At the height of the global pandemic, Canada started giving away clever testing devices called pulse oximeters. Anything cheap enough for them to dish out like penny candy couldn’t be that useful, right? Turns out these little gizmos can be life savers for a lot more than pesky global viruses. Modern day canaries in healthcare coal mines.
What the fingertip testers do in about ten seconds, with no needles or discomfort, is test blood oxygen levels using LED lights brightly aimed at your capillaries. One clean nail-polish-free finger is all it takes. During the height of the Covid-19 mess, those levels were identified as early indicators of breathing difficulties. A program was launched to put one in the hands of everyone who tested positive and sat parked at home self-isolating. An early warning system for cases that had the potential to take a turn for the worse. As with most things medical, the sooner the better when it comes to spotting potential problems.
Blood oxygen levels (denoted as SpO2 – the percent saturation of oxygen in the blood) can be early indicators for a whole host of medical conditions above and beyond the pandemic virus. From asthma to heart disease, anything that inhibits your blood’s ability to carry oxygen is bad news and needs to be sorted out in a hurry. While a lab test of blood gases (ABG) is the best and most accurate – and importantly the only system that should be used as a basis for medical diagnosis – some inexpensive fingertip pulse oximeters offer early detection potential for an insignificant cost. Normal SpO2 levels in healthy adults should be above 95%. Any undiagnosed level consistently lower should be investigated by medical professionals with levels below 85% considered as hypoxia that can effect cognitive ability. Levels below 80% constitute a medical emergency and healthcare intervention should be sought immediately.
Without Health Canada, US FDA, or other expensive certifications fingertip pulse oximeters usually cost less than $25 but that also means this category of device has many woefully inaccurate entries. There are some models however that perform nearly as well as much more expensive hospital versions. Smart people in lab coats have tested several and found surprisingly accurate models that met many regulatory thresholds but as with all things, be careful not to draw too many conclusions about a particular brand or model. And of course be wary of counterfeit imitations. Again, no home device at any price should ever be trusted or used to make a medical diagnosis. Ever. That’s what doctors are for so use them and their expensive machines that go ‘ping’.
In between office visits however I think it’s perfectly acceptable to take home readings as rough indicators just as you would with blood pressure or sleep sensors, all manner of which have become popular features of ‘fitness trackers’ in recent years. As the name implies, with a pulse oximeter you also get a quick peek at your heart rate in the bargain which should sit between 60-100 while resting. Shame it doesn’t have a tea timer built in too.
In the end I purchased mine for the grand sum of $10 via PayPal delivered to my door directly in about two weeks from the Chinese manufacturer Contec Medical *. Amazon and Ebay also had them aplenty under $25 but again, I thought it better to go straight to the factory that performed so well in the aforementioned tests. When next I have a chance to compare accuracy to a proper lab test I’ll update but until then I spend ten seconds with my discount version every time I steep a cup of tea as a little bit of self health radar. If only it went ‘ping’.
* I have no relation of any sort with Contec Medical and this link is NOT an affiliate program. I receive absolutely no compensation of any sort for this article. Factory direct was simply the best value when I went shopping for myself spending my own money. The transaction was quick and easy and they even sent thank you emails afterwards. I always like that.
