The pulse, heart rate or heart beats per minute is one of the parameters that I personally check to determine if I am fine or something is irregular. For example, the pulse usually increases when the internal temperature of the body (not the external temperature , which can be easily measured with a thermometer) has risen, something that can happen due to illness or infection ..
The "manual" way to measure your pulse is to feel the blood pumping in your wrist or the side of your neck. You have to measure how many beats per minute in one of these areas, using a stopwatch. However, if you cannot find the area where you should feel your heart rate, you can use a pulse meter , which you can find at any pharmacy. The other option is to use a mobile app . The first question you will surely ask yourself is whether these mobile apps are accurate .
Measuring my pulse with a $ 70 pulse oximeter brand "CONTEC"
Images above: Unique Heart Rate Monitor, Plus Heart Rate Monitor and Instant Heart Rate give me the same pulse value as my CONTEC pulse oximeter.
As you can see in the images above, cell phone applications to measure the pulse or heart rate are as precise or exact as any pulse meter device that you can buy in a drugstore. It is not surprising, since these apps, like heart rate meters, measure the color change in the finger to determine the heartbeat. The pulse meter uses a red or infrared light to illuminate the finger, while the apps use the camera's flash and in both cases the result is practically the same..
The instructions for all apps to measure heart rate are similar.
There are many applications to measure the pulse on Android. If you have no idea which one to download, you can install the ones I used in my tests: Unique Heart Rate Monitor is the one that apparently has the best score in the Play Store , as well as Heart Rate Monitor ( Link ), followed by Heart Rate Monitor Plus ( Link ) and Instant Heart Rate ( Link ). If you have a high-end cell phone with an SPO2 sensor , there are more advanced apps such as Pulse Oximeter ( Link ), which even have an oximeter function (to measure oxygen saturation ), a factor that appears to be important in suspecting COVID 19 .
The difference between the heart rate monitor, the mobile apps and the "manual" measurement that I indicated above is practically none. At least in the multiple tests that you carry out, if you measure the pulse under the same conditions with any of the three methods, you will obtain a practically the same result. So it is not necessary to buy a pharmacy pulse meter , (although it is more practical, comfortable and easy to use). You can use your cell phone to measure your pulse, which will give you exactly the same. In any case, you should learn to take the pulse on your wrist or neck with the help of a stopwatch, because it is likely that in some case you will not have a cell phone at hand..
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