Hello Guest, Welcome to Apnea Board !
As a guest, you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use.
To post a message, you must create a free account using a valid email address.

or Create an Account


New Posts   Today's Posts

Humidifier / temp setting - basic understanding questions
#1
Humidifier / temp setting - basic understanding questions
Some background before my questions, am having congestion issues and trying to understand first basics before I try different settings... 

Our resp system has to warm up the incomng air to body temp (98* F) and humidify it to near 100 % RH. While it can do that for air coming in at normal atmospheric pressure for air coming in at cpap pressure it becomes a burden.. This is bcos at higher pressure the volume rate of air coming in is higher., ie it is coming faster. Hence the 81*F and 85% RH auto setting in resmed. It is helping our resp system.. Ref - https://www.resmed.com/en-us/sleep-apnea...humidifier

On the other hand I also read that cold, dry air is easier to breathe ? Dont quite understand what this means and this conflicts with above ?? Is it simply a comfort level ? ie if I were to set it at 90*F and level 6 which is 100% RH (very warm moist air) then the uncomfortable feeling of breathing this air will not allow me to fall asleep for eg ? I note that while steam inhalation is very good and relieves congestion, sinus etc but not something we would want to do while sleeping.. Is this why the auto setting is not 90*F and 100% RH ? 

1) Re humidity level, in this posting, I see a video where 2 doctors talk about humidifier settings and suggest to set it as high as possible, ie a setting where rainout doesnt occur. The say there is no downside to this, is this correct ? On the contrary can high humidity air (level 5 and above) also cause congestion ? 

http://www.apneaboard.com/forums/Thread-...ty-setting


2) Re temp, I read a post (cant find it now) when one of the repliers suggested trying lower temp. In fact that person uses 65*F setting. Perhaps at very high RH. Am trying to understand how this low temp helps, again is it just the comfort level ? 

thanks
Post Reply Post Reply
#2
RE: Humidifier / temp setting - basic understanding questions
non professional answer
1. higher humidity make sure your mucociliary clearance worked and it will help with upper airway irrtation, allergic or cough.
2. humidity and temp have effect on oxygen concentration, cool dry air contain more oxygen.
Post Reply Post Reply
#3
RE: Humidifier / temp setting - basic understanding questions
(07-28-2022, 10:05 PM)zellem Wrote: non professional answer
1. higher humidity make sure your mucociliary clearance worked and it will help with upper airway irrtation, allergic or cough.
2. humidity and temp have effect on oxygen concentration, cool dry air contain more oxygen.

Hi Zellem,

I dont get the first comment ? Could you pl explain it some more, 

thanks
Post Reply Post Reply
#4
RE: Humidifier / temp setting - basic understanding questions
1. You will more than likely find that if you set the humidity too low then you will not be comfortable and will feel like your mouth is dried out but you also don't want to set it so high that you are drinking the air either because that also isn't exactly comfortable either, either way depends on what you find comfortable, at the end of the day the humidity and temperature is for your comfort, and what setting you want it on may vary depending on where you are (for example I live in a desert so I have to turn up the humidity more because there is no humidity and my tounge feels like a cats tounge with how dry it gets if I don't turn it up, but if you live in say a coastal city then you may find that you need to turn it down to prevent drinking the air. 

2. Again that is totally personal preference, I personally like cooler air but it just depends on what is comfortable to you. 

Don't worry about what theoretically could be ideal air conditions from a medical stand point because you have to remember two things, it is not like people have their bed rooms set to a specific humidity with some contraction to have their breathing air one temperature and their body air a different temperature so there is no point of trying to create the ideal air medically since no one does that, and secondly and more importantly if you are not comfortable you will not sleep as well but if you are comfortable then you increase your odds of sleeping well, and that is half of the end goal, to get better sleep and reduce amount of time in apneas to a normal level.

So don't worry about trying to create some theoretically perfect humidity/temp focus on "is it comfortable or not?"
Post Reply Post Reply
#5
RE: Humidifier / temp setting - basic understanding questions
from wiki

Mucociliary clearance (MCC), mucociliary transport, or the mucociliary escalator, describes the self-clearing mechanism of the airways in the respiratory system.[1] It is one of the two protective processes for the lungs in removing inhaled particles including pathogens before they can reach the delicate tissue of the lungs. 

High humidity enhances mucociliary clearance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mucociliary_clearance
Post Reply Post Reply


Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  1 Month In - Some Questions rarmstrong26 4 158 Yesterday, 06:45 PM
Last Post: jcp519
Question Not Sure if Setting Changes Helping - Help Appreciated! WiscoKate 6 153 03-25-2024, 11:54 AM
Last Post: WiscoKate
  Juniper's questions juniper 12 270 03-21-2024, 07:40 AM
Last Post: juniper
  [Pressure] Understanding Pressure Settings on ASV Suzee 85 3,564 03-19-2024, 03:17 PM
Last Post: Suzee
  Setting time and date on Resmed Airsense 10 cmadon 42 32,184 03-08-2024, 09:13 AM
Last Post: Sleeprider
  AirSense 10 Max Pressure setting Tomt 13 856 03-04-2024, 07:11 PM
Last Post: Tomt
  New - so many questions Matsu1 4 262 02-25-2024, 10:53 PM
Last Post: Crimson Nape


New Posts   Today's Posts


About Apnea Board

Apnea Board is an educational web site designed to empower Sleep Apnea patients.