How Many Hours a Day Do You Have to Do Home Dialysis?

If you have been diagnosed with kidney failure, then your doctor is likely to recommend dialysis treatment. Dialysis has been helping millions of kidney patients to live healthy lives while performing their daily life tasks easily. Dialysis removes extra fluids from the blood when kidneys stop working properly using special apparatus.

There are two types of dialysis. One is hemodialysis (Which includes pumping blood out of the body, filtering it outside the body using machines, and then returning it to the body) and the other one is Peritoneal dialysis (this includes filtering blood inside the body using tubes and other equipment).

The process of dialysis can be done in two ways: in-center or at home. In-center dialysis is done at a hospital or specialized dialysis clinic. At-home dialysis, as the name suggests, is done in the comfort of your own home. The independence and flexibility associated with at-home dialysis are making it popular all over the world. Still, numerous queries are associated with doing so.

If you are considering opting for at-home dialysis, then you may be wondering about the number of hours a day you need to do this treatment. Read this article to learn more about at-home hemodialysis and to find out the answer to all your questions regarding the duration of home dialysis.

How Many Hours a Day Do You Have to Do Home Dialysis?

In-center dialysis takes around three to four hours. Depending on the condition of the patient, in-center dialysis can be performed thrice or more than that per week. However, home dialysis is not very severe and can be performed every day. Under normal circumstances, you need to spend two to three hours a day doing home dialysis.

However, this is just a rough figure, it is important to schedule a meeting with your doctor to accurately determine the number of hours you need to perform home dialysis for. Many factors influence the duration of home dialysis. You need to carefully consider these factors and discuss them with your doctor before making a final decision.

Factors That Determine The Number of Hours You Have to Do Home Dialysis

The number of hours you have to do home dialysis is determined by different factors. These include the following:

1. Age Factor

The first factor that determines the number of hours you must do home dialysis is your age. The younger you are the more hours you will need to do home dialysis. This is because your body is still growing and developing hence it needs more time to cleanse itself. Also, a young body can bear the intensity of home dialysis easily. The older you get the weaker you become to tolerate the intensity of home dialysis.

2. Health Condition

Health condition is another factor that determines the duration of hours you need to do home dialysis. People who are dealing with other diseases, usually need to perform home dialysis for more hours. This is because their body is not able to cleanse itself efficiently and their blood requires more filtering. People who don’t have any disease, apart from the kidney one, spend fewer hours on home dialysis. For some people, doctors may suggest reducing the duration of home dialysis, if diagnosed with chronic diseases.

3. Lifestyle

The way you spend your life and the tasks you perform in your daily life also influence the number of hours you need to do home dialysis. People who have a balanced and healthy lifestyle need to spend fewer hours on home dialysis. Contrary to this, people who have unhealthy and lazy lifestyles need to spend more time doing home dialysis.

4. Weight

Your weight determines the fluids you need to get removed from your body. If you are overweight, you may need to do more dialysis to ensure that your body has an adequate number of fluids in it. If you have a healthy weight, you may be able to do less dialysis, as your body will be able to handle more of the workload itself. Remember that a gain in weight while going through the home dialysis treatment is completely normal.

5. Type of Dialysis

The type of dialysis you are doing can also affect the number of hours you have to do it. If you are doing hemodialysis, you will typically have to do it for three to four hours, for about three to four days per week. If you are doing peritoneal dialysis, you may only have to do it for one to two hours, for four to five days a week.

6. Stage of Kidney Disease

The other important factor that impacts the duration of hours a day you must do home dialysis is the stage of your kidney disease. The stage of the disease is directly linked with the number of hours you need to do home dialysis. The higher the stage of kidney disease is, more hours are required for performing home dialysis. Stage 1 kidney disease requires fewer hours to be spent on performing dialysis.

7. Quality of Dialyzer

One other factor that can affect the length of time you will need to do dialysis at home include the quality of your dialysis machine. If the dialyzer i.e., the artificial kidney used by you is not working properly, then you need to spend more time. On the other hand, if the quality of the machine used by you is of premium quality, then you can perform home dialysis in less time.

Conclusion

There is no such exact figure that can answer the question regarding the number of hours to be spent on home dialysis daily. The condition of the patient and many other factors help to determine the duration of home dialysis. Only a doctor or medical expert can provide you with the exact number of hours you need to do dialysis at home.

It is advised to not alter the limit without the consent of the doctor and consult the doctor upon noticing anything unusual.