Okay, first world problems: your CPAP is too ‘loud.’ Of all the other issues in the world –  war, poverty, famine, etc., – this is the one you are most concerned with. You have modern technology assisting you in the art of peaceful slumber, assisting you in breathing throughout the night and getting enough oxygen to your brain, but you are worried about the technology being too loud. Well, it seems as if they CPAP gods have heard your pleas, and have offered a solution. ResMed recently introduced the QuietAir.

Without the QuietAir, the average sound made by someone using a CPAP machine and full face mask is about 30 dBA (unit of measure for weighted sounds). With the QuietAir that number drops from 30 dBA’s to 21 dBA’s, which is only 1 dBA louder than that of a rural mountain valley slope – meaning that it reduces “noise” to nearly nothing. Unless you put your ear right up to someone’s mask, and even then, I doubt that you will be able to hear anything.

According to ResMed’s website, using the QuietAir with your mask reduces the sound by up to 89% and allows for 70% gentler exhaled air flow (yay! You have the option of cuddling up next your partner while in bed without worrying about waking them up because your mask is making too much noise or because you are exhaling CO2 upon them… That’s not cute).

As of now, it looks like the QuietAir is only available for the AirFit F20 and the AirTouch F20 full face masks. Whether or not this feature will be available for other full face masks or even nasal masks in the future is not known at this time. It looks like the QuietAir diffuser is something that you can add on to the a mask, so it might be possible to purchase one as a back up in case your pet or child get to your mask and go to town with it.

I am pretty excited to see what the outcome of this new item is going to be. Will patients notice a difference in the noise level, will they be thankful for this new improvement, or will they seemingly not care about the addition? It is pretty difficult to know for sure which way patients lead towards, but only time will tell.

**Disclaimer: This blog post is in no way meant to be offensive.**