As we are currently dealing with a pandemic, accessing healthcare for patients has badly been affected, especially for the patients suffering from chronic ailments like hypertension and Diabetes mellitus. Patients suffering from chronic ailments haven’t been able to make their regular consultations with their treating physicians. Earlier it was easy to venture out and get your blood pressure checked or your blood sugar or even temperature. Now venturing outcomes with its own disadvantages.
How to deal with it?
Patients suffering from hypertension, diabetes, fever, cough need to have these respective basic instruments at home.
1. THERMOMETER:-Many people complain of feeling feverish but do not document their body temperature, which is very important to access if you do really have a fever, or, which grade of the fever you have. For that thermometer is essential.
HOW TO USE IT?
The thermometer measures your body temperature. Body temperature is different at different sites. For a healthy individual normal oral body temperature is 98.6 Fahrenheit or 37 Degree Celcius(C). You should monitor and document your temperature if you feel feverish with date and time every four or six hours at least. This will help the treating physician to better access your health and see if there is any diurnal variation (day and night) in your temperature which is also specific of certain conditions. This can help in better diagnosis and treatment.
2. SPHYGMOMANOMETER:- It is also commonly called the BP apparatus. As it might be hard to visit a treating physician, you can simply monitor your blood pressure by availing a standard Digital BP Apparatus. A lot of questions have been posted on its reliability over manual BP Apparatus because of its variations, yet it is better to check your blood pressure rather than not checking at all.
Blood pressure readings should be taken and documented with date and time. For a reliable reading, the patient should rest for at least 15 minutes before checking the blood pressure and should not be involved in any activity. Also, follow the instruction manual which comes with the instrument
3. GLUCOMETER:- For patients suffering from diabetes or pre-diabetic, keeping their blood sugar in check holds a vital part of their treatment.
Patients suffering from diabetes should follow the instructions and precautions completely and maintains aseptic conditions at all times.
4. PULSE OXIMETER:- It has already been a regular instrument for quite some time for patients mostly suffering from respiratory or cardiac ailments. A pulse oximeter is a small, lightweight device used to monitor the amount of oxygen in the body. The normal range for a healthy individual fluctuates between 96-100%. It can be an essential instrument if you suspect corona like symptoms. It has been found people suffering from COVID-19 may have less oxygen saturation without them even realizing it. These people have often been termed as happy” hypoxia”.
HOW TO USE IT?
It can be clipped on a finger or toe. Make sure the finger is not wet or cold as it may lead to faulty reading. In case you might have doubts about the suspicious reading you can put the pulse oximeter or a healthy adult individual and co-relate with the same. Also, follow the instructions that come with the instrument. Proper documentation of your vitals holds an important cog in accessing the patient's health condition more importantly in this pandemic where accessing healthcare has taken a toll.
Patient with these instruments can monitor their health condition and take prompt action either by consulting his treating physician in person or on call. The patient can also avail of online consultation from a doctor. This will massively help in averting any mishaps and deliver quality health which is the need of every individual.