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+--- Thread: Saline in humidifier (/Thread-Saline-in-humidifier)
Saline in humidifier - Visitor - 06-09-2014
I read on another board that someone used some saline in their humidifier to help clear nasal passages. It is like having a nebulizer.
Does anyone have experience with this/comments on whether this is something that could be done? One question I'd have is whether the salt might cause rust. The other forum mentioned a use of 0.2 gram per liter.
RE: Saline in humidifier - DeepBreathing - 06-09-2014
I don't think it's a good idea for two reasons:
1. The salt may well corrode your tank or parts of the machine, though at a very low concentration that might not be a problem.
2. I don't think the salt will ever get to your nose. Think about a salt lake - it's flat and white and salty because when the water evaporates it leaves the salt behind! Humidifiers (at least in the Resmed S9) work by blowing the air over the surface of gently warmed water. The water molecules will get picked up and whisked up to your mask but the salt will remain in the tub and go to a higher concentration (see problem 1).
People use various aromatherapy oils for this purpose. I put a small amount of eucalyptus oil on a tissue near the machine's air inlet. That helps keep things clear.
RE: Saline in humidifier - Visitor - 06-09-2014
I wonder about 2. In a nebulizer, part of the saline travels with the mist (or the treatment would be pointless). The humidifier with the APAP seems similar to some extent. I'm just curious now as 1. is a concern.
RE: Saline in humidifier - zonk - 06-09-2014
(06-09-2014, 04:44 AM)Visitor Wrote: I read on another board that someone used some saline in their humidifier to help clear nasal passages.You don,t want to put anything in your humidifier but water, preferably distilled water
To clear nasal passages, I use saline sinus rinse at night
Two brands available here, Neilmed from US and another one from Australia, I buy whatever cheaper on the day
RE: Saline in humidifier - DeepBreathing - 06-09-2014
(06-09-2014, 05:22 AM)Visitor Wrote: I wonder about 2. In a nebulizer, part of the saline travels with the mist (or the treatment would be pointless). The humidifier with the APAP seems similar to some extent. I'm just curious now as 1. is a concern.
I think it's a different mechanism at work. Nebulisers work by creating an aerosol of fine droplets, which are big enough to carry the active ingredient (or salt, in this case). The humidifier doesn't create an aerosol but just blows water vapour - just the same as the wind blowing over a lake doesn't pick up the salt.
RE: Saline in humidifier - Visitor - 06-09-2014
Ok, that closes this topic then.
Thanks.
RE: Saline in humidifier - diamaunt - 06-09-2014
(06-09-2014, 05:22 AM)Visitor Wrote: I wonder about 2. In a nebulizer, part of the saline travels with the mist (or the treatment would be pointless). The humidifier with the APAP seems similar to some extent. I'm just curious now as 1. is a concern.
nebulizers don't use heat to evaporate water, they spray liquid through a tiny opening, under pressure to nebulize it (turn it into a fine mist).
cpap humidifiers work by heating the water so that it evaporates into the airflow.
RE: Saline in humidifier - Terry - 06-09-2014
(06-09-2014, 04:44 AM)Visitor Wrote: I read on another board that someone used some saline in their humidifier to help clear nasal passages. It is like having a nebulizer.
The humidifier warms the water and the water vapor humidifies the air you breathe.
Salt, however does not vaporise when warmed, so all saltwater does in your humidifier buildup and possibly corrode the water chamber.
This is nothing like a nebulizer all it will accomplish is damage and a voided warranty.
RE: Saline in humidifier - Visitor - 06-09-2014
I should have checked a bit more. There is an extensive discussion of it on another forum.
One of the posters observes:
Filling my humidifier tank with distilled water and setting the pressure at 4 cm H2O (flow rate of around 20 liters per minute) revealed that my system was basically free of contamination. I then added a little salt to some water and put that water into the humidifier tank. When I measured the condensate water from the machine at a pressure of 4 cm H2O, there was basically no contamination, however, when I increased the pressure to 10 cm H2O (with a flow rate of around 33 liters per minute), salt contamination was observed in the collected condensate.
This suggests that at higher flow rates there may be some turbulence causing some of the water to form an aerosol. While water vapor doesn’t support a transfer of contamination, an aerosol can.
RE: Saline in humidifier - Terry - 06-09-2014
(06-09-2014, 09:35 AM)Visitor Wrote: Filling my humidifier tank with distilled water and setting the pressure at 4 cm H2O (flow rate of around 20 liters per minute) revealed that my system was basically free of contamination. I then added a little salt to some water and put that water into the humidifier tank. When I measured the condensate water from the machine at a pressure of 4 cm H2O, there was basically no contamination, however, when I increased the pressure to 10 cm H2O (with a flow rate of around 33 liters per minute), salt contamination was observed in the collected condensate.
This suggests that at higher flow rates there may be some turbulence causing some of the water to form an aerosol. While water vapor doesn’t support a transfer of contamination, an aerosol can.
I'm not a doctor, but I do teach SCUBA, and aerosol saltwater aspiration from a damaged regulator is something to be avoided, not created, since it causes all sorts of breathing and lung problems.
This seems like a really bad idea all the way around. It can damage both the machine and the user.