Am I a Candidate for a CPAP Machine?

If you wake up feeling exhausted, suffer from a dry mouth, or hear complaints about your snoring from your sleep partner, then you may have sleep apnea, a disorder where you stop and restart breathing throughout the night while sleeping.

At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey, our sleep medicine specialists Dr. Nehal Mehta and Dr. Prashant Patel help individuals with sleep apnea find the right treatment for a restful night’s sleep. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is one of the most effective treatments for sleep apnea, but it’s not the right solution for everyone.

Here, we share our evaluation process for deciding who benefits from CPAP therapy and alternative treatments for those needing another option.

What is a CPAP machine?

A CPAP machine is a medical device that delivers mild air pressure into your mouth or nose to keep your airway open. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), the most common form of sleep apnea, occurs when your throat muscles relax too much during sleep, obstructing airflow to the lungs.

The airway blockage leads to drops in blood oxygen levels and frequent awakenings during the night, often without you being aware.

The CPAP machine consists of a motorized unit that generates air flow, a mask that covers your nose, mouth, or both, and tubing to connect the two. By maintaining an open airway, the CPAP machine improves nighttime breathing, snoring, and sleep quality.

Do you need a machine?

To diagnose sleep apnea and determine the right treatment plan, we do a sleep disorder test. Thanks to advancements in sleep medicine and technology, you no longer have to spend the night at the sleep lab to get a diagnosis.

Instead, sleep medicine specialists like us offer at-home sleep study kits that collect data to make a diagnosis. If we have any doubts, we may have you do an in-lab sleep study for an in-depth analysis.

Based on the results of the sleep studies, we create the most effective treatment plan for your sleep apnea, which may include:

Eating a healthy diet
Getting to a healthy weight
Not smoking
Managing allergies

While lifestyle changes benefit everyone with sleep apnea, we may recommend a CPAP machine for those with moderate to severe symptoms. Once we determine you’re a candidate for CPAP therapy, we guide you through a personalized set-up at our CPAP clinic.

Benefits of personalized CPAP therapy

Not all CPAP machines are the same. Finding the right fit can make a significant difference in comfort and effectiveness.

The three main types of positive airway pressure machines include:

Standard CPAP machines

Standard CPAP machines deliver a constant flow of air pressure throughout the night. Though effective, some people find it hard to adjust to the ongoing inflow of air.

Auto-adjusting positive airway pressure (APAP) machines

APAP machines automatically adjust based on your breathing pattern. Some people may find this type of machine more comfortable.

Bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) machines

BiPAP machines are for people who have a hard time tolerating standard CPAP therapy. The machine delivers two levels of pressure — higher pressure on inhalation and lower pressure on exhalation.

We also offer a portable CPAP machine for traveling called the ResMed Airmini. It’s small enough to fit in your palm and has a waterless humidification system.

Alternative therapies

Even with the different positive airway pressure machines, some people struggle with adjusting to CPAP therapy. For those patients, we offer alternative therapies like the custom-made mouthpiece SomnoGuard® and Inspire® therapy, an implanted device that uses mild electrical pulses to stimulate the throat muscles, keeping your airway open.

If you suspect you have sleep apnea, come in and see us for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan. Whether CPAP therapy is the right choice for you or an alternative treatment that better suits you, our Respacare team can help.

Call our office today or request an appointment online to find out how we can best help you.