About 25 million Americans live with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), but current research results show only 60% of those individuals are actually using a CPAP machine every night. Adapting to CPAP therapy can be challenging, but it’s important to remember sleep apnea is a dangerous condition that requires some form of treatment.
You may know about some of these benefits while others may be new to you. Nearly 50% of CPAP wearers don’t even reach the minimum time required to experience the benefits of the therapy, but rest assured there are plenty of advantages—and your doctor prescribed CPAP therapy for a reason.
What Are the Health Benefits of CPAP?
Aside from treating OSA, other key benefits of CPAP therapy include:
- Cardiovascular Health: Balancing a healthy heart and OSA often starts with CPAP therapy. Sleeping disorders often manifest other underlying issues such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. There are many things we can do to keep our heart healthy, and for those with OSA, CPAP therapy should be at the top of the list. (It may even help you cut back on blood pressure medications.)
- Better Diabetic Control: Sleep apnea is often a common denominator in people with type 2 diabetes. Steady CPAP therapy can help in controlling diabetes by reducing insulin resistance, which can lead to more stable blood glucose levels.
- Prevent Hearing Loss: Studies have proven that sleep apnea and hearing loss are correlated. According to one study, those with sleep apnea have up to a 90 percent higher risk of hearing loss. This study concluded that persistent use of CPAP therapy may reduce or even prevent snoring, which causes noise trauma and hearing impairment.
Does CPAP Help You Sleep Better?
You may not immediately feel it, but CPAP does indeed help you sleep better. By not experiencing sleep apnea during the night, you’ll achieve a full night’s sleep.
Some ways to get the best night’s sleep on CPAP include:
- Trying APAP Instead of CPAP: Some wearers may benefit from using an APAP machine instead of a CPAP machine. Do you sleep in different positions during the night, have difficulties falling asleep at high pressures, or experience bloating? An APAP machine adjusts the ideal pressure based on the detection of the patient’s breathing patterns providing the appropriate pressure for a comfortable night’s sleep.
- Enhancing Your Beauty Regimen: New research suggests patients who practiced continuous CPAP therapy reduced puffiness and redness in their faces, contributing to a more alert and youthful look.
- Your Partner May Sleep Better: Research suggests that the same symptoms of poor sleep that you may experience will also plague your bed partner if your OSA is left untreated. Steady CPAP therapy is one of the best ways to provide you and your partner a restful night’s sleep.
Does CPAP Give You More Energy?
Getting a full night’s rest is key to having enough energy to brave the day, but did you know that CPAP can also contribute to this by allowing you to get a restful night’s sleep and even increase intimacy with your spouse?
- A New Source of Energy: If your snoring keeps you awake at night and has you reaching for multiple cups of coffee throughout the day, you’ll be glad to know that CPAP therapy may improve your energy.
- Improve Intimacy: Intimate relationships play a big part in nurturing a healthy lifestyle, and unfortunately, some sleep apnea patients may experience a lack of intimacy and loss of libido. The good news is that studies have shown ongoing use of CPAP therapy may significantly improve sexual function and satisfaction.
Other Advantages of Using CPAP
- Traveling Made Easy: Whether you’re traveling for leisure or for work, it is important to remember your CPAP machine. Fortunately, there have been great advancements in travel-sized CPAP machines. The AirMini AutoSet Travel CPAP Machine is one of the lightest and most portable machines. It can easily be added to carry on luggage or a tote, making CPAP therapy easy to maintain while on the go.
- Save Money: Sleep apnea increases the risk of an array of diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, memory loss, depression, and other ailments. Controlling other existing diseases may help decrease visits to doctors and hospitals, and possibly reduce the need for prescriptions, saving you time and money.
Final Thoughts
It’s important to consult a doctor about the ways CPAP interacts with your other medical conditions. Under no circumstances should you discontinue any medication or treatment without involving your doctor first. While treating sleep apnea has many benefits, only your doctor will know for sure how those benefits will impact you.
Some new CPAP patients report feeling worse after starting CPAP, but in most cases, this is due to them having the wrong mask, not yet being accustomed to the therapy, or having the wrong pressure settings.
Once you’re ready to get started with CPAP therapy, you can read our ultimate guide to CPAP machines.
