Do they force air in? Wouldn’t that be super uncomfortable
In: Biology
I used to be a sleep tech several years ago. But the sleep apnea machines come in a few different flavors.
Sleep apnea is quite common in the US, snoring, and the lack of airflow cause a significant portion of the US population to have poor sleep. Every time you have an extended apnea, your brain wakes you to take a breath (you probably are not even aware of it) but it takes a toll over time. And eventually it can cause life threatening conditions, such as heart desiese.
The Solution is additional air pressure from machines (or in some cases surgery) to help keep airways open and clear, allowing you to sleep better.
1st is the CPAP which stands for “Continuous Positive Air Pressure”. 2nd would be the BiPAP, that one is as it says has 2 pressure settings. Higher for inhale, and lower for exhale. 3rd AutoSV, this one changes the pressures being applied on the fly as needed. 4th Auto PAP this one adjusts the pressure about every 15 to 30 minutes depending on what the patient needs.
All of these are used to prevent the airway from collapsing, to prevent you from having Apnea (Apnea just means to stop breathing). Because when you sleep, especially when you get to the REM cycle, your body releases hormones to essentially partially paralyze you. This keeps you from moving to much in your sleep which can lead to injuries if you did. But it also relaxes the muscles in your throat allowing gravity to pull down on the muscles, restricting your airway.
CPAP machines have to be calibrated to each individual, because too little pressure and the machine will do little to nothing, and too much pressure can cause the patient to stop breathing all together. Since it’s only blowing at a single set pressure. This is the most common unit due to cost and it really does help most people.
For BiPAP, the machine will be calibrated with 2 separate pressures, the lower will be for exhaling and a higher pressure to inhale. The pressures do not change and will always be there setting. The BiPAP is normally for people who have weak lungs, obease, or have problems with air being pumped into their stomach.
AutoSV is the top dog, it has an on board computer to analyze in real time the pressure from the patient breathing. It still will need to be setup with a highest and lowest pressure and in some cases a recommended pressure to attempt to keep the patient at. This one is used for people that don’t do well at a set pressure and need to have the scale moved rapidly during sleep to keep them breathing.
Auto PAP machines are calibrated to the optimum pressure, however the machine can make slight adjustments throughout the night depending on the patient needs and give more or less pressure every 15 to 30 minutes. This one is quickly becoming the more popular choice for patients due to machine cost and the faster calibration.
The sleep tech monitors the sleep of the patient using heart rate, breathing rate, nural activity, body muscle movement. Using the data collected, they can determine the level of sleep (scale from N1 to N3 and REM). This helps get the patients on the correct machine and pressure levels. Some only need the basic CPAP, while others need more help from more advanced machines. Once a patient is titrated (breathing properly with the calibrated settings) to a specific system. They are sent home and a new machine will be assigned to them and calibrated to them specifically. No matter what machine you use, it will need to be calibrated and setup for you. Also every couple of years, you will have to have your machine tested to make sure the pressure is correct. So please don’t use your uncle frank’s old CPAP because it will probably not be at the pressures you need.
– Sorry for the format and spelling errors, I’m typing this out on my phone.
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