Watch Respiratory Therapist Tennille share tips on keeping your CPAP/BiPAP equipment and supplies clean.

TRANSCRIPT:

Everybody, welcome to Commonwealth CPAP Chat. I'm Tanil, one of the respiratory therapists here.

Today we're just going to be discussing how to care for your CPAP and the disposable supplies that go along with the CPAP. 

As far as your machine is concerned, you just want to make sure that you keep it dust free. So you can just get a damp cloth and wipe down the outside of the machine and that's all that's required as far as cleaning the outside of the equipment.

Now all the machines have a filter. So some filters may be disposable, some are non-disposable, some are washable. It's just per manufacturer recommendation as to how that's cared for, and how often that they're changed. So if you have any questions about that you can contact us to find out exactly what you need to do as far as your filter.

Over on this side we have our water chamber. Most of the CPAP's do have the humidifier built in now.

So your water chamber, you want to make sure that you're using distilled water in the chamber. You want to change the water every day and wash this water chamber out.

Now you don't have to use distilled water to wash it, just use the distilled water at night. You can wash it in regular tap water.

So I've got my little makeshift sink over here. You take that apart - some of them have a seal that is attached to the water chamber, some may have a seal that is attached to the lid of the humidifier itself. Either way both are removable and can be washed.

So just warm soapy water, a mild dish soap is fine. You don't need to break out the big guns. We don't need Ajax and Clorox, anything like that. So just warm mild dish soap is fine. You can throw that in there to wash that.

Same with the humidifier chamber and the lid. So you want to do this every day. Wash it really good, rinse it really well. Once you've got it rinsed, which i don't have any water right here but, anyway, clean water.

So once you've got that rinsed, you're going to make sure you just set it out to air dry. You don't want to dry that with any kind of cloth or towel just because you don't want those particles in there for you to breathe.

So if you notice anything, especially in your seal, that's turning color it could be pink, brown, black, you've got some mold going on. So you want to make sure that you keep that clean and those are replaceable by the insurance, typically every six months.

Some insurances are different so you can always check with us to find out how often you can get those pieces if needed.

Over here we've got the tubing. Some machines use a heated tubing. So you may have like a little metal chip or element on the end. It's okay to still submerge that into water. We recommend doing your tubing daily. If you can't get to it daily, at least once a week.

You want to wash your tubing. So you would sit that in your sink of water. Just make sure that you get the soap in there good. Rinse it through, just kind of swish it around to clean it. When you're rinsing it out, I would just hook it up to the faucet. Hold it up, put the other end in the sink, and just let the water run through there to rinse all that soap out and then wash the outside off, too.

You're going to hang this up, maybe in a shower, over a door, something like that. Not in direct sunlight because that can cause it to crack. So just hang that up and the earlier in the day you do that, the better, so it'll be dry when you get ready to use it.

When you're caring for your mask there's different pieces here.

So this is the headgear. This is something that can be hand washed as needed and let it air dry. This is typically replaced by the insurance every six months, also. Again, things can be different with different ones so you want to check with us if you have any questions about that.

So hand wash as needed, let it air dry.

And then over here you have the frame and the cushion. Most of the masks now, the cushion does remove from the frame and this is the part that you want to make sure that you're cleaning daily. Also, you get oils and things in your skin create a film on here. Some people sweat, some people drool, so you want to make sure that you're washing this out good so that you can get a good seal each night.

So again, warm soapy water, just a clean dish rag or washcloth to wash that off with. Make sure you're getting that seal good and clean. Rinse it really well and, again, just prop that up. I do it cushion up and let that air dry.

Also, the frame can be wiped down or you could submerge that. The head gear for most masks are easily removed so that you can wash that also without getting your headgear all wet.

So that can be washed and air dried also [Applause]

All right, once everything has been washed air dried you can just put that back together and you're ready to go again for another night.

Again, don't forget your distilled water in here, not your regular tap water.

When you're traveling with your machine, I wanted to point this out: you want to make sure that you are empty in your water chamber before you pack it up for travel so that you don't damage your CPAP machine.

And here is an example of a funky head gear and we don't want funky. You don't want a funky mask, funky head gear. You don't want to get sick.

You're already trying to treat one thing so you don't want to create another problem.

So the importance of caring for your CPAP is, should be, top priority. I know it's a lot to get adjusted to, especially if you're just starting out.

It's just part of the routine that you got to work yourself into. Once you get a routine it'll be like everything else. You'll get up, do it. It'll be easier and it'll make it so much better when you're going to bed at night to be able to have a clean CPAP, get a good night's sleep, and hopefully start to feel better.

If you have any questions you can type them below. We'll be glad to answer any questions that you have.

You can also call the store ask to speak with a respiratory therapist if you have any questions. we'll be glad to help you out.

If you need anything just let us know, and be looking out for another video coming soon.

Thanks, y'all! Have a good day.