Self Health Pharmacist is a plain-English guide to the health devices people use at home: blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, thermometers, CPAP machines, hearing aids and the rest.
Each guide explains what a device measures, what its numbers mean, which features are worth paying for and which are marketing, and when a reading is worth a call to your doctor.
Who writes it
A note on our names: Self Health Pharmacist is written by a small team under pen names, one name for each job. Shirley is the name on our device guides, and you will see Julia White’s name on many of them too.
The site’s name is its brand, not a job title: we are not pharmacists, doctors or nurses, and nothing here replaces your own pharmacist or doctor. If a reading worries you, or you feel unwell, call your doctor; in an emergency, call 911.
How a guide is made
- Built from the makers’ manuals and spec sheets, published research and validation lists, and what owners report.
- Device guidance, not diagnosis: a guide tells you what a number means and when to call your doctor, never what you have.
- Some links are affiliate links; they never decide what we recommend. A post a brand paid for, or one with a brand’s paid link to its product, says so in its first line.
Get in touch
Spotted a mistake, or have a question about a device? Write to us from the Contact page. We read every message, and we correct mistakes.