Need an oxygen concentrator? Learn why you may find portable ones useful
Some medical conditions including asthma, COPD, sleep apnea, pneumonia, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and other such lung illnesses, can affect your loved one’s oxygen levels. To help him breathe easy with the regulated supply of oxygen, you might need to bring an oxygen concentrator home. Since the lower concentration of oxygen in the blood can obstruct normal breathing of the person, you can depend on this medical device to relieve your beloved’s stress.
In the market, you get portable and stationary models to select your pick. While both these editions have their utility, you may prefer the mobile designs.
Why select a portable oxygen concentrator over a non-portable one?
The portable models come with two types of settings for delivering oxygen to the patient. These include continuous flow and pulse dose. The constant flow supplies oxygen without stopping, while the pulse flow provides it only when the patient inhales it. Pulse dose allows you to save oxygen. But it is recommendable only if the person can inhale adequately enough to activate the pulse. Otherwise, continuous flow is a better option. Majority of the concentrators come with one of these options, except for a few that features both.
Portable oxygen concentrators make an excellent choice for active people because of the ease of handling and accessibility to an uninterrupted oxygen supply. You don’t have to worry about changing or refilling the tanks. But since these are mostly battery-operated models, you may need to charge it to keep it running. It is not a headache, though.
The stationary oxygen units may not be favorable because of their bulky size and weight. You have to get it installed in one place with long tubes extending from it so that the patient can get the uninterrupted oxygen delivery. Another thing is you may have to refill or replace the cylinder when it runs out of supply.
How does a portable oxygen concentrator work?
The air you inhale consists of different components in different amounts – oxygen 21%, nitrogen 78%, and others 1%. The concentrators eliminate the traces of nitrogen from the air through sieves and special filters. As a result, you get up to 96% of clean oxygen through a mask or tube. For the correct level of oxygen supply, you can adjust the electronic settings. In essence, a portable unit may operate like this:
- Concentrates air to avoid the problem of overheating
- Absorbs air from the environment
- Filters oxygen through sieve beds
- Supplies filtered oxygen through a facial mask or nasal tube
The reasons why you should buy a portable oxygen concentrator are clear. But taking certain precautions at the time of using it is necessary to avoid unwanted hazards. Since oxygen can catch fire quickly, you should not allow anyone to smoke when the machine is operating. Also, keep it safely away from open flames. The place should have proper ventilation too. You can buy a smaller version of this machine to place it on the bedside table or a taller one that can comfortably rest on the floor. There is no shortage of the best portable oxygen concentrators in the market. Hence, making a choice should not be difficult.
