Sleep Apnea & CPAP Equipment
What is sleep apnea?
If you don’t know what sleep apnea is, it’s a conceivably serious sleep disorder in which your breathing over and over stops and starts while you’re sleeping; it stops for 10 seconds or more while you’re asleep. Due to this the oxygen level in blood might decrease resulting in awakening the sleeper, this can happen throughout the night. Also if you snore uproariously and feel tired even after having a good long sleep, then you might also have sleep apnea.
What causes sleep apnea?
There are several reasons why you might have sleep apnea. In adults, the most widely recognized reason for obstructive sleep apnea is overweight, corpulence, and obesity. It is related to the delicate tissues of the mouth and throat. When you’re asleep, your throat and tongue muscles are more relaxed, due to which this delicate tissue of your mouth and throat can make the airway become hindered. There are also many other factors that cause sleep apnea.
What are the symptoms of sleep apnea?
The symptoms and signs which might help you in determining whether you have sleep apnea or not are:
- Uproarious snoring
- Wheezing for air while you’re asleep
- Irritability
- Episodes in which you quit breathing while asleep followed by awakening abruptly and gasping for air
- Headaches in the morning
- Trouble in focusing during the day while awake
- Insomnia; trouble in staying asleep
- Waking up with a dry mouth or sore throat
What is the medical treatment for sleep apnea?
There are many therapies through which you can treat your sleep apnea. Continuous positive airway pressure aka CPAP is one of them. It is the most widely prescribed equipment to treat sleep apnea by doctors. As mentioned above, sleep apnea causes the blockage of the airway; however, CPAP supplies oxygen to your mouth and nose while you’re asleep. It assists in keeping your airway open which leads you to breathe normally.
The danger of not cleaning your CPAP Equipment
As you’ll be needed to use CPAP on daily basis, it is also important for you to keep it clean. If you don’t sanitize your CPAP equipment, you are presented with various health hazards. Cleaning your CPAP equipment is as important as using the equipment to treat your disorder. Using a dirty CPAP can affect your health severely. The CPAP equipment consists of many parts which are the main device, the tubing system, the humidifier, and the humidifier water chamber, and the mask. You need to keep in mind that all the apparatus which are in contact with water are at risk of growing mold, bacteria, and other viruses. These bacteria and viruses can inhabit the tubing system and then whenever you breathe through that infected dirty tube, you will be exposed to great health hazards.
How to clean your CPAP Equipment?
You don’t have to worry about the cleaning process as it takes less than 5 minutes. First, you need to unplug your CPAP equipment from the power source. Then you need to separate the mask and the air tubing from the CPAP equipment. After removing the mask, you need to dismantle it into 3 sections which are; frame, headgear, and cushion. Now that all the parts of your mask are separated; you should start cleaning your headgear and mask pad. You can clean it in a sink or a tub. To eliminate any oil, you need to use a cleanser and drinking water delicately to wash it. Rinse again completely with warm drinking water. You need to keep in mind not to use any strong cleanser or soap as it might leave residues behind in the apparatus which can prove to be harmful to your body. Now after rinsing it properly, you should set the pad and the frame on a level surface over a towel so that they can dry. Make sure they’re not in direct contact with the sunlight.
It is always important for you to consult with your doctor if you are facing any of the above issues.
