Note: As of December 15, 2020, Fitbit Sense and Versa 3 users can now view their SpO2 trends over the past week without a Premium membership.
At Fitbit, we are always working to identify new ways we can tell you more about your body and your wellness with new and existing technology. As part of our ongoing feature development, we have introduced a new capability—an estimate of your blood oxygen saturation. We’re excited to announce that in select markets, you can access it through the free SpO2 Signature clock face on your smartwatch, so that you can track potential changes in your wellbeing.*
In general, there’s no cause for concern if your SpO2 levels are between 95%-100% at sea level. However, many new smartwatches and fitness trackers now can measure SpO2 levels. This has led to a trend where people are focused on increasing their blood oxygen levels. This percentage is found under the “SpO2” setting on an oximeter. A normal level of oxygen is usually at least 95% or higher. Some people with chronic lung disease or sleep apnea can have normal levels of around 90%. The SpO2 reading on a pulse oximeter shows the percentage of oxygen in someone’s blood.
What is Oxygen Saturation (SpO2)?
Blood oxygenation is a crucial part of your body properly metabolizing the energy it needs to function at an optimal level.Our bodies distribute oxygenated blood to every part of our body—and SpO2 is the level of oxygen in your blood.
Normal SpO2 values vary between 90 and 100%. Good blood oxygenation is necessary to supply the energy your muscles need in order to function, which increases during a sports activity. If your SpO2 value is below 90%, that could be a sign of poor blood oxygenation, also called hypoxia.
Oxygen levels in blood tend to remain relatively constant, even during exercise and sleep. If the cardiorespiratory system is working and a person is breathing room air, typically most of the blood’s oxygen carrying capacity is used, so that blood oxygen saturation during the day is generally between 95 and 100 percent. When blood oxygen saturation levels are significantly lower than normal, it can be detrimental to the functioning of the body.
Nighttime SpO2 is usually lower than daytime SpO2 due to the fact that the total amount of air you breathe in tends to drop during sleep. In general, SpO2 values during sleep are typically above 90 percent. Tracking SpO2 can help you be more aware of your oxygen saturation trends during sleep, which may help you learn when there may be an indication of important changes in your fitness and wellness.
How To Check Spo2 Level
Of course, everyone’s oxygen levels are different. If you want to see your SpO2 trends over time, you’ll be able to view them in the new Health Metrics dashboard, available to Fitbit Premium members.**
How We Measure SpO2
There are several ways to evaluate the oxygen saturation in your blood. One method involves actually getting a sample of blood and using laboratory chemistry equipment to measure oxygen saturation, and while this is one approach, it is not practical for many uses. That’s why it became common to use pulse oximeters, which use optical techniques to non-invasively measure SpO2.
How does it work? Deoxygenated blood, which is returned to your lungs via your veins, is a slightly darker red color than the fully oxygenated blood in your arteries and arterioles (small blood vessels that bring oxygenated blood to your tissues). By using Fitbit sensors to measure the relative reflection of red and infrared light from your blood via your wrist, and seeing how it varies as your heart beats, we can estimate your SpO2 value.
It’s important to note that Fitbit does not measure or display SpO2 values below 80 percent. Fitbit SpO2 data is not intended for medical purposes, nor is it intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or condition. The data provided by Fitbit SpO2 is intended to be a close estimation of your blood oxygen saturation levels, but may not be precisely accurate. You should not use or rely on Fitbit SpO2 for any medical purposes.
Get Started
Spo2 Level In Body
With the SpO2 Signature clock face, your Fitbit smartwatch (Fitbit Ionic, Versa family, and Fitbit Sense) will track your average SpO2 levels while you’re sleeping. To get started, install the SpO2 clock face, then go to sleep wearing your smartwatch with the clock face, and within about an hour of waking up, you’ll be able to see your average SpO2 and range. Plus, you can expect more SpO2 clock faces soon to come in 2020!
If you have a Fitbit Premium membership, you will be able to check your trends in the Health Metrics dashboard. Want to learn more about what you can expect with Health Metrics? Read all about the new dashboard here.
Not available in all markets. This feature is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition or for any other medical purpose. It is intended to help you manage your well being and keep track of your information.
*Not available in all markets. Availability will be rolling. You should not rely on SpO2 for any medical purposes.
**The Health Metrics dashboard and the metrics displayed in the dashboard are not available in all countries. The Health Metrics dashboard is not intended to diagnose or treat any medical condition and should not be relied on for any medical purposes.
This information is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for medical diagnosis or treatment. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or condition. Always check with your doctor before changing your diet, altering your sleep habits, taking supplements, or starting a new fitness routine.
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?
How To Increase Spo2 Level In Body
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.
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
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.
- 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.
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?
Spo2 Level In Body Fat
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