CPAP Mask Issues – CPAP or Just Plain CRAP

CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) is a machine that most sufferers of sleep apnea use each night. It basically fires a blast of air down your throat via a mask worn on the face to ensure that your airway stays open during sleep.

Sufferers of sleep apnea basically stop breathing at night and the CPAP machine kick starts you back into breathing.  It is estimated that around 22 million Americans suffer from this condition. I am one of those statistics.

That’s as technically minded as this article gets. I am not here to explain the ins and outs of sleep apnea.  I am however here to offer a wake-up call to the makers of these devices or to be precise the makers/designers of the contraptions they call CPAP face masks.

I am not quite sure what planet the makers/designers of these masks are on, they are certainly not on mine.

The problem with CPAP Masks:

They are over engineered

At least four very tight face straps that hold the mask in place

The face mask itself is about as comfortable as sandpaper

Breathing through it sounds like Darth Vader with a cold

You wake up cold due to the poorly designed pipe work

Painful in any position

Sadly i can’t show you an image of one of the CPAP face mask contraptions.  Doing so as a complainant would put me at risk of being sued for image copyright. Just type “CPAP MASK” into Google and click images.

The point of this CPAP or Just CRAP article is to highlights the extremely poor design of these essential sleep disorder health aids that 10’s of 1000’s of people like me just simply cannot wear, let alone sleep in one. 

The risks of sleep apnea are serious if untreated there is the possibility of stroke or heart attack as well as feeling sleepy and tired continuously.

As a sufferer of more than four years that has tried every mask available on the NHS I now have to face those risks. 

Complaints to CPAP makers:

I have written and phoned several makers of these contraptions, not one is interested, they simply refer me back to my supplier.

Creating a CPAP mask to wear that is not painful and unbearable to cope with is surely not rocket science, softer straps, less hard abrasive edges and better mask material that does not leave you bruised and sore. Is that too much to ask?

All the top manufacturers of these very expensive CPAP devices are aware of these issues, they will not listen to you or me but maybe, just maybe they will start to listen via the power on the Internet and social media and fire their hopeless overpaid designers and actually design a CPAP mask that is usable!

I invite all major designers, suppliers and manufacturers of CPAP machine masks to comment below.

Pardon the pun but I WILL NOT HOLD MY BREATH.