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What your blood oxygen level shows
Your blood oxygen level is a measure of how much oxygen your red blood cells are carrying. Your body closely regulates your blood oxygen level. Maintaining the precise balance of oxygen-saturated blood is vital to your health.
Most children and adults don’t need to monitor their blood oxygen level. In fact, many doctors won’t check it unless you’re showing signs of a problem, like shortness of breath or chest pain.
However, people with chronic health conditions many need to monitor their blood oxygen level. This includes asthma, heart disease, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
In these cases, monitoring your blood oxygen level can help determine if treatments are working, or if they should be adjusted.
Keep reading to learn where your blood oxygen level should be, what symptoms you may experience if your level is off, and what happens next.
What is pulse oximetry?
Oxygen is carried around in your red blood cells by a molecule called haemoglobin. Pulse oximetry measures how much oxygen the haemoglobin in your blood is carrying. This is called the oxygen saturation and is a percentage (scored out of 100). It’s a simple, painless test which uses a sensor placed on your fingertip or earlobe.
What’s pulse oximetry used for?
People with a lung condition may have a blood oxygen level lower than normal, so pulse oximetry can help to diagnose if there is a problem.
The more the lungs are damaged, the more likely there is to be a problem with oxygen uptake. Pulse oximetry can also be used to measure to how badly a person’s lungs are affected.
The test can be done as a one-off spot measurement.
It can also be used to measure your oxygen levels over a period of time, for example during exercise like walking – or when you are asleep.
Benefits of Breathing Exercises
Pulmonary rehabilitation is an important intervention for individuals with lung disease or other conditions that affect lung function. Respiratory therapists frequently teach their patients specialized breathing techniques, which can alleviate some of the symptoms associated with asthma attacks, high blood pressure, shortness of breath, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and sleep apnea. According to the American Lung Association, “If practiced regularly, breathing exercises can help rid the lungs of accumulated stale air, increase oxygen levels and get the diaphragm to return to its job of helping you breathe.”
The benefits do not stop there, though. Even healthy individuals can experience the calming and rejuvenating effects of controlled breathing. In fact, breathing exercises can help improve overall respiratory health and lung capacity. Seniors and their caregivers can practice these techniques together to reap the benefits.
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