In healthy adults who do not smoke and do not live in mountains, the level of oxygen saturation in the blood is considered normal when the SpO2 is in the range of 96-100%.
What is a normal reading on a pulse oximeter? If you’re interested in buying a fingertip pulse oximeter, check out my product review and buying guide here And hopefully, the above is helpful to you in interpreting your fingertip pulse oximeter results.Īs always, it’s important to stay in communication with your doctor about your use of your pulse oximeter at home and your readings.
NORMAL PULSE OXIMETER READING HOW TO
How to Read a Fingertip Pulse Oximeter Wrap UpĪs you can see, using a pulse oximeter is pretty easy. A strong pulse strength (or more bars) is a good sign that you will get a more accurate reading.
NORMAL PULSE OXIMETER READING SERIES
This is usually a visual representation of how strong your pulse is and is often shown as a series of bars increasing in height. Pulse strength: Not all pulse oximeters will show pulse strength. Pulse oximeters that measure the perfusion index are helpful so you know if your pulse is strong enough to give an accurate reading. If they do, it’s usually displayed as “PI” and as a percentage value (%).Ī value of less than 0.2% means that either your finger is not properly positioned on the pulse oximeter sensor or your hands are too cold because of improper blood flow. Not all fingertip pulse oximeters will give you a perfusion index reading. Perfusion index: This tells you the strength of your pulse. Normal pulse rate is usually between 60-100 beats per minute. For some fingertip pulse oximeters, you might also see a heart shape next to it. On your pulse oximeter, it can be displayed with “PR”, “PR/min”, “PRbpm” or something of that variety next to it.
The units for pulse rate are always given in beats per minute (bpm). A normal reading is usually between 95-100%. It’s labeled as the “SpO2” on a pulse oximeter and/or is a number that’s shown as a percentage (%). Oxygen saturation: This is the amount of oxygen in the blood. Here, I’ll cover the main parameters fingertip pulse oximeters typically use and how they’re displayed. What are the 2 readings on a pulse oximeter? It’s important to note that the type of parameters and how they’re displayed can vary between pulse oximeters. Now that you know how to properly and accurately get your readings from your fingertip pulse oximeter, let’s discuss how to read and interpret them. Step 5: Remove the pulse oximeter from your finger, and it should power off on its own. Step 4: Once the pulse oximeter stabilizes, it will display your results on the screen. Another thing to remember is that nail polish or fake fingernails can cause false readings, so I recommended removing either of these before taking your reading. This gives the pulse oximeter time to stabilize and get to a point where it’s most sensitive. For the most accurate results wait at least 10 seconds to get your reading (some pulse oximeters even recommend waiting 30 seconds). Step 3: Press the power on button and try to stay as still as possible while the pulse oximeter takes your reading. You may feel slight pinching or pressure around your finger, but this is normal and will make sure the pulse oximeter stays in place to get an accurate reading.
Step 2: Squeeze the end of the pulse oximeter to open the clip, place your index finger inside and over the sensor, and close the clip over your finger. This will make sure you get a more accurate reading. If they are, rub your hands together to improve blood flow and warm them up. Step 1: Check to make sure your hands and fingers aren’t cold. Before we get into how to read your fingertip pulse oximeter, let’s first make sure you know how to properly use it (if you already know this, skip to the next section on how to read your results).