Blood pressure monitor

Why monitor your blood pressure?

It’s common to experience high blood pressure as you get older, which can lead to conditions such as heart attack, stroke, and aneurysm, among others. By monitoring your blood pressure at home, you’ll know when it’s higher than it should be and will be able to seek medical advice.

Tips for blood pressure monitoring

• Avoid smoking, caffeine, and exercising 30 minutes before taking your blood pressure.
• Sit upright with your feet flat on the floor and your arm on a flat surface at heart level while taking the reading.
• Keep a blood pressure journal to track your readings.

To learn more about blood pressure monitoring, check out our article At Home Health Monitoring Tools & Tips.

You can also explore our range of blood pressure monitors here.

Oximeter

Why use an oximeter?

An oximeter is a device that is clipped to your finger or earlobe to determine the saturation of oxygen in your blood. This can tell you how well your lungs are working, which is especially important if you have conditions such as heart failure, COPD, and lung cancer, among others. Oximeters have also become a popular addition to home healthcare kits due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tips for measuring your blood saturation level

• The reading on your at-home oximeter is given as a percentage. 95-100% saturation is considered normal, less than 90% is low.
• At-home devices are a good way of monitoring your blood oxygen levels but aren’t an alternative for professional diagnosis.

To learn more about blood oxygen monitoring, check out our article At Home Health Monitoring Tools & Tips.

You can also explore our range of oximeters here.

Body weight scales

Why monitor your weight?

Maintaining a healthy weight is important as you get older.

Being overweight has been linked to health conditions such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, anxiety, and depression. Monitoring your weight can therefore be useful if you’re trying to lose weight.

While a lot of emphasis is put on the need to lose weight, excessive, unintentional weight loss could also be a cause for concern. If you lose 5% or more of your bodyweight in 6-12 months, it could be a sign of conditions such as cancer, depression, dementia, and kidney disease among others. Monitoring your weight could therefore tell you when you need to see your doctor.

Tips for weight monitoring

• Weigh yourself once a week.
• Any more and daily fluctuations will make it hard to track your
progress.

• Weigh yourself in the morning.
• So your weight won’t be affected by anything you’ve eaten that day.

• Allow yourself to ditch the scale.
• If weighing yourself is triggering anxiety or disordered eating, know that it’s ok to stop monitoring your weight.

Shop our range of body weight scales here.

Pedometer

Why use a pedometer?

A study conducted on Prince Edward Island found that using a pedometer – a device which tracks how many steps you take each day – encouraged participants to walk more. This in turn caused them to lose weight, decrease their waste girth, and reduce their resting heart rate. If you’re looking to increase your physical activity and boost your fitness, using a pedometer could be for you.

Tips for using a pedometer

• Measure how many steps you usually take.
• For the first few days, work out your baseline step count.

• Set yourself a goal step count.
• Once you know how much you usually walk, set yourself a goal. It doesn’t have to be extremely high, just enough to challenge yourself.

• Track your progress.
• A lot of pedometers can be linked to an app that will automatically track your steps. If not, a pen and paper will do!

You can shop our range of pedometers here.

Stethoscopes

Why use a stethoscope?

Stethoscopes can be used by a caregiver to help monitor your lungs, heart, and bowels.

Tips for using a stethoscope

• Use it in a quiet place.
• Make sure you’re in the correct position – to listen to the lungs you usually need to be sitting up, to listen to the heart and abdomen you should be lying down.

Discover and shop our range of stethoscopes here.

The information presented in this blog post is designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on any information on this post as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or as a substitute for professional counseling care. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult with a physician or other healthcare professional.

Resources

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/causes.html

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/obesity/symptoms-causes/syc-20375742

https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/is-it-normal-to-lose-weight-as-you-age#:~:text=After%20the%20age%20of%2065,weight%20every%206%2D12%20months.

https://www.healthline.com/health/fitness-exercises/weigh-yourself-guidelines#4.-Track-your-progress

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/high-blood-pressure/symptoms-causes/syc-20373410#:~:text=High%20blood%20pressure%20can%20cause,it%20can%20be%20life%2Dthreatening.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15539058/

https://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Stethoscope