Summer is travel time, when families finally get a chance to hit the road and enjoy a well-earned vacation. But it won’t be enjoyable for you if you have to be without your sleep apnea treatment. You’ll be fatigued, irritable, and may even doze off when driving or during other activities.
The problem is that CPAP can be a nuisance when you travel. The solution is that oral appliances make a much more portable option that can help you easily treat your sleep apnea while you travel.
Hard to Pack and Carry
Packing up your CPAP can be difficult. Many of them come with carrying cases, but that was before you added all the accessories that you need to make it actually tolerable and effective. You probably didn’t realize just how much you’ve added until you start to pack it. Then you realize how something that can easily fit on your bedside table may not so easily fit in your luggage. It may even require its own bag (and its own bag fee to the airline)!
Airport Security
Once you get your CPAP machine to the airport, you’ll have to take it through security if you want to use it on the airplane. TSA agents are more aware of CPAP than they used to be, so there’s a chance you might just get waved through. But you may also get called aside so they can finger all your CPAP components and put them down on the inspection table.
Lost Luggage
On the other hand, you might think it’s best to put your CPAP through as a checked bag. If so, you’re running the risk of losing your CPAP. This isn’t very likely, true, but if it does, you’re without your sleep apnea treatment on vacation, and you know what that can be like! It can not only ruin your time, but everybody else’s too if you need CPAP to control snoring.
Where Do I Plug in?
And once you get to your destination, you’ve got an entirely new set of problems. Now you have to find a place to plug in.
Hotels typically offer good access to outlets, but the bedside tables are small and may not accommodate your CPAP and accessories.
And if you’re staying in a house booked over VRBO or AirBNB, you may be surprised to find that there’s no good place to plug in. Maybe you have to make a choice between an alarm clock and CPAP, or the machine has to be inconveniently far away.
Plus, if you’re traveling internationally you have to bring adapters for the electricity and hope that the supply is as reliable as back home.
Some people rely on a battery-operated CPAP for travel. This may not have the power you’re looking for, and the batteries may not last all night at your preferred setting. Plus you have to carry a lot of batteries.
Where Do I Clean up?
To avoid infection and illness, it’s recommended that you clean your CPAP every day. Since travel always increases your risk of getting sick anyway, it’s best not to skip this. But cleaning up can be something of an ordeal.
At home, you’ve got everything set up and streamlined to get your CPAP cleaned with a minimum of fuss, but when you’re traveling you’re starting over again. You have to figure it all out again every time you’re in a new hotel. And if you’re in a place where the water isn’t safe to drink, you have to make sure you have enough bottled water for the process.
Oral Appliances Make Travel Easy
Some people never adapt to CPAP. Others get so used to CPAP that they can’t do without it and they’re prepared to live with the nuisance for traveling.
But for many people, CPAP is a good option at home, but life on the road requires a more compact alternative. An oral appliance can be that alternative. Whether you travel for business or pleasure, an oral appliance helps you avoid all the nuisances of CPAP.
If you are in River Edge, NJ and would like to learn more about the benefits of oral appliance therapy, please call (201) 343-4044 today for an appointment with sleep dentist Dr. Marlen Martirossian at the River Edge Dental Center for TMJ, Sleep Apnea, & Reconstructive Dentistry.
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