Ive always preferred to wearmy Oura ringon my ring finger.
And if you ask longtime Oura users, youll get a variety of opinions.
Does itreallymatter which finger you use?
I wore both for nearly two weeks to compare their readings and answer the question once and for all.
I actually worethreerings, but left one of them off my results because it turned out to be redundant.
It was a nearly-dead one that I had replaced when its battery wore out.
For this experiment, I needed to pair each ring to a different accounton a different phone.
The things I do for you, dear readers.
I stuck with readings like resting heart rate, heart rate variability, and sleep time.
The one score I kept was sleep efficiency, since that combines multiple measurements from the same night.
Look at these charts!
The readings are often identical, and always close.
Any of the three placements I used would be perfectly good for daily wear.
So why does Oura say your index finger is best?
I reached out to the company for more information.
So why the preference for the index finger?
It turns out thats the finger where most people have the easiest time getting a good fit.
This is why we generally recommend the index finger.
If thats not comfortable or preferred, the middle or ring finger are also good alternatives.
All three fingers have larger blood vessels, which help optimize PPG pulse monitoring.
(PPG refers to photoplethysmography, the optical sensor system that picks up your pulse from your finger.)
