning later on therapy and yous exhale through the nose, it could be a sign that the mouth is coming open during sleep. This can be resolved past using a chinstrap, which is used to keep your mouth closed during the nighttime. This volition help preclude your mouth from drying out.

Nasal Drainage: Sometimes a nasal based CPAP mask can crusade overactive sinuses, causing a runny nose or like issue. In some cases, allergy treatment may assist you resolve overactive sinuses.

To learn more than most CPAP side effects, issues and solutions, delight run into our commodity:

Easy Remedies for the xix Nearly Common CPAP Problems

What Happens When Y'all Don't Utilize a CPAP Machine?

When you don't use your CPAP machine, yous're only hurting yourself! Stopping CPAP therapy if you take Obstructive Sleep Apnea can put you lot at risk for serious wellness consequences like heart assault, stroke, or expiry. The best strategy when you have OSA is to troubleshoot the CPAP intolerance you lot may accept and go from at that place. The best place to starting time is with your doctor. He or she may take helpful advice that can help you get back on track every bit you navigate your therapy.

Easy enough, correct? You're now ready to begin your CPAP therapy! It may accept time to adjust, but the long-term benefits of CPAP therapy are well worth the few nights of discomfort as you adjust. Don't take our word for it – talk to boyfriend CPAP patients at CPAPtalk.com.

Daniela has researched and published over 60 manufactures covering topics that aim to inform and empower people living with Slumber Apnea. As an avid reader and researcher, Daniela continues to grow her knowledge about Sleep Apnea and CPAP therapy everyday with the help of coworkers, CPAP.com customers, and members of other CPAP communities online.

Source: https://www.cpap.com/blog/how-use-cpap-machine/

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