DISCLAIMER: It’s important to consult a doctor about the ways that CPAP interacts with your other medical conditions. Under no circumstances should you discontinue any medication or treatment without involving your doctor first. While treating sleep apnea has many benefits, only your doctor will know for sure how those benefits will impact you.
Heather is a creative with an eye for detail and an insatiable love for innovative ideas. Combining creative expression with strategically driven design, she is passionate about generating relative content that explores the necessities and interests of the reader. Since being employed at CPAP.com, she has done extensive research on all aspects of CPAP therapy. Her knowledge of Sleep Apnea and CPAP therapy goes back much further, however, to when a loved one of hers was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea. Devoted to finding the best equipment and CPAP therapy practices for Sleep Apnea patients, Heather continues to gather relevant information which she meticulously curates into her writing and design.
In her spare time, Heather enjoys spending quality time with her husband, three children and puppy. Other activities she is passionate about are writing and illustrating children’s books, swimming, running, art, photography, and travel. Having traveled to many regions of the world, Heather loves exploring different cultures while visually telling their story through her dynamic photography and engaging articles.
6 thoughts on “10 CPAP Benefits That Will Make You Love Your CPAP”
It all sounds wonderful if only I didn’t have so many problems from my Cpap maybe I could enjoy the benefits.
My air pressure was recently raised from a ten to thirteen to eighteen. I’ve tried tons of different masks. The full face leaves marks on my face also irritation. It makes my mouth severely dry. It leaks air through out the night. My tongue is totally dried my cheeks stick to my jaw. My teeth are falling out due to the dryness. I have a nasal mask that would work wonderfully if I wasn’t a mouth breather. Chin straps don’t work to keep your mouth closed. Just paid for a new nasal mask with mouth piece I almost lost my front teeth from the mouth piece . plus it makes my nostrils feel like someone lite a fire in them. Not to mention my throat also feels like hot lava going down if I try to swallow. .I’m scheduled to have my four top front teeth extracted and replaced with a partial problems is I’m afraid if I pay the 3 thousand dollars for the partial then have the teeth that hold my partial fall out also due to dryness. I’ll be out all that money for nothing. Now after all that was is the answer?. Moisturizer not it just disturbs my sleep to have to be applying it. The discs that that you stick to the roof of your mouth are not the answer either as there is no saliva in my mouth for it to dissolve. I have hypertension, depression and recently diabetes. All so have had two strokes. Can some one please help?
A friend suggested I just stop using the Cpap that is a solution if I have a death wish. I’m at a complete loss seems I’ve tried everything . Hoping and praying there is still a solution I may have missed.
Desperate.
I have been using my nasal CPAP machine for over a month and have no benefits. I often wonder what others get from theirs.
It doesn’t bother me at all while in use, however the following day the mucus in my nose is quite hard and difficult to remove.
Hi Pamela, i’m sad to hear that you are not finding that your CPAP machine is beneficial to you. Most folks are able to get better sleep with CPAP Therapy and usually feel more energized during the day. Keep in mind that in most cases it takes more than a month, or two for you to get acclimated in using your machine and for you to have noticeable differences in how you feel.
Please click the link below to view a product that may provide you relief with the mucus concern that you have.
https://www.cpap.com/productpage/neilmed-sinus-rinse-regular-kit
Please feel free to reach us at: 1-800-356-5221 for question, or concerns.
Have a great day!
I am so grateful for my CPAC machine, knowing the issues my doctor was very concerned that if I had not got a CPAC machine I would not be here, hearing that you stop breathing while sleeping is very scary, but receiving the news of how many time is heart retching. I use to wake up more than five times during the night never would get a 8hr. but now I get 8 straight hours and that is amazing for me. I use to stay up not wanted to go lay in my bed because I new what I would endure, but now I can’t wait to go to bed. My CPAC machine has saved my life, literally!
It took about a month for the C pap machine For me to really take notice. I was snoring horribly and not breathing, night sweats, and waking up every 2 hours to urinate. After a month of using the C pap. All of those symptoms are gone. I had to adjust masks to a full face mask to sleep more comfortably I finally found the mask for me. I recorded myself on my phone sleeping with and without and there is a night and day difference