The old days of athletics did not take into account the ongoing health monitor of professional and student athletes. Doctors and trainers worked more on the aliment of injuries rather than finding ways to avoid them completely. The trainers’ and doctors’ toolbox did not contain a lot of the medical devices of today. One of the most recent additions to the toolbox of doctors and trainers includes a pulse oximeter. A pulse oximeter is a medical device that measures a person’s oxygen saturation level via a laser beam that passes through the finger. A pulse oximeter used to be a large clinical machine, but now it is smaller than a cell phone and it portable. A pulse oximeter is commonly known as a pulse ox amongst health professionals.
Asthma has become a very common health issue with athletics as a whole. It is found amongst millions of people, and most do not even know how to monitor its conditions properly, rather they only know how to remedy it with the use of inhalers. A pulse ox will easily take the oxygen saturation level in an individual, which is a number that ranges from 70 to 100 and referred to in percentage. A health range is from 90 percent and above. When this number falls below 90, then this is a tell tale sign of various health issues. For this reason, many doctors, nurses, and paramedics require the recording of a patient’s oxygen saturation level on their charts during an examination.
Recently, Landon Medical has introduced a wide range of fingertip pulse oximeters with wide range of features. Their most popular pulse ox is the LM-900 which has a color OLED screen, along with PI and plethsmograph capabilities. It can be found online for under $ 100. Their entry level pulse ox, the LM-800, starts under $ 40 and provides all of the basic functions with a non OLED color screen.