{"id":628625,"date":"2024-07-15T09:30:19","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T13:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/?p=628625"},"modified":"2024-10-25T09:50:57","modified_gmt":"2024-10-25T13:50:57","slug":"how-to-increase-blood-oxygen-level","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.singlecare.com\/blog\/how-to-increase-blood-oxygen-level\/","title":{"rendered":"How to increase blood oxygen levels"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oxygen is essential to life—just <\/span>three to six minutes without oxygen<\/span><\/a> can cause brain damage or even death. Your blood oxygen level, or the amount of oxygen circulating in the blood, can be an indicator of your overall wellness. You can even measure your blood oxygen level at home with a device called a pulse oximeter. The device is placed on a finger (a toe or earlobe may also be used) and uses a light to measure your oxygen saturation. <\/span><\/p>\n

Is it necessary to keep track of your blood oxygen? While a healthy person doesn’t need to monitor their blood oxygen level regularly, it may be a good idea for some people. A good example is that some people who had COVID-19 were instructed by their physicians to monitor their oxygen saturations at home to make sure they weren’t getting worse. Some heart or lung conditions, respiratory illnesses, and environmental factors can contribute to lower-than-normal blood oxygen levels. When blood oxygen drops too low, serious health effects can occur. Luckily, there are ways to increase your blood oxygen levels, such as getting exercise, breathing deeply, or moving into an upright position. Keep reading to learn the causes of low blood oxygen, how it’s measured, and ways to increase it naturally.<\/span><\/p>\n

What does a blood oxygen level mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n

After you inhale oxygen (O2) through your nose or mouth, it travels through the lungs into the bloodstream. From there, it is distributed to your body’s cells, <\/span> where it is used to<\/span><\/a> metabolize glucose and create energy. The byproduct of this process is waste gas, or carbon dioxide (CO2), which is removed from the bloodstream and exhaled by the lungs. <\/span><\/p>\n

Your <\/span>blood oxygen level<\/span><\/a>, or blood oxygen saturation, indicates how much oxygen is circulating in your blood. Blood oxygen is measured as a percent saturation of hemoglobin (the red protein that carries oxygen) ranging from zero to 100%, says <\/span>Bruce Spiess, MD<\/span><\/a>, a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist, expert on blood management, and Medical Director of Durham-based <\/span>Hemosonics<\/span><\/a>. Blood oxygen is measured in<\/span> two ways:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Pulse oximetry: <\/b>This is a noninvasive test using a small device with a red light. It’s clipped onto a finger, toe, or earlobe and measures your heart rate and blood oxygen saturation level (SpO2 or O2Sat), the percentage of hemoglobin that’s full of oxygen. The margin of error for pulse oximeters is about 2%. <\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Arterial blood gas testing:<\/b> Sometimes, an <\/span>arterial blood gas (ABG)<\/span><\/a> is necessary to get more information about the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. Getting blood from an artery rather than a vein provides the most accurate measures of these substances and also provides information about the acid-base balance in the bloodstream. To perform an ABG, blood is usually withdrawn from an artery in the wrist. The arm or groin may also be used. Results obtained from an ABG include:<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n