-
How to Measure Blood Pressure Correctly
Are you curious about your blood pressure? Or did your doctor measure your blood pressure and now you like to know more about how to measure this yourself? This tip will help you to measure your blood pressure correctly.
Other things you will learn are:
-
What are common mistakes when you measure your blood pressure?
-
What do the 2 numbers in your blood pressure measurement mean?
-
What device can you use?
Let’s begin and start at the end!
What device makes measuring blood pressure accurate & easy?
Some of you who had your blood pressure measured reading this might think: “Hey… this isn’t how my blood pressure was measured?”. You will find that measuring blood pressure isn’t as simple as it seems.
If you have concerns about your blood pressure, it might be wise to buy a blood pressure monitor yourself. Personally, I use the Omron EVOLV blood pressure monitor. Why?
-
It measures electronically and is therefore easy to use.
-
It is accurate compared with other electronic devices (other devices have a tendency to overestimate!).
-
It measures your heart rate at the same time. It even registers if your heartbeat became irregular during the measurement. Don’t panic if this happens, it is normal if your heartbeat skips once in a while. But if it happens regularly, you might want to discuss the results with your doctor.
Make sure, when buying a blood pressure monitor, the cuff fits over your arm! Children for example need different cuffs. People with big arms as well.
How to measure your blood pressure correctly
With the right device preparing for a blood pressure measurement becomes your only concern. Manual measurements are great as well because manual measurements are often more precise than most automated cuffs. The downside of manual measurements is that it is hard to measure yourself and you will need some experience to make this method accurate.
To measure blood pressure, you will need to be at rest. This leads to rule number 1:
-
Sit up in a chair for 5 minutes with your feet on the ground and not crossed.
No phones. No talking.
In my experience, if you have been running to an appointment you might need some more time to get in full rest. If you measure too soon, it could potentially hide a low blood pressure or falsely lead to elevated ‘rest’ measurements.
So here is rule number 2:
-
Don’t squeeze in a blood pressure measurement in your schedule. It will be visible in the results.
It sounds obvious, but rushing to your doctor.. or feeling the stress of being late for your next appointment before measuring your own blood pressure won’t give accurate readings.
On a different note: if you have done a workout, don’t measure your blood pressure at least for a full hour after your training. Believe it or not, you might measure a lower blood pressure than usual since your blood vessels dilate due to your physical activity.
Don’t measure your blood pressure only once!
In my experience, the first measurement often is not the actual blood pressure measured at rest. Many people are a little tense waiting for the results, which will be visible in the measurements. The official way to find out the ‘real’ blood pressure is by measuring the blood pressure 3 times with a few minutes of rest in between. The average of these numbers is the official blood pressure.Personally, I work with the last number measured. Why? Because people are usually more relaxed after 3 measurements. The influence of the tension is therefore the lowest in the last measurement.
Here is the 3rd rule to measure blood pressure accurately:
-
Measure at least 3 times, especially if this is your first time doing a measurement.
Here is a last rule that I personally use. A blood pressure measurement is representative of that moment. If you like a better understanding of what is going on, measure your blood pressure daily a few times. You can do this minimal for a few days up to 2 weeks if you are really curious. Make sure you choose the same times every day.
Here are some additional rules for performing a good measurement:
-
Make sure your back is supported. Support vs no support can easily differ by 5-10 points of mmHg. (mmHg are the units used to measure blood pressure)
-
Make sure that your arm is at heart height. This can be done by placing your lower arm on a table. If you want to learn how much points arm position influences the results, you can experiment with your own blood pressure monitor by measuring with your arm above your head or letting your arm hang next to your body.
-
Make sure you don’t place the cuff over your clothes.
Other things that can influence the results that you might not have thought of:
-
A full bladder can increase blood pressure. Make sure you have been
-
Being in pain will also influence the measurement.
-
A bad night’s sleep.
What do the 2 numbers in your blood pressure measurement mean?
Now you have measured your blood pressure, but what do the 2 numbers mean?
When the heart beats, blood flows out of the left ventricle into the aorta. This causes the blood to press against the blood vessels and is called systolic blood pressure. The systolic blood pressure is the highest number of your blood pressure measurement.
When the heart relaxes, blood flows back from the atrium into the left ventricle causing a lowering of the blood pressure. When the pressure is at its minimum, this is called diastolic blood pressure and is the lowest number of your blood pressure measurement.
Would you like to know when your blood pressure is too low or too high? Stay tuned for part 2!
-
-
2 Replies
-
Sir, another great write up.
Mum has a wrist based machine. We’ll switch to an arm cuffed one as we’ve found the readings can be inaccurate in comparison. We’ve been meaning to switch for sometime now, but so many different types in the market, we weren’t sure which one to go for. We’ll take a look at the model you use.
Also, whenever we attend hospital appointments, her readings shoot up. However, at home they are normal with the odd occasion when she’s stressed.
Can dysfunctional adrenals cause BP to go up and down?
My BP was extremely low, when I was underweight.
Readings were around 92/70. Now a days, 115/80. It’s still low., but much better. -
Hey ,
You are right! Wrist based machines are usually less accurate then arm based machines.
Dysfunctional adrenals can for sure influence BP. Aldosterone, a hormone that regulates salt and water in the body, is a mineralocorticoid made in the adrenal glands. A mineralocorticoid is a class of corticosteroids, just like cortisol is.
Therefore following improving adrenal function can impact blood pressure for sure!
Log in to reply.
