Oximeter Reading Interpretation

The world of home medical care products has been in the growth phase for over a decade now. As health care costs have been on the rise for many years now, more and more doctors have been supporting the idea of home health care. These doctors are not telling their patients that they should practice their own source of medicine, but rather they have been educating them on how to better monitor their health at home using various tools. As health care costs have been on the rise, the number of patients reducing their visits to the doctor or even eliminating doctors completely has been on the rise. With the best interests of patients in mind, doctors have directing patients to monitor their health to avoid any complications where ever possible. Some consider this as preventative care, and it has proven to work for many patients.

These tools available to patients at home include the standard devices such as blood pressure monitors, thermometers, and glucose monitors. Recently, a new device has been added to the list of available tools. It is an oximeter. A pulse oximeter, also known as a pulse ox, is a medical device used to measure the blood oxygen saturation levels in a patient. The reasons this data would be important to a patient are all related to respiratory illnesses such as asthma and COPD. In addition to the oxygen saturation readings, an oximeter also provides a person's heart rate. In general terms, a healthy individual should be recording oxygen saturation levels of 95 or higher. Now, it is normal for older individuals to have readings less than 95. It is when the value drops below 90, is when concerns arise. Usually when the individual's oxygen level drops below 90, he or she is put on supplemental oxygen.

Over the past decade or so, the number of respiratory illnesses in the United States has been on the rise. For this reason, the use of an oximeter has also been on the rise. In the past, an oximeter was only accessible in a clinical setting, but that has changed over the years. Now, you can get an oximeter for home use for fewer than one hundred dollars. These oximeters use infrared technology to take its readings. Federal assistance programs for medical care are in support of oximeters, because of their advantages for monitoring of health and preventative care.

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