After diagnosis · CPAP and BiPAP
CPAP Titration Study in Chennai
A sleep study tells you that you have sleep apnea. A titration study tells your CPAP what to do about it. It is one night of sleep with the mask on while the pressure is tuned until your airway stays open, and it is the difference between a machine that helps and one that ends up in a cupboard.
Why the pressure has to be right
CPAP works like an air splint: gentle pressure through the mask holds the throat open so it cannot collapse while you sleep. The pressure needed is different for every person. It depends on the shape of the airway, weight, sleeping position and how severe the apnea is, and it cannot be guessed from the report alone.
Pressure
Too low
The airway still collapses. You keep snoring, oxygen keeps dropping, and you wake up as tired as before, so it feels as if CPAP does not work.
Pressure
Too high
Air leaks round the mask, the mouth dries out, air is swallowed and the stomach bloats. Some people develop new breathing pauses of a different kind. Many give up on the machine.
Pressure
Right
Snoring stops, oxygen stays steady and sleep stops breaking up. Most people notice the difference in their mornings within the first weeks.
How the right pressure is found
Sleep labs follow a standard method, set out in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s titration guideline. In plain terms:
- 1
Start low
CPAP usually starts at a low pressure, 4 cm H₂O for most adults, so you can fall asleep comfortably.
- 2
Step up when events continue
If apneas, hypopneas or loud snoring continue, the pressure is raised by at least 1 cm H₂O, with at least five minutes between changes so each step can be judged.
- 3
Check the hard positions
Apnea is often worst lying on the back and in REM sleep. A good titration confirms the pressure holds there too.
- 4
Switch if needed
If events persist at high CPAP (around 15 cm H₂O) or the pressure cannot be tolerated, the physician may switch to BiPAP. The usual ceiling for CPAP in adults is 20 cm H₂O.
Pressures are measured in centimetres of water (cm H₂O). Your physician sets the final number from the whole night, not just the last step reached.
Three ways titration is done
Full-night attended titration
A technician watches the recording and raises the pressure through the night until breathing events, snoring and oxygen drops are controlled, in every sleep position and in dream (REM) sleep. The most precise method, and preferred for complicated cases.
Split-night study
The first part of the night is a diagnostic sleep study. If severe apnea shows up early, CPAP is started and titrated for the rest of the night. Diagnosis and pressure in one visit, but with less time to fine-tune.
Auto-titration at home
An auto CPAP runs for several nights at home, adjusting pressure breath by breath. The doctor reads the downloaded data (the pressure needed most of the night, leaks and remaining events) and sets the final pressure or range. Not advised for people with heart failure, significant lung disease, central apnea or low oxygen during the day.
Which one you need is your doctor’s call. Tell us what has been advised and we will explain exactly how and where your titration will be done.
The mask matters as much as the pressure
A mask that leaks makes any pressure look wrong. Titration night is the time to get it right: nasal pillows for people who find masks claustrophobic, a nasal mask for most nose-breathers, and a full-face mask for mouth-breathers or a blocked nose. If you wake with a dry mouth, you are probably breathing through it, and that changes the choice.
Browse CPAP masks to see the styles.
Already have an auto CPAP?
An auto CPAP finds its own pressure breath by breath, within limits your doctor sets. That is why many patients start on one without a separate titration night, with a data review after the first week or two. A titration study still helps when the auto machine is not controlling your apnea, when the pressure keeps hitting the top of its range, or when your doctor wants a fixed pressure.
Compare machines on our best CPAP machine page.
After the titration
You get the pressure settings for your machine, the mask that worked for you, and your breathing events per hour on that pressure, which should be close to normal. If you need a machine, we set it to your prescription before it reaches you, whether you rent a CPAP machine in Chennai or buy one. If BiPAP was needed, see BiPAP machines.
Not diagnosed yet? Titration comes after a diagnostic study. Start with a home sleep study, a Level 2 home polysomnography or a lab sleep study, or compare all sleep study levels and prices.
Book your titration study
Leave your name and number. We will call you back, go through your sleep study report and what your doctor has advised, and fix a night that suits you.
- Have your sleep study report ready when we call
- Tell us if you already own a CPAP or BiPAP
- Mention any heart or lung condition