A CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure machine, is a medical device that uses pressure to provide additional oxygen to your lungs. If you have sleep apnea, the CPAP machine pushes oxygen into your airway to assist you in avoiding breathing pauses or blockages that may cause your oxygen levels to drop.
Do you want to know how a CPAP works, whether it is covered by insurance, and what the benefits are? Then you’ve come to the right place!
What Is The Difference Between A BiPAP Machine And A CPAP Machine?
Some people with sleep apnea are unable to tolerate CPAP equipment. Patients who struggle with continuous flow pressure options may benefit from the more sophisticated BiPAP machines. BiPAP has more accurate settings for both exhalation and inhalation, making treatment more pleasant.
How Does A CPAP Machine Work?
It would be best to use the CPAP machine whenever you sleep at home, travel, or take naps.
Getting acclimated to your CPAP machine might take some time and effort. Your health practitioner will assist you in choosing the most suitable mask.
Your healthcare professional may also be able to assist you with using the humidifier chamber in your machine or adjusting your pressure settings. You may also want to utilise a machine with numerous or auto-adjusting pressure settings.
To ensure that the therapy continues functioning, you must clean your mask and tube daily and renew your medical device prescription at the appropriate time to change the tube and the mask.
Is CPAP Insurance Covered?
If a doctor suggests CPAP for sleep apnea, one’s insurance company will negotiate with a medical device business to supply you with a CPAP machine, tube, and mask.
Your equipment will be configured with specific pressure settings by your provider. Your doctor and insurance provider may want to examine your machine’s data card after some time to ensure you’re utilising CPAP. Check whether the device’s pressure settings are reducing or eliminating sleep apnea.
The Benefits Of A CPAP Machine
CPAP therapy may help avoid or treat sleep apnea’s devastating effects. Sleep apnea treatment may help prevent you from major health risks. Moreover, using a CPAP machine to treat your sleep apnea may improve several aspects of your life. This might include:
-
Stroke Prevention
If you have sleep problems, using a CPAP regularly may reduce your chance of having a stroke. A stroke disrupts only transitory brain function. It happens when one of the blood arteries going to the brain becomes blocked or ruptures. Sleep apnea may double or even four times one’s chance of having a stroke, depending on whether or not the condition is addressed.
-
Improved Concentration
Severe sleep apnea, if left untreated, may cause brain tissue damage. Consequently, you may find it challenging to concentrate. You may also have memory loss. Using CPAP may help you think more clearly, focus better, and make better judgments. This may also increase productivity and reduce your chances of making expensive blunders.
-
Heart Disease Prevention
Because it causes you to stop breathing many times every night, sleep apnea has been related to some cardiac issues. These breathing pauses induce changes in blood pressure and may lower blood oxygen levels, putting a significant burden on your heart. Long-term use of CPAP treatment may protect you against cardiac issues and lower your risk of death from them.
-
Diabetes Prevention
Treatment for sleep apnea with CPAP machine may enhance insulin sensitivity. Apnea of sleep is associated with glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, which are risk factors for type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Untreated sleep apnea raises your chances of developing type 2 diabetes.
-
Improved Daytime Alertness
Weariness and sleepiness throughout the day are frequent signs of sleep apnea. By eliminating breathing interruptions in your sleep, CPAP may restore your regular sleep patterns and extend your overall sleep time. It will refresh you and give you more energy throughout the day.
-
Improved Emotional Stability
Severe sleep apnea raises your chances of depression. CPAP therapy may help you enhance your mood, lower your risk of depression, and enhance your general quality of life.
-
Lower Medical Expenses
CPAP treatment may lower your total medical costs while enhancing your health. Sleep apnea may lead to further health issues and medical appointments. Treating major health concerns associated with sleep apnea, such as heart problems, diabetes, and stroke may be expensive.
If your breathing and other health conditions have healed, you may be able to lessen the amount of pressure given to your CPAP machine, or you may use it less frequently if you have the choice.
Furthermore, some individuals who have just begun using CPAP devices claim it has made them feel worse. Still, in most cases, this is due to the patient employing an improper mask, unfamiliar with the therapy, or having unsuitable pressure settings.
Similarly, if a BiPAP machine is the best answer, you will need a sleep study. As long as the general practitioner and supplier are members of a healthcare provider, your sleep study and CPAP equipment will be reimbursed by insurance.