95% to 100% This oxygen level is normal. Walk around for two minutes and measure your oxygen level again. If your oxygen level falls below 95%, follow the instructions above. When should I seek medical help? This table provides guidance on what the oxygen level number means and when and how to. “ Normal blood oxygen levels in humans are considered 95-100 percent. If the level is below 90 percent, it is considered low resulting in hypoxemia. Blood oxygen levels below 80 percent may compromise organ function, such as the brain and heart, and should be promptly addressed” Oxygen saturation (medicine) - Wikipedia.
Oxygen levels don’t have to be confusing. Let’s make sense of them together.
Let’s start with the obvious: what are oxygen levels? And from there, what do they mean? If you live with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis (PF) or emphysema, oxygen levels are an undoubtedly important measurement, and here’s why: they allow you to measure how much oxygen your red blood cells are carrying.
Why is that important?
The importance behind this metric is that by measuring your blood oxygen levels, you can alter your behaviors and lifestyle to positively improve these levels and possibly help reduce your symptoms and feelings of breathlessness. In essence, the oxygen that is being carried by your red blood cells throughout your body allows your body to thrive and maintain homeostasis (when your body runs healthily). To aid in this process, the delivery of oxygen through red blood cells in your blood cells is vital.
So, how can I affect this?
There are a variety of ways to positively improve your blood oxygen levels to help relieve your symptom expression and boost your energy levels. And with your health in mind, the Lung Health Institute is here to help by giving insight to your Oxygen Levels: What Do My Numbers Mean?
Oxygen Levels- An Overview
As we’ve mentioned above, the measurement of your oxygen levels is pretty important to your overall health. It allows you to adjust and change your behavior based on your oxygen levels for the betterment of your breathing and condition. But what are blood oxygen levels and what do they mean?
Here’s a quick anecdote:
Imagine for a second that your blood vessels make up a giant subway network. The tunnels of this network are your veins and the train itself is your blood. Multiple carts (your blood cells) make up the train, and the people inside them are oxygen. As this subway (again your blood) travels through the network (your body), it’s dropping people off at various stops within your body. The question, however, is how many people (oxygen) are in each car of the subway? And is there a way to pack more in them?
This fundamental scenario is blood oxygen saturation in a nut shell and explains the importance of your body’s ability to retain oxygen within your red blood cells. In short, you want each of these cells jam packed with oxygen for delivery throughout your body to maintain and boost your energy levels and overall health.
So, What’s Normal and What Isn’t?
Your body’s oxygen levels can be measured using a variety of different techniques:
- Arterial blood gas test (ABG)—which measures your blood’s oxygen level by drawing blood.
- Pulse oximetry—which places a clip device on your finger and measures O2 levels.
A normal ABG blood oxygen level for healthy lungs will usually fall between 80 and 100 millimeters. If using a pulse oximeter, this reading should typically be between 95 and 100 percent.
In the case of severe COPD on the other hand, an expected pulse oximetry level is likely to be between 88 to 92 percent. Some people’s oxygen level measurements may be lower.
When your blood oxygen level gets too low (hypoxemia), there are several symptoms that you will be able to recognize:
- shortness of breath
- chest pain
- confusion
- headache
- rapid heartbeat
- possible cyanosis (blue discoloration of the nail beds, skin and mucus membranes)
Methods that May Improve My Oxygen Levels
Thankfully, to combat low blood oxygen levels there are several ways to raise them. First, if your blood oxygen level is particularly low, it may be wise to consider getting on supplemental oxygen therapy if your doctor hasn’t already prescribed it. In addition, always talk with your doctor about your oxygen level questions and concerns.
Adding to this, by raising the amounts of hemoglobin within the body through the ingestion of specific foods, it’s possible to positively impact your blood oxygen levels. When your body has the nutrients it needs, it has a better ability to deliver oxygen more efficiently as well.
To start:
- Eat Shrimp—they are a good low calorie protein and filled with important vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants.
- Have an Orange—there are several things to love about the orange, particularly orange juice. The bonus is that they’re excellent sources of fiber, vitamin C and other critical acids and nutrients.
- Drink Some Almond Milk– Vitamin D is important, but so is avoiding any excessive phlegm build-up. Instead, pick up some almond milk. It tastes better and won’t leave you as gassy or bloated.
