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ORUntil recently, unless you worked in healthcare, you’ve probably never heard of a pulse oximeter. But on Sunday, emergency physician Richard Levitan presented a compelling argument for owning one in a New York Times op-ed, writing that “all people with cough, fatigue, and fever should also undergo oximeter monitoring. pulse, even if no virus tests have been done. ” An article in Quartz, meanwhile, reported that most of us would be fine without one. We talk to experts to get to the bottom of everything.
What is it?
By gently pinching the fleshy part of your fingertip and lighting it painlessly, the device detects your pulse and the percentage of your red blood cells that carry oxygen or oxygenation of the blood, explains Alon Dagan, an emergency medicine physician at Beth Israel Lahey Salud.
It is useful for those who have or are suspected of having coronaviruses. According to his hospital protocol, Dagan says that patients who test positive or presumed positive for coronavirus but who are not sick enough to be admitted to the hospital are sent home with a pulse oximeter and instructions for using it. three times a day.
For this population, the device can literally be a lifesaver. Dangerously low blood oxygenation levels are generally associated with labored breathing to the point that it is difficult to speak in full sentences. With coronavirus, however, this is not necessarily the case. Covid-19 patients may be “breathing fairly comfortably, but their oxygen saturations are much lower than we expected,” says Dagan.
Do I need to get one?
If you haven’t been diagnosed with Covid-19, or suspected of having it, homemade pulse oximeters “aren’t necessary,” says Shoshana Ungerleider, an internist at Crossover Health in San Francisco. This is particularly true if you are not experiencing coronavirus symptoms, such as shortness of breath, severe cough, or chest pain, and you have not established a baseline.
Without knowing what is typical for you, it is difficult to know if your numbers are worrying. While 95% to 100% is normal for most healthy people, Dagan notes that someone with chronic lung disease may be 92% “on a good day.” Ungerleider suggests calling your doctor “if the number is decreasing over time and falls to 92% or less, especially if you have other respiratory symptoms.”
Also, reading is not particularly useful on its own. “It cannot replace a visit or a call to the doctor who can assess all of your symptoms and how they relate to any underlying medical conditions you have,” explains Stephen Parodi, infectious disease physician and associate executive director of Northern California Permanente Medical. Group.
And as Dagan points out, “any medical device has an error rate.” Nail polish, cold fingers, and poor circulation can interfere with the accuracy of the device.
One of the downsides to using a pulse oximeter at home, says Ungerleider, is the potential for increased anxiety as a result of frequent check-ups. However, the worst is the chance that you will ignore the physical symptoms that are accompanied by a normal looking oxygen level. Regardless of what your pulse oximeter shows, he says, “you should still call your healthcare professional if you have severe shortness of breath, chest pain, unrelenting cough, or high fever.”
