Ensuring enough moisture with a tracheostomy
Your doctor might order extra humidification to your tracheostomy. When a patient needs humidification to thin out thick secretions, a trach collar setup with humidification will be ordered.
Your respiratory home care company will provide the supplies necessary for this setup. Follow their guidelines regarding what type of water to put in your humidification bottle.
Your doctor may recommend heat moisture exchangers, sometimes called artificial noses. These are small filters that fit directly on your trach tube. Each time you exhale, the moisture in your breath is held in the two sponges at the end of the adapter.
Since a number of different companies make these, they may appear different, but they all have the same function. In the home setting, these can be disassembled, washed in a mild soapy solution, rinsed, and air-dried.