CPAP Baddies: How a Viral Beauty Hack Is Normalizing Sleep Apnea Treatment
A viral TikTok trend known as 'CPAP baddies' is helping normalize the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines by reframing them as beauty tools rather than medical burdens. The movement, which gained traction after a Wisconsin woman used her device's tubing to create heatless curls, has reached over 16.2 million accounts on Instagram and TikTok in the last 90 days. Sponsored by respiratory device maker Resmed, the campaign aims to reduce the stigma surrounding sleep apnea treatment, particularly among young women who often go undiagnosed. By celebrating the aesthetic and practical aspects of CPAP use, the initiative encourages adherence to a therapy that is considered the gold standard for managing obstructive sleep apnea, a condition affecting more than 80 million Americans.