Doctors Answers (4)
While there is a small amount of research indicating high humidity can decrease pressure requirements a small amount, I don't believe the research outweighs personal comfort and nasal health issues.
I recommend setting the humidifier on maximum and working down from there.
The best setting is what is comfortable for you. Some patients do not like the heated feature and do not use it, and you do not want rain out (water accumulating in the hose). If you are waking with a dry mouth, you may want to increase the humidity by increasing the heat. I typically start midway.
The best humidity setting is really a personal preference. If you have a dry throat, nose and mouth then you should for sure turn up your humidity level. On an Icon, you need to dial over to the 1:00 position, tap the silver button to make the screen active and the number will flash, and then dial up the number to a max of 7. Tap the silver button again to save your setting. If you have heated tubing there is an a additional humidity setting for it that can be adjusted and many find very useful if additional humidity is needed. To change the "boost" or tube heat setting just hold in the silver button for 3 second when you are at the 1:00 position and thermometer will appear in the top right corner of your screen. The more thermometers, the more humidity will be delivered to you. Call our office if you need further assistance and one of our respiratory therapists would be happy to help you
There is no "correct" setting for humidification with CPAP. Some patients do not use the humidifier but if you use the highest setting there can be excess water collected in the hose. You have to experiment with the settings. I do not know how to set the humidity for the ICON CPAP. I recommend you contact the company which supplied the CPAP or even Google may tell you how.
