Proper healthcare starts at home. The food you eat, the number of hours of sleep you get, and the exercise you do could all affect your health and well-being. But it’s nearly impossible to stay healthy and fit all the time. Even the most physically-active individuals may still get sick from time to time.
With that in mind, it’s becoming more important and common to have medications and the appropriate healthcare devices within reach. These tools can become handy and beneficial during emergencies or when you can’t go to the hospital for medical consultation.
To help you start, here are a few essential medical devices you should have at home for easy and accurate health checks.
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AED Machine
Among the illnesses people worldwide suffer from, cardiovascular disease is one of the most common. If you or anyone at home has heart disease, it would be best to have an automated external defibrillator (AED) machine at home.
An AED machine analyzes the patient’s heart rhythm and delivers defibrillation, or electric shock, when necessary. This can help return the heart’s regular, healthy rhythm.
Find an AED machine that’s compact and easy to use, just like this one from https://avive.life/. Its size allows you to bring it along anywhere, so you can help avoid sudden deaths from cardiac arrests while you’re at home, on a trip, or just out in the park.
- Oxygen concentrators
If you have been diagnosed with COPD, ILD, Asthma or any other chronic respiratory illness, you might be prescribed supplemental oxygen therapy.
In such a scenario, the best decision would be to buy an oxygen concentrator instead of relying on heavy oxygen cylinders. Oxygen concentrators are lightweight and can cater to the needs of all the patients who have been prescribed oxygen between the flow range of 1-10 LPM.
Oxygen concentrators are compact and come with wheels for easy transportation. The device produces real-time oxygen by separating nitrogen from the air and delivering pure oxygen to the patient. It is easy to use and maintain at home and charges minimal electricity.
To get rid of the hustle of refilling heavy oxygen tanks every day, you must invest in purchasing an oxygen concentrator for home-usage.
You can buy it directly from Oxygen Times, the world’s biggest oxygen concentrator e-commerce portal.
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Thermometers
Having a decent working thermometer at home is a primary medical necessity. Thermometers can help prevent symptoms from worsening by accurately reading the body’s temperature. It’s also one of the most affordable healthcare tools to obtain, so it’s a must to have this on this list.
You might already have an old-fashioned mercury thermometer at home. But this one is considered dangerous to use due to the toxic element inside it. You have other options, though, such as a digital ear thermometer or an infrared one. Due to the pandemic, many would choose the latter because it’s contactless and shows temperature instantly.
You can find a thermometer for sale in most pharmacies and medical supplies stores. They’re also available online, but ensure that it’s from a reputable medical shop before making that order. Fake ones may not give you accurate results and might break after a short time.
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Nebulizer
Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease and might lead to premature deaths if attacks are not prevented or addressed immediately. While this is more prevalent in children, you may get asthma later in life, especially if your family has a history of the illness.
More often than not, a household with someone with asthma will have a nebulizer. Nebulizers turn liquid medicine into a mist you can breathe through a mask or a mouthpiece. This can help improve congestion, alleviate consistent coughing, and help the patient relax.
You can read this guide on home nebulizer therapy to help you operate and clean the machine correctly if you haven’t used one yet. Most modern nebulizers are also compact to fit in any drawer or bring in a travel bag. So, you can lug one along with you on your trips if a regular inhaler isn’t enough to relieve shortness of breath and chest tightness.
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Blood Pressure Monitor
If you or other people at home have been diagnosed with hypertension or hypotension, you should have a blood pressure monitor close to you. Hypertension has several causes, mainly stress, inactivity, and an unhealthy diet. On the other hand, dehydration or heart problems can cause hypotension. With this device at home, you can easily manage your blood pressure.
More so, a digital blood pressure monitor can keep all your previous records and track your status with a push of a button. Not only that, but it can provide you with accurate readings quickly at the comfort of your home. If your blood pressure goes beyond the normal range, your monitor will inform you of that and help you gauge whether you need further medication or not.
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Pulse Oximeter
The pandemic has led to the rise of some households purchasing pulse oximeters to check their oxygen levels from the comfort of their homes. This is because among the symptoms most COVID-19 patients experience is low oxygen levels or hypoxemia. With that in mind, even if you have no other symptoms, you could seek immediate medical care once you get to check your oxygen level at home.
A pulse oximeter looks like clothes pegs clipped on the patient’s finger to detect oxygen concentration in the blood. Normal levels are usually 95% or higher. Anything lower than 95% can be a cause for concern.
Healthcare Starts At Home
Medical emergencies may happen anytime, from getting colds to the onset of fever to experiencing shortness of breath or chest pains, to suffering a stroke or cardiac arrest.
With that said, it’s important that you are able to handle such situations, especially when medical assistance is not available.
Having healthcare devices such as those mentioned above can be a good start in preparing for such medical emergencies. More so, a suitable device can help you get better and maintain good health.
