Like Scott of Essential Craftsman, I suffer from sleep apnea. Also, like Scott, I often thought of altering my CPAP machine (when I was using one). But my fantasy "improvements" were more along the lines of redesigning the mask to make it easier to wear or at least decorating it to make it look less like dire hospital equipment.
Like many CPAP users, Scott loathed his mask and the whole rigamarole of using it. He was complaining to a friend who joked: "Why don't you just put tape over your mouth?" Scott took him seriously and started experimenting with different ways of taping his mouth shut and not using his machine. He landed on a non-aggressive medical tape, cut with small air slits.
He's been monitoring his nighttime health ever since with an Apple Watch and a sleep health app and claims his improved stats speak from themselves. An interesting experiment, to be sure.
Fun CPAP side note: When I got my sleep apnea diagnosis, I started doing research on people coping with the machine and looking for any CPAP alternatives. On a forum, I read a really touching story about a couple. The man was diagnosed with apnea and got the machine. He hated it. His partner hated it, too, and it started causing strife in their relationship. The machine kept him up more than allowed him to sleep. And during that insomnia, he discovered that she showed signs of apnea. She had the sleep test, and sure enough, apnea. Now, they both went to bed at night with a CPAP facehugger strapped to their heads. They eventually adjusted and decided to have some fun with it. They decorated their masks to look like jet fighter masks and they'd go to bed each night imagining that they're jet pilots. "Ready for take-off, honey?" "Roger that."
Thumbnail: Screen grab from video, Essential Craftsman, Scott Wadsworth
