Misconceptions about low-flow oxygen inhalation. You may have been doing it wrong all along.

What is low-flow oxygen inhalation?

For many patients with conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, emphysema, and bullae, when doctors recommend oxygen inhalation, they will inform the patients to use low-flow oxygen inhalation. But exactly how many liters is low-flow oxygen inhalation?

Many people's first reaction when they hear "low flow" is that it can only be set to 1L or 2L and cannot exceed this amount. Then, after long-term oxygen inhalation, it is always set to 1L or 2L, resulting in a feeling that there is still no relief even after oxygen inhalation.

First of all, we need to know that lung conditions can cause low blood oxygen saturation in our bodies. When we inhale oxygen, it is to increase the blood oxygen in our bodies and relieve physical discomfort. In the early stage of lung conditions, low-flow oxygen inhalation is indeed required. However, in the case of low flow, we also need to ensure that the blood oxygen saturation can reach the normal value. The normal value of blood oxygen is above 95%.

Generally, in the early stage when the blood oxygen is not very low, setting it to 1L or 2L can indeed reach above 95, which is fine. However, lung conditions are chronic diseases. As people age, the condition will also progress. This is why after a long time, even when set to 1.2L, there is still no relief. For families with patients with lung conditions, it is recommended that a pulse oximeter must be kept at home to monitor the body's blood oxygen in real time. When we still cannot get relief after oxygen inhalation, we should measure our own blood oxygen saturation at the first time. When the blood oxygen cannot increase even when we are inhaling oxygen, then we need to increase the oxygen inhalation flow to ensure the body's blood oxygen saturation, so that the body can get relief. Instead of blindly setting it to 2L and not daring to increase it.