For more tips on improving your oxygen levels check out our 5 Tips for Improving Low Blood Oxygen Levels here, as well as the article on 5 Ways to Improve Your Oxygen Levels.
Moving Forward with Your Oxygen Levels
Living with a chronic lung disease like COPD, pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema doesn’t have to be as difficult as it may seem. By taking the time to better understand your disease and how to address issues such as your blood oxygen level, it’s possible to improve your overall health and quality of life. Although these steps can be difficult as they require changing personal behavior from diet and exercise to your medication, change is possible.
With a few behavioral changes, it’s possible to greatly affect the pronouncement of symptoms within those with COPD, emphysema and pulmonary fibrosis. However, when lifestyle changes fail to improve your quality of life in the way that you may expect, it may be time to consider cellular therapy. Rather than addressing the symptoms of lung disease, cellular therapy may directly affect disease progression and may improve quality of life.
For more information on cellular therapy and what it could mean for your life moving forward, contact us today or call us at 888-745-6697. Our patient coordinators will walk you through our available treatment options, talk through your current health and medical history and determine a qualifying treatment plan that works best for you.
Interested in our article on Oxygen Levels: What Do My Numbers Mean?Share your thoughts and comments below.
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Low oxygen levels will rob you of your eye sight, short term memory, and your energy. Eventually low oxygen levels will weaken your heart muscle.
Heart Failure IS -> Progressive weakening of your heart muscle! (Read that sentence again. It is that important.)
The world is facing an epidemic of heart failure! This ONE health crisis will rob more productive work years from Americans than any other.
Why should you be concerned about oxygen?
Oxygen isn’t typically something you worry about. If you are looking into “low oxygen levels”, you likely heard the term from your doctor. As the caregiver of a loved one, you
might become familiar with the importance of oxygen as a life saving requirement, but fail to realize how effective it can be in minimizing discomfort and maintaining quality-of-
life.
Everyone worries about high blood pressure, carrying extra weight and other issues routine blood work can reveal. It’s all part of the natural aging process and your growing
concern for your health. After all, you don’t ignore your bad health until it kills you if you know better, right?
Being over-weight increases your risk for many diseases, especially heart disease. So, you diet and attempt to get “regular exercise”. Maybe you join a gym, or consider
gastric bypass surgery. You do what it takes because health is important.
High blood pressure is called the silent killer, because it can be deadly without symptoms. Most people know that it’s important to get their blood pressure checked
regularly, just to be safe.
You’ve been told you should worry about your cholesterol levels. Everybody seems to know that reducing your bad cholesterol is important, so your doctor will likely offer
you a prescription to lower your cholesterol if it is elevated. Even if your cholesterol isn’t elevated, your doctor may prescribe Statin medication as a “precaution” when you
have other risk factors for heart disease. (That so called preventative medication might not be such a good idea.
There are plenty of risk factors to worry about. Why add oxygen to the list?
If your doctor is expressing concern about your blood oxygen levels, you should be concerned, too.
You may be inclined to argue with your doctor if he/she would like to see you using oxygen 24 hours a day. It’s fair to say that round-the-clock oxygen therapy is inconvenient and irritating.
It’s also difficult to understand why it is necessary.
What is there to be concerned about?
Consequences of Low Blood Oxygen Level:
• damage eye sight
• deteriorate short term memory
• weaken muscle (your heart is a muscle)
• increase pain
• reduced clarity/focus
• loss of your natural charming disposition
• potentially create life threatening cranial nerve stimulation
Since low-flow home-oxygen is completely safe and doesn’t cause side-effects you are better off to use it than to resist using it and suffer the consequences of low blood oxygen. It isn’t an easy to swallow pill, but it might just be more important than every pill in your pill box.
Oxygen is one prescription you don’t want to second guess.
If your doctor wants you on oxygen, you are crazy to argue.
Does your doctor monitor your blood oxygen levels routinely?
Not all doctors have oximeters (oxygen measuring devices) in their office. If they don’t have one, they have no way to routinely monitor your oxygen level during your physicals, check-ups and illness related appointments.
