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Personally, I wouldn't let my immune system dictate my personally hygiene. Being proactive rather than reactive may save you from a lung infection or something else one day.

HoseCrusher wrote:Clean according to your immune system...

If you have never been sick, you may be able to just use your equipment for a period of time and then replace it.

If you drive by a school where children are playing and start to feel a tightness in your throat, your eyes start watering, and your nose starts sniffling, and you end up with a "cold" weekly, you want to clean more frequently.

There's very little chance the CPAP will give you any kind of infection, unless you're doing something strange. Nobody else is using your CPAP or mask. The only germs in it are the germs in the air you breathe, or ones that came off of you already. It's not a good environment for germs to multiply, so the germs come out of the mask at about the same rate as they are in the room air.

I do support cleanliness, but there's really not a lot of risk from the CPAP under normal circumstances.

Sir NoddinOff wrote:Just a little post-note: CPAP machine filters (the white fiber ones) tend to get grungy after 2 to 6 weeks, depending on the environment you use them in. Change your filter when it is noticeably the first shade of gray. Medium or dark gray, too late!

Strangely enough, a dirty air filter of almost any kind actually cleans the air more than a clean one. It just gets harder to suck air through and causes the blower unit to work harder and hotter. Think of it this way. The filter is still there the same way it was when it was new. It's just got an extra layer of dust on the outside surface, which filters the air a little more.

Even without the filter, it's just room air. The filter is more for the machine than it is for you. It keeps dust from building up inside the machine. However, I do enjoy the idea that I'm breathing air that's cleaner than the room air, especially pollen and other dust.

Journey to Sleep wrote: I've never had anything like that grow in my humidifier tank despite my less than satisfactory cleaning habits in the past.

If the habits work, they are not "less than satisfactory".

Agree, the dirtier a filter gets the better it filters. Since you don't have a positive displacement pump on an CPAP you may have to sacrifice air flow for a micro-micron of better filtration and at that point, who knows what kind of mole and cooties are embedded. I'd rather change the filter regularly. As to the CPAP, anything that goes on my face night after night is going to be as close to sterile as I can get it. (other than my pretty wife, I'll take my chances, ha)

I am very meticulous about cleaning, my hose is cleaned every night with Filtered, Pressured, Humidified air all night long … Mask too … but I take an extra step with the mask, it is also cleaned with unpressurized, unfiltered, room air all day long while it lays on the table next to my bed.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

Journey to Sleep wrote: I've never had anything like that grow in my humidifier tank despite my less than satisfactory cleaning habits in the past.

If the habits work, they are not "less than satisfactory".

Touche'

Too tall wrote:Agree, the dirtier a filter gets the better it filters. Since you don't have a positive displacement pump on an CPAP you may have to sacrifice air flow for a micro-micron of better filtration and at that point, who knows what kind of mole and cooties are embedded. I'd rather change the filter regularly. As to the CPAP, anything that goes on my face night after night is going to be as close to sterile as I can get it. (other than my pretty wife, I'll take my chances, ha)

It's sort of positive displacement. The CPAP machine will vary the fan speed as needed to compensate for air resistance in the filter. Unless it gets very seriously clogged, the pressure and airflow in the mask will be the same with a dirty filter, a clean filter, or no filter. As for mole (mold?) and cooties, It's whatever crud is in the air you're breathing the other 16 hours a day. The filter isn't likely to manufacture crud, it just traps some of the crud and lets some small amount of the crud that's in your room ail slip through.

I have no problems with replacing the filter often, but think it's important to realize it doesn't make things cleaner or more sterile for the patient.

I also think we should be careful not to spread unnecessary fear about germs in CPAP in general. There's just not a lot of opportunity for germs to spread or multiply via CPAP.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

Journey to Sleep wrote: I've never had anything like that grow in my humidifier tank despite my less than satisfactory cleaning habits in the past.

If the habits work, they are not "less than satisfactory".

My brothers never washed their kitchen or bathroom floors. For years. I consider that less than satisfactory. Bad habits are simply bad habits. The fact that you don't get sick with sloppy cleaning may be just luck or because you are young with a good immune system. I agree with you though - you are the only one using it and chances are, most of the germs that might be in your mask are in you or your room air anyway and not likely to cause a problem.

I clean everything once a week and head gear once a month. Oils from my face seem to increase leaks. I clean the nose pillows more often when I have issues with rainout.

archangle wrote:

Too tall wrote:Agree, the dirtier a filter gets the better it filters. Since you don't have a positive displacement pump on an CPAP you may have to sacrifice air flow for a micro-micron of better filtration and at that point, who knows what kind of mole and cooties are embedded. I'd rather change the filter regularly. As to the CPAP, anything that goes on my face night after night is going to be as close to sterile as I can get it. (other than my pretty wife, I'll take my chances, ha)

It's sort of positive displacement. The CPAP machine will vary the fan speed as needed to compensate for air resistance in the filter. Unless it gets very seriously clogged, the pressure and airflow in the mask will be the same with a dirty filter, a clean filter, or no filter. As for mole (mold?) and cooties, It's whatever crud is in the air you're breathing the other 16 hours a day. The filter isn't likely to manufacture crud, it just traps some of the crud and lets some small amount of the crud that's in your room ail slip through.

I have no problems with replacing the filter often, but think it's important to realize it doesn't make things cleaner or more sterile for the patient.

I also think we should be careful not to spread unnecessary fear about germs in CPAP in general. There's just not a lot of opportunity for germs to spread or multiply via CPAP.

I would revise that to say;
I also think one should be careful not to spread the false premise that personal hygiene is irrelevant regarding cpap cleaning.and fear about germs in CPAP in general. And I realize you didn't make the comment, but to let your immune system decide when you need to clean the CPAP is risky. That's like saying, I'm going to smoke till I get cancer then quit. A little late, don't you think.

SewTired wrote:My brothers never washed their kitchen or bathroom floors.

Some men need strong wives to straighten their sorry butts out.

ChicagoGranny wrote:

SewTired wrote:My brothers never washed their kitchen or bathroom floors.

Some men need strong wives to straighten their sorry butts out.

Yea, mine sure did and still working on it. ha