CPAP Humidification in the Cold Months

If you use a CPAP machine and you are finding yourself waking up feeling a little dry and stuffed up these days, then you are not alone. This is very common amongst CPAP users, especially in the cooler months.

But fear not, there are ways to fix this. Did you know that you can get a humidifier specifically for your CPAP machine?

How CPAP humidification works

The pressurized air passed throughout your CPAP device without humidification tends to be very dry and can cause your nasal passages to dry out. Especially in the cooler months, where the air is already dry, this may cause many symptoms amongst CPAP users, including dry or runny nose, chapped lips, nose bleeds, and mild sinus-type headaches.

Typically your nose warms up the air you breathe in general, but this is not the case when you are using a CPAP machine, because the pressurized air is passing through your nasal passages so quickly, your nose doesn’t have time to warm the air which can cause these symptoms.

The CPAP humidifier is an external chamber attached to the CPAP machine that gets filled up with water. While you are using the CPAP machine, the pressurized air is passed through the humidification chamber and routed through the tubing to your mask. Some newer CPAP models already come with a humidifier attached, but other times this is something you will need to purchase separately.

The benefits of CPAP humidification

There is no question that these symptoms from lack of humidification can be very uncomfortable. With the humidified air flowing through the CPAP machine, and through your nasal passages, this will prevent the dry symptoms that you may be experiencing, and provide you with a much more pleasant experience using the CPAP device.

Distilled water is generally recommended to use with your humidifier in order to prolong its life span. Keeping the humidifier and the tubing clean on a regular basis is also important.

Be sure to check out papsmart.com for CPAP humidifier options.