Complete Guide To Oxygen Concentrators | Do You Need One?
For many people, an oxygen concentrator is a necessary piece of medical equipment they need to help them breathe. While they used to be big and bulky, innovations in modern medicine have streamlined their look to make them quiet, small, and lightweight. If your primary care provider recommended you get one, this is for you.
I actually use an oxygen concentrator myself. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea but it was more a case of sleep hypopnea. I needed the CPAP to help me breathe deeply but I also needed the oxygen to help with getting the highest level of oxygen in my blood.
We want you to have all of the required information you need to be comfortable with your new oxygen concentrator, and this guide will detail everything you need to know. Whether you need one for you or a family member, knowing how it works, what it does, and what conditions it helps with is important.
Understanding What an Oxygen Concentrator is
This is a medical-grade device that delivers hospital-quality oxygen to people who have breathing issues or respiratory disorders. Anyone who has a lower than average oxygen concentration in their blood might use one of these machines to make up for the lower level. You typically can’t buy these oxygen concentrators over the counter, and your primary care doctor or respiratory therapist will have to prescribe it to you.
Your doctor will do a thorough exam and look at your medical history before they prescribe the device, and your doctor will give you instructions on how to work it once you get home. If you have home health nurses that come into your home, they can help you as well.
An oxygen concentrator takes the surrounding air and compresses it to the density you require for your condition before delivering it to you. It’ll either provide a continuous stream of oxygen, or the device will provide the oxygen on a pulse-dose delivery system. It comes with special filters and sieve beds that remove the Nitrogen from the air to give you completely purified oxygen.
Once the machine delivers the oxygen, you’ll get it through a nasal cannula or a special mask. Nasal cannulas have a flexible tubing that you can wrap behind your ear or behind your glasses to help hold it in place, but it can cause nasal dryness, and you can’t use it while you sleep. Oxygen masks deliver more oxygen per minute, but it’s bulkier.
You can adjust your delivery settings and the oxygen concentration levels as you need. There are home and portable units available.
How Oxygen Concentrators Work
Depending on the type of oxygen concentrator you use, the setup may be slightly different. However, all types of oxygen concentrators work the same way to produce the same results. It’ll either run for a set amount of time, or it’ll run continuously until you manually turn it off. It’s a quick, four-step process that we outlined for you below.
- The device takes in the surrounding air to purify it.
- The air gets compressed to the pre-set levels to deliver your tailored oxygen therapy.
- The concentrator strips the Nitrogen from the air to give you pure oxygen.
- You get the air delivered through your oxygen mask or nasal cannula. You can also have it connect into your CPAP gear.
How to Use an Oxygen Concentrator
These devices put out oxygen in liters per minute measurement that your doctor will tailor specifically for your needs based off your oxygen concentrations and your medical condition. Your doctor will give you very specific instructions to follow, and they’ll walk you through how to set up and use your new system.
Your doctor will outline when you should use your oxygen concentrator, how often you should use it every day, and what times are best to use it. You want to follow both the doctor’s and the brand’s instructions to make the most out of your oxygen therapy, whether you’re at home or on the go. Most are very easy to use with a user-friendly interface.
Home vs. Portable Oxygen Concentrators
The location where you plan to use your oxygen concentrator, the size, and how they deliver oxygen are the three big differences between home and portable units. A portable oxygen concentrator allows you to use it on the go or at home, and this makes them more compact and lightweight without sacrificing the oxygen quality. They use pulse-dose technology that delivers oxygen when you inhale.
These units are usually small enough for you to carry without any strain, and it can easily fit under your car’s seat or under an airplane seat for travel. Almost all of the major brands have the FDA’s approval to travel on airplanes.
A home oxygen concentrator is meant to stay in your home, but they can be small enough for you to move from room to room if you need to. They’re bigger, heavier, and slightly more cumbersome, but they provide a steady stream of oxygen instead of a pulse dose. In turn, your unit will run all of the time to deliver your required oxygen.
Will You Use Your Oxygen Concentrator for the Rest of Your Life?
