12/10/2023 0 Comments High flow oxygen at home![]() Wait a few seconds until the reading stops changing and displays one steady number.Sit still and do not move the part of your body where the pulse oximeter is located.Remove any fingernail polish on that finger. When placing the oximeter on your finger, make sure your hand is warm, relaxed, and held below the level of the heart.Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use.Follow your health care provider’s advice about when and how often to check your oxygen levels.To get the best reading when using a pulse oximeter at home: Contact a health care provider if your symptoms are serious or get worse. It also is important to keep track of your symptoms or how you feel. If you are using a pulse oximeter to monitor your oxygen levels at home and are concerned about the reading, contact a health care provider. Over-the-counter oximeters that you can buy at the store or online do not undergo FDA review and are not intended for medical purposes. Multiple factors can affect the accuracy of a pulse oximeter reading, such as poor circulation, skin pigmentation, skin thickness, skin temperature, current tobacco use, and use of fingernail polish. The FDA issued a safety communication in 2021 informing patients and health care providers that although pulse oximetry is useful for estimating blood oxygen levels, pulse oximeters have limitations and a risk of inaccuracy under certain circumstances that should be considered. What do I need to know about pulse oximeters?Īs with any device, there is always a risk of an inaccurate reading. The devices use beams of light to indirectly measure the level of oxygen in the blood without having to draw a blood sample. Pulse oximeters are usually placed on a fingertip. Oxygen levels are monitored with a small device called a pulse oximeter, or pulse ox. How are my oxygen levels monitored at home? Do not make changes to the oxygen levels on your own. If you are prescribed an oxygen concentrator for chronic health problems and have changes in your breathing or oxygen levels, or have symptoms of COVID-19, call your health care provider. Periodically check your device for any alarms to make sure you are getting enough oxygen.Do not block any vents on the concentrator since it may impact device performance.Place the concentrator in an open space to reduce chances of device failure from overheating.Do not use the concentrator, or any oxygen product, near an open flame or while smoking.At this time, the FDA has not approved or cleared any oxygen concentrators to be sold or used without a prescription. You may have seen oxygen concentrators for sale online without a prescription. Concentrators are different than tanks or other containers supplying oxygen because they use electrical pumps to concentrate the continuous supply of oxygen that comes from the surrounding air. The process provides the higher amounts of oxygen needed for oxygen therapy.Ĭoncentrators may be large and stationary or small and portable. Oxygen concentrators take in air from the room and filter out nitrogen. What do I need to know about oxygen concentrators? If you do, your health care provider can determine how much oxygen you should take and for how long. On the other hand, not getting enough oxygen into the blood, a condition called hypoxia, could damage the heart, brain, and other organs.įind out if you really need oxygen therapy by checking with your health care provider. It can also lead to a delay in receiving treatment for serious conditions like COVID-19.Įven though oxygen makes up about 21 percent of the air around us, breathing high concentrations of oxygen may damage your lungs. Deciding to use an oxygen concentrator without a prescription can lead to serious health problems, such as oxygen toxicity caused by receiving too much oxygen. You may end up taking too much or too little oxygen. Giving yourself oxygen without talking to a doctor first may do more harm than good. You should not use an oxygen concentrator at home unless it has been prescribed by a health care provider. Oxygen concentrators are medical devices required to be sold and used only with a prescription. One way to get extra oxygen into the body is by using an oxygen concentrator. When the levels are too low, we may need to take extra oxygen, known as oxygen therapy. Asthma, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the flu, and COVID-19 are some of the health issues that may cause oxygen levels to drop. Sometimes the amount of oxygen in our blood can fall below normal levels. To survive, we need oxygen going from our lungs to the cells in our body.
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