This isn’t at all unusual. Even if doctors have oximeters, they may not use them unless you have some sort of breathing complaint. It isn’t widely understood, even with doctors, that low oxygen is most often NOT accompanied by shortness-of-breath.
It isn’t at all uncommon for doctors and nurses to minimize the importance of oxygen therapy and to dismiss low oxygen readings if they only last a short period of time.
This approach is much like waiting for things to get worse.
Whether your doctor monitors your blood oxygen level or not, YOU SHOULD.
There is no doubt about it. Taking an active role in your health care can cause you more stress than putting blind trust in your doctor, but if your doctor doesn’t offer you thesolution you need, who will?
Doctors are making educated guesses and doing the best they can. Luckily they also have the benefit of a well educated team with many years of combined experience. Good health care requires team work. It can be tempting to allow your doctor to lead the team but NO ONE is more motivated and invested in finding solutions to your suffering than YOU are.
It’s important for you to be aware that your participation is the key to positive results.
Certainly, if your health care team doesn’t successfully uncover the cause of your suffering and eliminate it or otherwise address it, you are the only one who will suffer the consequence. Ultimately, you pay the price for oversights and mistakes.
Unfortunately, low blood oxygen causes devastating consequences.
If your doctor is advocating for oxygen therapy, you are fortunate. Most doctors overlook the harm low oxygen levels are causing and shrug off the importance of monitoring and meeting oxygen needs.
Good quality-of-life is your goal. The damage caused by low oxygen levels prevents you from functioning the way you normally would. How much joy would you lose if your
eyesight slowly deteriorated?
As you age, you tend to think you are just getting old and out of shape. The progressive muscle weakening caused by low oxygen levels effects your heart muscle. When your
heart muscle is weakened by low oxygen levels your whole world changes, but it doesn’t typically happen all of a sudden.
When you suffer a heart attack part of your heart muscle dies. With congestive heart failure things [more often than not] happen very slowly. The progressive weakening of your heart muscle is gradual. For years your doctor will tell you “your heart is fine”.
Once you know you are living with congestive heart failure, you should understand that oxygen is the key to protecting your weakened heart muscle and to strengthening it.
Low oxygen is a BIG deal.
If your low oxygen levels are caused by lung disease, it’s important to remember that keeping your blood oxygen level above 92% is important to protect your heart.
95 Oxygen Level To Low
If your low oxygen levels are caused by heart disease, it’s important to remember that failing to address low oxygen levels will further weaken your heart muscle.
So how low is too low?
7 Facts to Remember About Blood Oxygen Saturation Levels
95% Oxygen Level In Children
1. When oxygen saturation levels fall below 92%, the pressure of the oxygen in your blood is too low to penetrate the walls of the red blood cells. It is a matter of gas laws.
2. Your insurance company may not pay for oxygen unless your levels fall to 88% oxygen saturation. This has nothing to do with what is best for you, it is just the point at which your insurance is willing to pay.
3. Every time your oxygen level falls below 92% saturation the cells of your body are oxygen starved.
4. When you fail to meet your oxygen needs, every organ in your body suffers the consequences.
5. Low oxygen levels may be present only at certain times.
95 Oxygen Level
- when retaining excessive fluid
- when airways are reacting to irritants
- with respiratory illness
- sleep apnea
- about 3:00am when you wake gasping for air
- with activity when your heart muscle has become weak, though isn’t technically “congestive heart failure”…. yet
6. Recurring low oxygen levels are harmful and should be treated with supplemental oxygen.
7. The problem is that your doctor may not witness your oxygen levels at 88%, and if he doesn’t see that reading on an oxygen meter (oximeter), then most insurance companies will not pay for it, and therefore doctors don’t order it.
95 Oxygen Level Ok
Low oxygen levels are definitely something to worry about!
If you feel you may be experiencing low oxygen levels be sure to ask your doctor to check your pulse oximetry reading.
Symptoms of low oxygen are:
- shortness of breath/ difficulty breathing/ dyspnea
- extreme fatigue
- chest tightness
- mental confusion
- tingling fingers
- water retention (especially feet/ ankles)
- chronic cough
If you are experiencing blood oxygen saturation levels below 92% now, waiting for your doctor to witness it below 88% and order oxygen is equal to sitting around waiting to get worse.
Are you concerned?
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