The short answer is that it depends on your medical condition, history, severity, and what your doctor thinks is best for your health. They can prescribe oxygen therapy with this device for any length of time, ranging from short-term therapy to long-term use for a chronic condition.
The critical thing to do is never alter or stop your oxygen therapy on your on because you feel better. This could result in oxygen deprivation, and this can have a severe negative impact on your health. Instead, follow your doctor’s recommendations and only make changes if your doctor believes it’s in your best interest.
Why You Use an Oxygen Concentrator
There are several reasons why your doctor could prescribe oxygen therapy. Normally, you’ll breathe in air, your lungs absorb it, and your body transfers it to your bloodstream. If you had pulse oximetry or blood work done recently and your doctor found that you had low oxygen levels, they could recommend either short or long-term oxygen therapy with an oxygen concentrator.
Several acute medical conditions could require a short-term prescription of oxygen therapy to manage it, like a sudden onset of pneumonia or other short-term respiratory illness. However, there are chronic respiratory conditions that require you to have oxygen therapy for months or even years.
Oxygen Concentrators for Acute Conditions
Acute medical conditions usually require short-term oxygen therapy through an oxygen concentrator. We rounded up several examples of these conditions and listed them for you below.
Asthma
Asthma is a chronic respiratory illness where your lungs produce a lot of mucus and become inflamed. In turn, this makes it very difficult for you to breathe or draw a deep breath. There are several different medications that can help treat asthma and lessen the inflammation like a steroid inhaler, but an oxygen concentrator can help too. It can pump higher levels of oxygen into your body to help you if you are having or have had an asthma attack.
ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome)
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome is a lung condition that causes you to have lower oxygen levels in your blood. You can develop this condition after you have a bout of pneumonia or severe bleeding from being injured. Short-term oxygen therapy, fluids, and medications are all popular treatments to help treat it.
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD)
This is a common acute syndrome in newborns, especially in newborns that have RDS. This is a very severe lung condition that requires immediate oxygen therapy to help keep the baby’s blood oxygen levels at acceptable levels.
Pneumonia
When you develop pneumonia, you develop an infection in your lungs that causes inflammation of both or one of the air sacs. This infection can also cause your lungs to fill with fluid, and this decreases your oxygen intake. Oxygen therapy can help you recover by ensuring you get enough oxygen until you heal.
RDS (Respiratory Distress Syndrome)
Another illness that is common in newborns who are born six weeks or more early, RDS causes newborn’s lungs to not be able to create enough coating liquid on their lungs. This can cause their lungs to collapse and make it harder to breathe. Using an oxygen concentrator to pump pure oxygen into the bloodstream will help to prevent any more complications while the baby’s lungs develop.
Surgery
Any surgical procedure can wreak havoc on your body’s systems, especially if you have to be intubated or have damage to your lungs themselves. To keep your oxygen levels up, your surgeon or doctor may prescribe a short-term round of oxygen therapy. You’ll typically discontinue this therapy after your lungs heal, and you can take in enough oxygen on your own.
Oxygen Concentrators for Chronic Conditions
Chronic conditions are one that can last throughout your life, and many elderly people can develop them in later years. Oxygen therapy can be necessary to help manage the symptoms of these conditions.
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)
COPD can develop over your lifetime, but using an oxygen concentrator can be effective at helping you treat and manage the symptoms. When you get COPD, what you’re getting is chronic damage to the tissue of your lungs that makes it difficult to absorb oxygen. This can cause difficulty breathing, and oxygen therapy can make sure you get enough oxygen into your bloodstream to keep your levels up.
Cystic Fibrosis
This is a genetic condition that is life-threatening because it causes severe lung and digestive system damage. It attacks the cells in your body that are responsible for producing sweat, mucus, and digestive juices to make them much thicker and sticker. These thicker liquids can plug your passageways, tubes, and ducts that allow air to travel to your bloodstream, making it hard to breathe.
