Showers With Oxygen
My COPD has progressed to oxygen. Showers have become a major chore. Does anyone use oxygen in the shower? I’m told you can and how but it seems very scary to me.
No reason why not, and there's nothing to be afraid of. Most people put the hose over the shower curtain rod, but I have a shower without a tub and just make sure the hose is in the crack of the shower door at the floor. It works very well, and I don't have water all over. Shower chairs, handheld shower heads, holders for shampoo and other things you need at a level convenient for you and safety rails are all really helpful. A good quality terry robe and a chair you can sit in as soon as you get out can also make showering a lot easier.
When I did my own shower, I took it off in the shower. Had it right beside the tub and put it on the minute I shut the water off. I was told to put it in my mouth while showering and that would work. Trouble is, my nose runs like a tap when I shower so I have to breathe through my mouth so I can't utilize the oxygen. Now someone showers & shampoos me. I sit on a bath chair and bend over, with no O2 while she washes my hair ( I have facecloth over my eyes & nose)when she has finished shampooing & rinsing, I wash my face and put my O2 back on while she bathes me.
I’ve been on oxygen for 6 years 24/7. I have a spray hose and a shower chair so I can sit. I just throw the oxygen hose over the shower door and leave it on the whole time. Afterwords I throw on a terry robe which helps when it comes to drying off.
Yes when I am having a bad air day. I will wear my O2 in the shower. I run the hose up over the rail for the shower curtain. The hardest and most strenuous thing we do is something with our hands over our head. So it will really affect your O2 levels unles your supplementing it with O2.
I don't do it all the tie but it beats srugling for air when your in the shower.
As I read some of the answers I feel like many of you are in worse condition than I am. As I have said I pay close attention as does my doctors at the transplant clinic to my FEV1 which I'm at 18% . If I take off my cannula my o2 sat will drop into the 70's in less than a minute. There are times when I do have a bit of exacerbation so I'll just rinse off the cannula and stick it in my mouth for a few. Biggest thing I'm getting to is It would help to answer some questions on here if people would tell their FEV1 level. By the way Stage 4 starts at I think 30% and lower. To my the difference between 30% and 18% is a huge difference because when I was at 30 I could go on and off without the oxygen supplement at times. Last 5 years have been 24/7. Pray for a lung TX soon!
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