It's All About Sleep

480-614-5281 or 877-392-7270

March 2012

In This Issue

Therapy Tips

Articles of Interest

Quick Links

Shop Online

Visit Our Retail Store

Resources & Links

Have you heard?

EZ CPAP has a Refer a Friend Program!

For each person that you refer to EZ CPAP you will receive a coupon for 20% off of your next purchase!

So tell your family and friends to visit our website or our store, and make sure they tell us about you so that you reap your rewards!

EZ CPAP.com

Did you know?

In addition to quality sleep apnea equipment, EZ CPAP offers many services to support you:

CPAP and bilevel pressure assessments and appropriate adjustments
Personalized treatment education and follow-up
Mask fittings-try before you buy!
You can even try the mask lying down on
a real bed!
Evaluation of current equipment fit and function
Sleep physician recommendations
Sleep health education

Call for an appointment, or just walk-in. Our hours are Monday 2pm - 5pm,

Tuesday 10am - 4pm, Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm, Thursday 2pm - 5pm and Friday 8:30-5:00.

Scheduled appointments take priority over walk-ins.

The Store 5

Therapy Tips:

Distilled Water Defined

So often patients ask me questions about their CPAP humidifier chambers:

How often am I supposed to clean it?
How do I get the film or mineral deposits out of the inside?
How often should I replace the chamber?

The first question I ask is "Are you using distilled water?" And most every time the patient responds with a very confident "yes".

If you are getting mineral deposits, a film coating, or are wondering how often you should replace the chamber, you are not using distilled water. Distilling water removes all of the natural minerals found in water--that which coats the inside of the water chamber. This is why all CPAP manufacturers recommend using only distilled water.

Distilled water is not Drinking Water, Bottled Water, or Reverse Osmosis water. It also is not "filtered" or "purified" water. While those waters are cleaner than your typical tap water, they still contain minerals which cause the build up. Water softeners also do not remove all of the mineral content from the water. I have seen minerals eat holes into the metal plate at the bottom of the chamber, causing the humidifier to leak and spill water all over furniture. In some cases, the electronics of the CPAP have been damaged because of the leak.

It is acceptable to use any water you would like, but if it's not distilled, expect to change the chamber every 6 months at a minimum.

Articles of Interest

Sleep Important for the Immune System Stretching

According to an article posted online by MensHealthNews, healthy sleep provides the immune system with the stength it needs to help us fight off infection. If you are not getting the sleep that you need to stay healthy, do some research on ways to improve your sleep health. You can also find more information about techniques for sleeping well by reading the original article!

Beauty Sleep is Real

Not only does sleep help you fight that cold, it also makes you more attractive, according to some researchers.

In an article posted by The Independent untrained observers were asked to look at photographs taken of volunteers who had been deprived of sleep. The observers noted that these volunteers appeared less healthy and unattractive when compared with photos of the same volunteers taken when they were well-rested.

One researcher, Dr. Axxelson, reported that physiological changes that occur because of sleep deprivation can be seen in the face of those deprived.

For more information about this study, click here.

Would You Like to Take a Sleep Vacation?

To meet the needs of our sleep-deprived world, several hotels, spas and nightclubs are adding sleep getaway packages to their services!

An article in WebMD makes mention of 3 such hotels around the world: The Milestone Hotel in London, the Grand Resort Bad Ragaz in Switzerland, and the Hotel Gabriel Paris Marais in Paris. But if an expensive sleep spa trip to a luxurious hotel is outside of your budget, Dr. Breus offers some tips on how to create your own sleep getaway at home. Click here to read the article in full.