CPAP Equipment
Note: CPAP Devices are sold by prescription only.
Nasal CPAP devices deliver air into your airway through a specially designed nasal mask. The mask does not breathe for you, the flow of air creates enough pressure when you inhale to keep your airway open. CPAP is considered the most effective nonsurgical treatment for the alleviation of snoring and obstructive sleep apnea.
How CPAP works:
There are several treatments for OSA including surgery and CPAP therapy. However, CPAP therapy has proven very effective for most patients. CPAP stands for “continuous positive airway pressure” which is exactly what the device delivers to your upper airway, acting as an “air splint” to keep the passage open while you sleep.
This reduces or eliminates the obstruction, allowing you to enjoy the deep, refreshing, uninterrupted sleep you need. More importantly, your body will get the rest and oxygen it needs with more continuous, uninterrupted sleep – helping you avoid some of the serious health risks associated with OSA.
How CPAP Therapy Works:
There are several treatments for OSA including surgery and CPAP therapy. However, CPAP therapy has proven very effective for most patients. CPAP stands for “continuous positive airway pressure” which is exactly what the machines deliver to your upper airway, acting as an “air splint” to keep the passage open while you sleep.
This reduces or eliminates the obstruction, allowing you to enjoy the deep, refreshing, uninterrupted sleep you need. More importantly, your body will get the rest and oxygen it needs with more continuous, uninterrupted sleep – helping you avoid some of the serious health risks associated with OSA.
More on Sleep Apnea:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a breathing disorder that affects more than 22 million Americans – approximately 4% of middle-aged men and 2% of middle-aged women.
Physiological factors such as size of tonsils, shape of the nose, narrowing of the upper airway, or any combination of these can contribute to the potential for having OSA. During sleep, your airway can relax so much that it begins to collapse and becomes obstructed. Relaxation allows the tissue at the back of your throat to vibrate as you breathe causing snoring. But as your airway collapses more fully, it blocks your airflow and stops your breathing altogether. (In fact, the word “apnea” is derived from a Greek term meaning “without breath.”)
This stoppage occurs repeatedly throughout the night, each episode lasting from just a few seconds to more than a minute. As your blood oxygen level drops to dangerous levels, your central nervous system triggers a sudden gasp for breath, partially awakening you and preventing you from experiencing the sustained, deep sleep your body needs. As a result, it is common to feel fatigued, stressed and irritable the following day – a less-than-optimal and potentially dangerous condition in which to work, drive, and make decisions.
There are important medical concerns as well. OSA starves your heart, brain, and organs of life-sustaining oxygen. Over time, this deprivation can seriously impact your health potentially resulting in memory loss, impotence, hypertension, coronary disease, strokes, and heart attacks. Recent studies indicate that OSA has the same risk factor for heart disease as smoking, high cholesterol and alcohol, and estimate that as many as 38,000 people a year die from the effects of OSA.
Most people using CPAP have a condition known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea or OSA. During sleep, the muscles in the back of the throat relax causing the upper airway to become smaller. This is especially true during the deepest stages of sleep (called Rapid Eye Movement or REM sleep). In some individuals, the upper airway can actually collapse, causing a blockage of air movement into the lungs. When airflow is stopped for at least 10 seconds, it is referred to as Apnea. These Apneas can occur many times each hour and hundreds of times each night.
Note: CPAP Devices are sold by prescription only.
How does a CPAP machine work?
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure or CPAP therapy works by creating positive air pressure within the back of the throat preventing airway collapse and apnea. This positive pressure pushes out on the walls of the throat, creating an “air splint” within the airway in much the same way that air pressure within a balloon pushes out on the walls of the balloon preventing it from collapsing.
Sleep Apnea: A treatable disorder in which a person stops breathing during sleep, often hundreds of times during the night.
Sleep apnea is a common disorder that affects millions of men, women, and children but is often undiagnosed, despite the potentially serious consequences of the disorder. It is estimated that at least ten million Americans have unrecognized sleep apnea.
There are three different types of apnea: obstructive, central, or mixed (a combination of obstructive and central). Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common.
Usually the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes the airways so that sufferers of sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during sleep, as frequently as a hundred times an hour and often for a minute or longer.
Risk Factors for sleep apnea include a family history of sleep apnea, excess weight, a large neck, a recessed chin, male sex, abnormalities in the structure of the upper airway, ethnicity (African-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Mexicans), smoking, and alcohol use. Yet sleep apnea can affect both males and females of all ages, including children, and of any weight.