Heart Failure
When your heart functions normally, it’s able to pump enough oxygen-rich blood to all of your systems to help nourish your tissues. Heart failure means that your heart can’t pump enough oxygen-rich blood to your systems as it needs to, and this can lead to low levels of oxygen in your blood that requires oxygen therapy to help keep up with your body’s oxygen demands.
Sleep Apnea
If you have sleep apnea, you have a common disorder that causes your breathing to stop and start at random intervals throughout the night. A CPAP machine is the most common treatment for this condition because it gives you positive airway pressure to keep you breathing normally. Oxygen therapy, weight loss, and exercise are other helpful treatments your doctor may recommend.
Oxygen Concentrator Frequently Asked Questions
Most people have a lot of questions when they first start using their oxygen concentrator because it can be an intimidating device. However, there are several questions we see pop up again and again, and we’ll answer them for you next.
1. What are the side effects of getting pure oxygen?
There are relatively few side effects of using an oxygen concentrator to keep your oxygen levels up. You can experience nasal dryness and minor skin irritation where the mask or oxygen tubing lays against your skin.
2. How long do oxygen concentrators last?
Since these devices can range from $500 up to over $2,000, it makes sense that people want to know how much use they’ll get out of it. On average, these devices can last between four to seven years. How much you use, how careful you are with it, and the brand play strong roles in the machine’s longevity.
3. Will insurance cover the cost?
It depends on your insurance. Some insurance companies will cover it if your doctor prescribes it as a medically necessary device. You can call your insurance company and ask them directly if they’ll cover it or not, or you can ask your doctor’s office when they prescribe it.
4. Why do your oxygen levels drop when you’re asleep?
When you fall asleep, your breathing will slow down slightly. This means that you won’t take in as much oxygen as a whole, and it can cause a slight dip in your oxygen levels in your bloodstream. If you usually run around 94% on room air when you’re awake without the help of an oxygen concentrator, it’ll rarely fall below 88% when you sleep. If it does, you may have a medical problem.
5. What are the consequences of using oxygen therapy when you don’t need it?
It’s extremely important that you follow your doctor’s advice when you partake in oxygen therapy because there are serious health consequences of not doing so. Inappropriately using pure oxygen when you don’t need it can lead to type two respiratory failure, organ dysfunction, respiratory acidosis, coma, hypercapnia, and death.
6. Can oxygen concentrators run out of oxygen?
No, your oxygen concentrator can’t run out of oxygen. Unlike traditional oxygen tanks that have a set amount of oxygen stored, oxygen concentrators pull from the surrounding air and purify it. As long as you have oxygen around you and your device is working, you’ll have access to pure oxygen.
7. Does this device make your respiratory system weaker?
No, using an oxygen concentrator will not make any system in your body weaker as long as you use it following your doctor’s guidelines. It can help strengthen your system because it can help you heal from an infection or damage to your lungs by keeping your oxygen levels in the normal range.
8. What symptoms mean you’re not getting enough oxygen?
There are several symptoms that can show up when you’re not getting an adequate amount of oxygen in your system. Every person is different, and you may experience one or several of the following symptoms in varying degrees of severity. They include:
- Changes in your skin color
- Confusion
- Coughing or wheezing
- Rapid breathing
- Rapid heart rate
- Shortness of breath
- Sweating
9. Do you have to sleep with oxygen running at night?
Depending on your medical condition, the answer is you can. However, you shouldn’t unless your doctor recommends it because it can make your problems worse. If you think you have sleep apnea, your doctor can test for it using a sleep study.
10. How do pulse flow and a continuous flow of oxygen differ?
Both of these terms refer to how your machine delivers your oxygen to you. If you have a pulse flow machine, it’ll deliver oxygen when you inhale, and your inhaling will trigger it. A continuous flow gives you a constant stream of oxygen, and most machines have the capability of delivering both.
Bottom Line
Oxygen concentrators are just like any other medical treatment or equipment, and it’s essential that you consult with your doctor and ensure you follow whatever guidelines they lay out for you. Doing this will help you get the most out of your oxygen therapy, and it can improve your quality of life.
