Why Do I Need an Oxygen Monitor?

An oxygen monitor has many uses. Of course, its primary function is to measure the oxygen levels in our blood. Why do we need this device and when do we have to use it? It’s always interesting and helpful to know how much oxygen our blood receives. But there are some categories of people who need this device on a regular basis.

If you have a heart condition or a respiratory problem, probably your physician already recommended you to buy a blood oxygen monitor.  It will allow you to monitor your oxygen level wherever you are – at home, at work, on a vacation or in hospital, thus helping you to understand your real-time situation. In many cases, the pulse oximeter proved to be a real life savior!

If you have a profession associated with high altitudes or intense exercise you may need to carry a pulse oxygen monitor with you all the time. This situation applies to pilots, mountain climbers, athletes, seamen (especially on a submarine) and the list can go on.

You can also need an oxygen saturation monitor if you’re taking care of a patient in a critical condition, especially at home. It will help you give the doctor a real time feedback about the patient’s situation whenever it’s necessary.

Here is some extra information about the blood that will help you understand how an oxygen monitor functions: Our blood has a very interesting property: its color changes depending on the oxygen saturation. When the blood is properly oxygenated, it becomes red. When it contains no oxygen, its color is blue. If a person doesn’t have enough oxygen in his arteries, his blood will seam purple, darker.

For example, when we look at our feet or our hands, we’ll see that the arteries are reddish and the veins look bluish, darker. After dispersing all the oxygenated blood through the organism, the veins go back to the heart. The heart receives the necessary amount of oxygen from the lungs and then is able to pump fresh blood full of oxygen back into circulation. This is why the healthy artery blood should have a bright red color.

The hemoglobin is a fundamental element of your circulatory structure. Its function is to oxygenate all the parts of your organism, transporting the necessary oxygen to every cell, organ and muscle.

The oxygen monitor or the pulse oximeter is able to determine indirectly the oxygen saturation levels of the blood. The measurement method is simple and non-invasive. All you have to do is clip or touch the sensor on your earlobe or fingertip. In simple terms, an oxygen monitor measures the amount of oxygen in your blood using a light beam and a detector.

The blood oxygen monitors show how the light beam is absorbed by the blood through the hemoglobin. The fully saturated hemoglobin will reflect the light in a different manner than the hemoglobin with lower levels of oxygen – as a result of a pulmonary affection, for example.

If you’re a patient or you’re taking care of someone, keep in mind that you should never change the prescribed amount of oxygen without the permission of a professional. The old generation of oxygen monitors didn’t have a good precision in analyzing the oxygen levels in a patient’s blood. A sudden movement or a poor blood circulation could affect the accuracy of the reading. However, the new pulse oxygen monitors, being a result of the latest technological advancements, are able to identify the exact oxygen saturation levels of your blood with great precision.

Don’t forget to discuss with your doctor about the blood oxygen monitor. It’s an absolutely safe device, which can be extremely helpful in difficult situations.