Buying a CPAP machine

Part of my role as one of the Practice Nurses here at Regional Respiratory Medicine is to assist people who have been diagnosed as having Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) to get started on CPAP therapy.

CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. Basically this is a pump that delivers air (not oxygen) at a fixed pressure through your nose via a mask to keep your upper airway open when sleeping. The idea is that this allows you to then have better quality sleep, which then has the flow on effect of more energy during the day. It does much more than this for your health in the long term, including decreasing your risk of having a heart attack in the future just to name one! But this is not what I want to focus on.

I find that when people are ready to buy their own machine, there is one common question that I get asked rather frequently –

“What sort of machine should I get?”

Well, my advice to people is always the same. I cannot favor or promote any particular CPAP company / machine over over another but generally; you can’t go wrong with the machines on offer out there today as they all will do the same thing. Advances in technology mean that machines of today have been designed for ease of use and comfort, combined with the latest software to record data.

There are a couple of things you might want to consider aside from cost (which is another commonly asked question).

Firstly, consider purchasing a machine that has an inbuilt humidification feature or the option of attaching one at a later date. Until you have tried out a machine it is hard to say for sure if this is a feature that you will or won’t use. However, as we all know, things can and do change - I believe it is better to have this option available.

Secondly, ask about the data which is able to be downloaded from each machine. Some machines provide basic compliance data, while other machines provide more detailed information. Again all information provided is useful to your Consultant during a review. More important than this will be how YOU are finding using your CPAP machine.

At the end of the day, all CPAP machines do the same job and it gets down to personal preference in ease of use, transportability, and cost.

All the best,

Lisa