Which CPAP supplies should I -really- be replacing, and when?

[palerider]

When I asked what the recommended replacement interval for the nasal mask cushion was, the rep hemmed and hawed and finally said "well, it depends on what your insurance will cover". She refused to tell me if there was actually an expected life for the part. I just wanted to know if I was doing something to it to make it start to wear out after two months.

while I have no hard data to back it up, the feeling I get is that people who stick to a vigorous washing schedule for their mask parts end up replacing them a lot more often that people that only wipe their masks down every night and wash them every week or two.

[Homerec130]

My DME recently changed their system and I can order my parts online. I simply click what I want (if I can't get it, it is grayed out). And within 2 or 3 days, it shows up on my doorstep. Only thing is I wish I could get a 10 ft hose as it works better with my setup.

Homer

[LowSpark]

Hose cleaning and drying... I run a sink full of warm water and dunk my hose and let it fill with the soapy water. Picking both ends up and swish the water back and forth from one end of the hose to other a dozen times. Rinse with warm water.

I take out side and spin a few times and then let it hang for a few hours.
There is always drops still inside of the hose...
I have a 7 ft piece of string with a 16 penny nailed tied on one end. One the other end I have 2 pieces of cloth tied to the string about a foot apart. I run the string unit thru the hose one way and then reverse and run the other way...

drops of water are now gone....

[palerider]

Hose cleaning and drying... I run a sink full of warm water and dunk my hose and let it fill with the soapy water. Picking both ends up and swish the water back and forth from one end of the hose to other a dozen times. Rinse with warm water.

I take out side and spin a few times and then let it hang for a few hours.
There is always drops still inside of the hose...
I have a 7 ft piece of string with a 16 penny nailed tied on one end. One the other end I have 2 pieces of cloth tied to the string about a foot apart. I run the string unit thru the hose one way and then reverse and run the other way...

drops of water are now gone....

I cleaned my hose once... about six years ago. admittedly, I am on my second one... I decided i wanted a 10 footer instead of a 6 footer.

[green wings]

That makes sense to me, palerider. I have definitely noticed that the surface feel of my mask's nasal cushion is changing with daily washing.

I don't know what the inner surfaces of the other types of masks look like, but the design of the part of the nasal cushion that sits against the skin has an accordion-like shape, and I don't see how wiping it down could really work.

Add to that the fact that I take a medication for autoimmune arthritis that makes me more susceptible to catching some kinds of infections, and I am washing my mask and hose vigorously out of caution.

I found a site online where I can buy a replacement nasal cushion for $29 if I need one before May, so I am probably going to have to allot some money to buy extra CPAP supplies.

In face, I have started putting aside money to purchase my own machine later this year. My last phone call with the rep at my DME about how she couldn't find the data to show my compliance, even though someone else there had told me two weeks before that all was fine, sort of sent me over the edge.

It's a huge annoyance, and I want to see if I can figure out how to get out of being dependent on Medicaid to pay for supplies. It really doesn't seem worth the aggravation for the moderate amount of money that they're forking over.

When I asked what the recommended replacement interval for the nasal mask cushion was, the rep hemmed and hawed and finally said "well, it depends on what your insurance will cover". She refused to tell me if there was actually an expected life for the part. I just wanted to know if I was doing something to it to make it start to wear out after two months.

while I have no hard data to back it up, the feeling I get is that people who stick to a vigorous washing schedule for their mask parts end up replacing them a lot more often that people that only wipe their masks down every night and wash them every week or two.