TBH, a surprising number of hypochondriac boomers do have a cheap home pulse oximeter these days. Who knows how reliable they actually are though, you just know that cheap chineseium shit had zero quality checking.
I think the basic readings on them are reasonably accurate.
The issue is that certain finger archetypes in seniors are really hard to get a reading on. Nodular joints from arthritis or thick fingernails from clubbing make the portal devices not really read anything at all.
If you can detect any hypoxia at all in an otherwise healthy finger, it's probably real. Blood is pretty good at maintaining oxygenation even in stressful circumstances in people with normal physiology and no underling conditions.
A bigger question is what to do with the info. A reading of 95-96% in a healthy person is notable, but probably just something to keep an eye on.
Readings dipping to 90-92% probably warrant going back to the doc ASAP.
TBH, a surprising number of hypochondriac boomers do have a cheap home pulse oximeter these days. Who knows how reliable they actually are though, you just know that cheap chineseium shit had zero quality checking.
the ones i've seen used in doctor's offices lately can't be TOO expensive. you can get a pretty basic one off amazon for 10 bucks.
Probably left over from the rona hysteria.
I think the basic readings on them are reasonably accurate.
The issue is that certain finger archetypes in seniors are really hard to get a reading on. Nodular joints from arthritis or thick fingernails from clubbing make the portal devices not really read anything at all.
If you can detect any hypoxia at all in an otherwise healthy finger, it's probably real. Blood is pretty good at maintaining oxygenation even in stressful circumstances in people with normal physiology and no underling conditions.
A bigger question is what to do with the info. A reading of 95-96% in a healthy person is notable, but probably just something to keep an eye on.
Readings dipping to 90-92% probably warrant going back to the doc ASAP.