salt in humidifier for congestion

[echo]

Hi gang, here's something I haven't heard discussed here (or if it was I missed it)... I went to an "open house" at a nearby hospital's sleep clinic (it was interesting but that's another story)... one of the sleep tech's mentioned that they recommend putting salt IN the HH to combat congestion.

Anyone ever tried this? Possible negative effects?

oh and when I told them i tape my mouth shut to prevent mouth breathing, she just raised her eyebrows and said 'that must be painful in the morning' Actualy I'm hoping they'll be my new sleep lab. They seem more competent than the one I went to. And they had a whole cornucopia of nasal masks and pillows and FFMs to try! _and_ they used humidifiers on all of their titration machines! I was impressed. She even let me try on a few new FFMs while laying down WITH my pressure!

[jnk]

Sounds like a good way to void the warranty and to cause some corrosion of the warming plate. I vote no for that and yes for nasal irrigation.

[Lila919]

Putting salt in the humidifier sounds like a really bad idea to me - warm air blows over the water to evaporate it, so not much salt would get into the air. Whatever salt did get in would be very hard on the equipment - salt is very corrosive and it would collect in all the nooks and crannies. What would be left in the humidifier after the water evaporates would be a salty-briny mess which would have lines around the edges and wound need to be scrubbed out. I don't know why they would recommend that, but I will stick to distilled water.

[echo]

ohh duh good point jnk!
Edit: and Lila! we must have just cross-posted

sort of like what happens when your water tank runs out of h20 in the middle of the night when the heating is still on (yes that happened a few months ago)

[GumbyCT]

Hi gang, here's something I haven't heard discussed here (or if it was I missed it)... I went to an "open house" at a nearby hospital's sleep clinic (it was interesting but that's another story)... one of the sleep tech's mentioned that they recommend putting salt IN the HH to combat congestion.

Anyone ever tried this? Possible negative effects?

You don't say where in the world you are? And if this RT was better than another well you are in trouble.

Once someone misleads me - knowingly or unknowingly - I will usually ignore any other advise they have to offer. What I an trying to say is you need to find another Sleep Center; DME; RT; or whatever.

The advise offered shows not only lack of training and experience but the lack of ability to reason also.

Besides warranty issues - any impurities in the chamber will remain IN the chamber. That IS why "Distilled Water" is recommended. You can use any water you choose - however comma Distilled Water will give you THE BEST results. Not to mention saving you hours worth not having to clean the chamber.

Have you tried using a nasal rinse for your congestion? Consult an ENT?

afaik - using a humidifier during a PSG is commonplace.

[jules]

saline rinse before hosing up is a good idea

anything in the humidifier besides pure water - salt, cat urine, spiders, whatever ----- is BAD

[Wulfman]

Hi gang, here's something I haven't heard discussed here (or if it was I missed it)... I went to an "open house" at a nearby hospital's sleep clinic (it was interesting but that's another story)... one of the sleep tech's mentioned that they recommend putting salt IN the HH to combat congestion.

Anyone ever tried this? Possible negative effects?

oh and when I told them i tape my mouth shut to prevent mouth breathing, she just raised her eyebrows and said 'that must be painful in the morning' Actualy I'm hoping they'll be my new sleep lab. They seem more competent than the one I went to. And they had a whole cornucopia of nasal masks and pillows and FFMs to try! _and_ they used humidifiers on all of their titration machines! I was impressed. She even let me try on a few new FFMs while laying down WITH my pressure!

What an idiot! That would make me suspicious about anything else they told me.

This subject has come up on this forum for almost as long as the forum has existed. Here's a link to a search I just did.

viewtopic/t51140/search.php?keywords=sa ... humidifier

In reality, It probably wouldn't hurt anything except the equipment......because the salt wouldn't be carried by the water vapor because it's too heavy......so, in a heated or passover humidifier, it would just lay there and corrode the tank......because all the solids are left behind by the vaporizing process.


Den

[echo]

yes yes of course you're all right, i just had a dumb moment. I would never put anything else in the HH. Den you're right, now that i think about it HAS been discussed here before. I'm still fighting to get good sleep these days.

my previous sleep lab was of no help (I've already chronicled their stupid statements in previous posts, like telling me to go to 4cm to stop the mouth breathing or refusing to give me a ffm or refusing to use a humidifier for the titration or to give me a humidifier with my rental or saying APAPs are no good ). Anyway it's all a lot better now. I use the neti pot for congestion and maybe once a week to once a month i use a nose spray, and make sure to change the filters often and clean often. It's just worse now with what i guess are seasonal allergies, and I tend to get pretty bad during the dry winter months too.

we'll see about the new lab... i'm going there to get checked out for a circadian rhythm disorder, it's one of their specialities.

[Wulfman]

yes yes of course you're all right, i just had a dumb moment. I would never put anything else in the HH. Den you're right, now that i think about it HAS been discussed here before. I'm still fighting to get good sleep these days.

my previous sleep lab was of no help (I've already chronicled their stupid statements in previous posts, like telling me to go to 4cm to stop the mouth breathing or refusing to give me a ffm or refusing to use a humidifier for the titration or to give me a humidifier with my rental or saying APAPs are no good ). Anyway it's all a lot better now. I use the neti pot for congestion and maybe once a week to once a month i use a nose spray, and make sure to change the filters often and clean often. It's just worse now with what i guess are seasonal allergies, and I tend to get pretty bad during the dry winter months too.

we'll see about the new lab... i'm going there to get checked out for a circadian rhythm disorder, it's one of their specialities.

Be sure to stay away from Afrin. It has a horrible rebound effect......making it addictive.


Den

[BlackSpinner]

The way to get fresh water from salt water is to "cook" the water and then the vapor is salt free and can be captured and condensed to water again - it is called "Distilling"! Did this RT skip high school chemistry?

[GumbyCT]

The way to get fresh water from salt water is to "cook" the water and then the vapor is salt free and can be captured and condensed to water again - it is called "Distilling"! Did this RT skip high school chemistry?

tis scary isn't it?

[Rebecca R]

saline rinse before hosing up is a good idea

anything in the humidifier besides pure water - salt, cat urine, spiders, whatever ----- is BAD

cat urine? spiders?

[BlackSpinner]

The way to get fresh water from salt water is to "cook" the water and then the vapor is salt free and can be captured and condensed to water again - it is called "Distilling"! Did this RT skip high school chemistry?

tis scary isn't it?

Yes it is and to tell the truth I think we did this kind of experiment in elementary school.

[allen476]

anything in the humidifier besides pure water - salt, cat urine, spiders, whatever ----- is BAD

Sounds like experience talking. I wouldn't want to borrow your humidifier.....

Allen

[jnk]

Cat urine is almost as effective as vinegar, but not quite.