Cpap Air Pressure Levels

There are several types of sleep therapy machines but a cpap continuous positive airway pressure machine is the most common.

Cpap air pressure levels.

However air pressure requirements change with time health conditions and age of the cpap device. Don t change you cpap pressure without talking with your doctor. However don t get discouraged it can take time and adjustments to get your cpap pressure settings right for you. Each time you hit the button you will increase the pressure by one.

Continuous positive airway pressure cpap is a form of positive airway pressure pap ventilation in which a constant level of pressure above atmospheric pressure is continuously applied to the upper airway the application of positive pressure may be intended to prevent upper airway collapse as occurs in obstructive sleep apnea or to reduce the work of breathing in conditions such as acute. Continuous positive airway pressure cpap therapy uses the power of positive air pressure to treat sleep apnea a condition that causes your breathing to stop for a time while you sleep. The cpap machine stops this phenomenon by delivering a stream of compressed air via a hose to a nasal pillow nose mask full face mask or hybrid splinting the airway keeping it open under air pressure so that unobstructed breathing becomes possible therefore reducing and or preventing apneas and hypopneas. Continuous positive airway pressure cpap therapy is a common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea.

For auto titrating pressure machines both minimum and maximum pressure levels must be set. Step one to getting accustomed to your cpap therapy is finding the air pressure level that is just right for you. The pressure can be set from 4 to 20. A cpap machine is designed to send a constant flow of airway pressure to your throat to so that your airway stays open during sleep effectively treating the spontaneous pauses in breath associated with sleep apnea.

If the airway is open at the current cpap setting delivered it is maintained. If you have one type of sleep apnea known as obstructive sleep apnea osa your airway collapses when you sleep and this prevents you from breathing. Let s face it there is no one size fits all pressure setting. Press the ramp button until the correct pressure appears.

For fixed pressure cpap machines the air pressure is maintained at the minimum level required to keep the airways open throughout the night. A cpap machine uses a hose and mask or nosepiece to deliver constant and steady air pressure. Keep in mind that as you hit the ramp button numbers will appear on the display screen. The cpap delivers intermittent pulses of extra air pressure to evaluate for resistance and by extension whether the upper airway is collapsing.