How often should I replace my nasal mask?

GoldieJack wrote:What are people suggesting to use to wipe out the nasal mask on a daily or frequent basis?

I use cleanzex for wipes. I must warn you, though, if you use one every night expect to spend $50 a year on wipes. palerider probably does not approve of that wastefulness. But I really like it for convenience and the smell. But you could just wipe with a damp cloth and probably be OK too. Not cleaning a mask every night feels to me like not brushing your teeth. If you dont brush your teeth and do not own dental floss, then probably never cleaning mask is OK. Again, personal preference.

I will clean my hose and mask with dawn dish soap and air dry whenever I feel it is time.. I think cleaning the hose is important because of the humidity sensor inside of it. I dont really think the hose gets dirty even otherwise -- could probably go longer stretches but I have to admit when it is clean it does smell and mentally feels nice and clean.

Oh, I do use an oxygen concentrator too sometimes and I will toss those hoses out after a few WEEKS.. yes, palerider, I might use it for only 50 hours total and put them in the trash. I think my time is too valuable to try and clean those when they cost about $1-2 a piece (and if your time is worth $12/hour it probably is too valuable to clean it too).. wasteful ,yes.. and the horror -- one time i dropped the nasal cannula on the floor and I tossed it in the trash and just grabbed a new one. I guess I am tearing up dollar bills all day long.

GoldieJack wrote:What are people suggesting to use to wipe out the nasal mask on a daily or frequent basis?

I use plain purell, been using it for *years* with no ill effects, the reason that I use it is that it removes any facial oils very easily and quickly.

Doublev wrote: If you dont brush your teeth and do not own dental floss, then probably never cleaning mask is OK. Again, personal preference.

nutjob.

Doublev wrote:I think cleaning the hose is important because of the humidity sensor inside of it.

Guess what.... there is NO HUMIDITY SENSOR in the hose... if there was, washing the hose would destroy it.

There's a *thermometer* in the hose... because.... you set the hose TEMPERATURE.

Doublev wrote:Oh, I do use an oxygen concentrator too sometimes and I will toss those hoses out after a few WEEKS.. yes, palerider, I might use it for only 50 hours total and put them in the trash. I think my time is too valuable to try and clean those when they cost about $1-2 a piece (and if your time is worth $12/hour it probably is too valuable to clean it too).. wasteful ,yes.. and the horror -- one time i dropped the nasal cannula on the floor and I tossed it in the trash and just grabbed a new one. I guess I am tearing up dollar bills all day long.

You're not well. but hey, start sending all your cast off junk to pugsy so she can help others.

"oxygen lines too dirty"

It's always quite interesting how some the people with the least experience have the strongest opinions.

palerider wrote:Guess what.... there is NO HUMIDITY SENSOR in the hose... if there was, washing the hose would destroy it.

There's a *thermometer* in the hose... because.... you set the hose TEMPERATURE.

When I set my hose to "auto" resmed says it will maintain 85% humidity. How is that possible without some humidity sensor?

Maybe you are right.. but I don't know... in the other thread you seem to think that nasal pillows do not expand at all in nostrils.. I wonder why they even sell pillows of different sizes if they never touch the inside of your nostrils .. I guess for you, you think the wider diameter gives you more air?.. sorry, but no.. lol.. they might as well sell XL wide yet shallow pillows only if they are supposed to float outside the nostrils

I hope you are right because you sure are a pugnacious one. Alphabet boy + pugnacious in one.. lol

palerider wrote:

Doublev wrote:Once a year is too long.

Replacing anything *on a schedule* is wasteful.

If your mask is still good after a year, why spend the money on a new one?

Replace parts of the mask *as they wear out*.

He probably works for a cpap store to encourage people to continue buying. You do need to replace your mask but it depends on the overall condition of the mask. Just because they recommend you should, doesn't mean you should.

Doublev wrote:

palerider wrote:Guess what.... there is NO HUMIDITY SENSOR in the hose... if there was, washing the hose would destroy it.

There's a *thermometer* in the hose... because.... you set the hose TEMPERATURE.

When I set my hose to "auto" resmed says it will maintain 85% humidity. How is that possible without some humidity sensor?

It's possible the same way that the machine generates a desired pressure at the mask without measuring the pressure at the mask, through a lot of computation. There's a humidity sensor in the machine itself to measure ambient humidity, which is used to calculate how much humidity to add. go ahead, look for yourself, there's probe sticking up in the end of the hose (at least, there is in the s9 climateline) and there's no hole in it, which would be necessary to measure humidity. it measures the *temp* of the *heated hose*.

Doublev wrote:Maybe you are right.. but I don't know... in the other thread you seem to think that nasal pillows do not expand at all in nostrils.. I wonder why they even sell pillows of different sizes if they never touch the inside of your nostrils ..

Because different people have ... (wait for it) DIFFERENT SIZE NOSES! and someone with small nostrils would be overwhelmed by a large pillow, and people with large nostrils would have the small ones go INTO their nostrils.

As you can see, the tips of the pillow go into the nostril, and the shoulder sits on the rim of the nostril, there's nothing in this that would hold a pillow mask in someone's nose, unless they're using much too small pillows:

(picture from resmed fitting guide)