As you may already know, pulse oximeters have become a must have these days for every household, especially in these trying COVID times. Earlier they used to be mostly seen in medical facilities but the importance of having them around even at home has increased over time. If you do not know what pulse oximeters do, they are essentially healthcare devices which help to take the measurement of your pulse rate, the level of oxygen in your blood (SpO2) and perfusion index (PI%) to provide you with relevant readings. They clip on to your pointer or middle finger and pass a light through it. By the amount of light which reaches the other side of the device, the pulse oximeter is able to read your vitals.
Pulse oximeters are largely accurate devices provided that they are used in a correct way. You need to keep still for sometime and keep your hand in front of your chest to get a proper reading. You should also wait for sometime till the numbers stabilise to consider it. The readings on a pulse oximeter can mean a lot of things which may help you to seek medical assistance on time. But for that to happen, you need to know about what is considered as a normal reading. Your pulse rate should be between 60 to 125. The oxygen saturation in your blood (SpO2) should range from 94 to 100 and the PI should ideally lie between 0.2% to 20%. Read on to know more about these devices.
- Can Be Used Multiple Times A Day:
One of the best things about using pulse oximeters as a healthcare device is that they can be used to measure your level of oxygen in the blood multiple times in a day. This can be extremely helpful to discover any discrepancies in your overall health and wellness. You can also seek timely medical help for the same if needed. It is a painless device which does not obstruct your life in any way and just easily clips on to your finger to give you quick results. This device is one of the easiest to use and you do not need anyone else’s help to use it at all.
- They Are Portable:
Pulse oximeters are small devices which are not cumbersome like some other healthcare devices tend to be.This is the reason why they can be taken anywhere with you and you can keep this device in your bag or your pocket even when you step out. This helps in creating the additional ease of being able to check your vitals at any particular time so that you do not fall off the bandwagon of staying on top of your health. You can also carry these to your gym to monitor your oxygen levels after you workout. - They Are Recommended By Doctors:
Some theories have been circulating these days questioning the efficacy of these pulse oximeters. People have been putting pens and pins inside the oximeter to get readings. Even if they do provide readings, it does not mean that your pulse oximeter is faulty or that pulse oximetry in general is a useless practice. Doctors have been recommending the use of pulse oximeters, especially for patients who are suffering from COVID 19 as a way to constantly keep a close check on their oxygen saturation. These devices are trusted by medical professionals and have gone through multiple rounds of testing and research which proves the fact that they do work.
- They Can Help You To Detect COVID:
While a low level of oxygen in your blood can be an indicator of many serious diseases, it can more likely than not prove to be an effective detector of COVID 19, especially these days when it is spreading so fast. One of the many serious symptoms of Coronavirus is the level of oxygen in the blood falling suddenly to alarmingly low levels and using a pulse oximeter on a regular basis can actually help you to save yourself from this deadly virus. If you do see your oxygen saturation to be anything below 94 consistently, you should contact your doctor and schedule a COVID test as soon as possible. - They Show Quick Readings:
While some healthcare devices can take some time to show results, pulse oximeters are built in such a way so as to show the readings in a quick way. But this does not mean that you trust the immediate reading that you get when you put it on. Ideally, you should wait a few seconds till the reading stabilises to note it down. You should also consider the highest reading that you get just to be on the safer side.
- Follow The Correct Method Of Using Them:
While a pulse oximeter is designed in a way to be able to give readings even in adverse or extreme conditions, it is important to use it in a correct way so that you are able to derive the maximum benefit out of using it. If you are unsure about how to get the right readings from a pulse oximeter, you might want to look up a recent article that we did on our website blog which details all that you need to know about these little healthcare devices. Needless to say, it is strongly discouraged to put anything else apart from your finger into the device as that can be counterproductive and damage the device. - Can Alert To Serious Health Problems:
Like we have already mentioned in a previous point, checking your pulse rate and your SpO2 levels on a regular basis can actually make a huge difference in getting timely medical help for oncoming diseases if required. Doctors believe that a healthy individual can check their vitals thrice a day. But if you are suffering from any serious disease like bronchitis or COVID 19, you may want to keep checking your oxygen saturation levels after every few hours so that you are able to report any inconsistency in them to your doctor and they can medicate you accordingly.
So now that you have seen how much of a help pulse oximeters can be in detecting any discrepancies in your health and wellness, do let us know if you have any other questions about this versatile device and we would be happy to answer them for you in a future article.
