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If you need to be on a ventilator for the long term and your condition is stable, you may be able to use a ventilator at home. This can help avoid some of the complications of long hospital stays and improve your quality of life. You will likely use the ventilator with a trach tube or face mask.

After most surgeries, your doctor will disconnect the ventilator once the anesthesia wears off and you begin breathing on your own. They will remove the tube from your throat. This usually happens before you completely wake up from surgery. When you wake up, you may not even know that you were connected to a ventilator. The only sign may be a slight sore throat for a short time. The sore throat is caused by the tube that connects the ventilator to your airway.

One of the most serious and common risks of being on a ventilator is pneumonia. The breathing tube makes it hard for you to cough. Coughing helps clear your airways of germs that can cause infections. The breathing tube that is put into your airway can allow bacteria to enter your lungs. As a result, you may develop pneumonia.

Ventilators normally don't cause pain. The breathing tube in your airway may cause discomfort. It can also affect how well you eat and talk. You may be able to talk if you have a trach tube, face mask, or helmet. A ventilator limits your movement, which may prevent you from carrying out your activities. When you are on the ventilator, your doctor may have you lie on your stomach instead of your back to help more of your lungs get oxygen.

Ventilators are machines that blow air—or air with extra oxygen—into your airways and your lungs. Your airways are pipes that carry oxygen-rich air to your lungs when you breathe in. They also carry carbon dioxide (a waste gas) out of your lungs when you breathe out.

You may need a ventilator in an emergency if a condition makes it difficult to breathe on your own (called respiratory failure). You may also need a ventilator during surgery.