2 part question on cleaning and cpap related illness.

[sleepinglass]

In my experience I think it is important that if you use a humidifier, as I do, that you let your hose dry out, by disconnectiong it form the humidifier, otherwise there is a small possibility that mould may grow, paticularly if you live in a damp climate.

I use ordinary hypoallergenic baby wipes on my mask every night,to wipe away the skin oils, which it does very effectively. I then dry the mask with a kleenex to remove any moisture and I get a very good seal.

I check my mask daily for any signs of mould growth, which may happen once every year or so, around the silicone exhaust holes,then I dissemble and wash the whole mask in washing up liquid, rinse, towel and finally air dry all the bits and pieces.

I NEVER wash my hose as there is never any sign of mould growth and my hose can last me up to 10 years,before it springs a leak and then sadly needs replacing. When I first received my machine I tried washing my hose first thing in the morning hanging it up to dry but found that by bed time it was still wet! Having washed it monthly over the best part of the first year and going regularly to bed with a wet hose, I decided to stop washing it altogether!

I wash my washable dust filters, situated at the back of the machine, daily to make up for it .

My Cpap does not make me ill, on the contrary, since I have been on it, I am sick less often and now get a cold, once every couple of years.
Not suggesting anybody else should do it, however my routine works for me, odd though it may seem.
In my view, it is just filtered air!

[Drowsy Dancer]

"If used at concentrations that do not exceed public health standards, ozone applied to indoor air does not effectively remove viruses, bacteria, mold, or other biological pollutants."

http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/ozonegen.html

Who knew not wasting money would be so controversial?

[The Latinist]

Viruses and bacteria multiply so quickly. Look at this chart http://www.answers.com/topic/how-fast-d ... a-multiply It shows that in just 10 hours the bacteria has grown from 1 to 134,000,000. Or to watch them grow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrx7Xg0gkQ4 It is hard to understand when you cannot see them. But they are there. And if you have a chronic disease or just not feeling well, you are even more susceptible to them. So prevention is so important.

First of all, viruses are absolutely incapable of multiplying outside of a host cell. They lack even the basic capability of duplicating their own DNA/RNA or of creating a protein. The number of virions present in your mask will be identical ten hours after you take it off to the number there when you woke up. But likely many of them will have been destroyed by exposure to air and sunlight in the meantime without your having done anything.

Secondly, bacteria do not multiply by magic. They do so by turning nutrients into proteins, carbohydrates, fats, nucleus acids, etc. They simply must have those nutrients to reproduce. The "ideal conditions" mentioned on the page you cite include ample supplies of these nutrients? What do you imagine there is on the bare surface of a plastic hose or a silicone mask or in the distilled water of your humidifier that bacteria could turn into more copies of themselves? Moreover, the ideal conditions will also include ideal temperatures and moisture levels, which for most human pathogens will not be room temperature or the moisture level of a dry mask. The upshot? Bacteria growth on your mask, hose, and humidifier simply cannot achieve the rates you suggest. It just can't.

[DeadlySleep]

LOL You guys are so funny. Who knew being anti bacteria was so controversial. And Julie, please stop thinking you know me and how I think.

Be careful what you are being "anti" about. Human life on earth would not be possible without bacteria.

I believe you are thinking of pathogens.

[Todzo]

sometimes I wonder if some here make use of their user name and avatar to try to drive people away

[Todzo]

The “wisdom of the day” is that we need to “kill them all” to keep ourselves safe. Yet in places where they are very good at doing that, well, in those very places you are the most likely to pick up a super bug.

So if you have a land void of people and some Super Bads move in you will end up with a well established population of Super Bads.

But if there is already a bunch of normal folk in the land there will be a fight when the Super Bads try to take the land from them. Fires and all will likely result. The military will be called in. The Super Bads will not take the land.

For me I simply rinse before use. Sometimes with hot water. Sometimes with only cold water.

Then once a week or so I clean with some water with a bit of dish soap added using Q-tips to get into the corners but rinsing very very well.

When I did use a humidifier I rinsed it out daily and washed it weekly as above.

Tubing I turn about once a week (some of our breath sometimes backs up into the tubing a bit, by changing the ends once in a while you use the oxygen and limited moisture to limit growth. Perhaps I wash it out as above once a month.

Simply I think we need a reasonable population of good bugs to help us keep the bad bugs at bay.

They are learning that our microbiome is a very very important part of us. We need our “out numbers us by ten to one matching cells to microbes” friends to do well in this world.

I find that my skin does much better without the use of antibacterials. I do seem to be getting healthier eating more veggies and fruits (at least 20% raw – a good source of bugs and what they need to do well in the gut), more legumes (more fiber), and some fermented foods – staying away from processed foods.

As for SoClean the UV light produces ozone (O3) which is a strong oxidizer as is bleach or peroxide. It kills life in the same way. It is simply another way to sterilize but also eliminates oders. I would make sure to purge the tubing and all with free air for a good amount of time before using after this process. I have used a small ozone generator in an enclosed space (a storage container) with the machine running inside to get a couple of more years out of my CPAP in the past (smelled of mold). It works but probably you should simply replace old machines. I wonder if daily use might well be hard on equipment.