If your oxygen level falls below a normal, healthy range, your lungs begin to narrow. That puts a significant pressure on your heart, since it needs to work much harder with the aim of getting blood to your lungs and oxygenating the body. Sounds scary, doesn’t it? And that’s only one of the complications that arise due to an abnormal level of oxygen in your body.
There is a simple, but highly important, piece of medical equipment designed to help you measure this level and make sure that it falls within a healthy range. It is called a pulse oximeter and it is a necessary device in all hospitals and even some households. Don’t let the appearance of this device fool you. It is small, but rather practical, and the work it does, which you can see here, is of high importance for people’s health.
What Is It And How Does It Work?
If you are a healthcare worker, you have a pretty good idea of what this device is and how it works. As a patient, on the other hand, you must have come across pulse oximeters during your stay in the hospital. These are the small machines that nurses or doctors usually clip to patients’ fingers. Does it ring a bell now?
They are commonly found in emergency and operating rooms, ambulances, and generally all around hospitals. And, while you might suspect how important this piece of equipment is, you are probably not aware of how it functions and what purpose it actually has. Tell me something – have you ever wondered what these are used for?
Simply put, these tools determine how much of the hemoglobin in your blood is actually carrying oxygen. In other words, they measure oxygen saturation. However, if you are not from the healthcare industry, this could be difficult to comprehend. But, don’t worry; in order to help you understand how this device works, I’ll give you a quick explanation of saturation.
If you want details, go here: https://www.verywellhealth.com/oxygen-saturation-914796
What Is Oxygen Saturation?
As you might already know, hemoglobin is in charge of binding with oxygen and carrying it through your bloodstream to the cells, tissues, and organs in your body. Usually called O2 sats, saturation checks just how much hemoglobin is actually saturated with oxygen. Now, you are probably wondering what normal results would look like.
Saturation above 92% is typically considered perfectly normal and healthy. However, it’s best to consult your doctor to explain the normal range, since it might depend on your general state of health and certain medical conditions that you might have. However, we can safely say that anything below 90% is not a good sign.
If it goes below 90%, that means you are experiencing hypoxemia, which is basically a word for a “low blood oxygen level”. So, don’t get confused if you hear your doctors use it. Hypoxemia can cause symptoms such as an increased heart rate, headaches, fatigue or restlessness, as well as anxiety. On the other hand, hypoxemia can be caused by many underlying conditions, including pneumonia and asthma.
Why Is The Pulse Oximeter Important?
After the above explanations, I hope we are clear on what's a pulse oximeter do and how it functions. I have mentioned that it measures saturation levels, which helps you determine whether your body is receiving enough oxygen. But, there’s still one significant question left to answer. Why is this device so vital?
Pulse oximeters are able to discover even the slightest change in O2 sats. Even if it has fallen by only 1%, this device is there to spot it. And, 1% might seem insignificant to you, but it is actually a rather big deal in this case. Spotting it allows doctor to discover signs of hypoxia in its early stages, which wasn’t always possible.
In fact, before the introduction of this tool, hypoxia could only be spotted when the patient would become cyanosed. Or, in simple words, when they skin would start turning blue. That is a sign that saturation is already at a dangerously low level. Nowadays, though, hypoxia can be identified much earlier and many individuals are choosing to buy these products and carry them around wherever they go.
