Blood pressure monitors are becoming more user friendly so it is quite easy to check your blood pressure at home. If you have high blood pressure or other heart disease, tracking your blood pressure can be important to your health. Home blood pressure monitors are not very expensive, especially if you buy the manual rather than the digital kind.
Make sure you use the proper size cuff. If your arm is very large or very small, the standard size cuff normally supplied with blood pressure monitors may not give you an accurate reading. Choose an extra large cuff for big arms and a pediatric or extra small cuff for small arms.
It is also important that you take care of your monitor so that it doesn’t get damaged. One way to do so is to keep it in a protective case whenever you are not using it. Blood pressure monitors also shouldn’t be exposed to extreme heat so you can not just leave it in a car on hot days. If you do drop your monitor, then you have to make sure that no damage was done by checking its accuracy. The cuff and tubing also need to be examined for cracks or leaks before you use your monitor. These devices are also not waterproof and so take care that it does not get submerged.
As a general rule you will be recording the resting blood pressure. The only exception would be if your doctor tells you to do something else. The reason for this is that stress and activities elevate your blood pressure and if you need to keep track of the readings, then the same conditions have to be ensured for each reading. You also should not smoke, eat or exercise a half hour before it is time to take the blood pressure reading. The best way to get good readings is to sit comfortably with your feet on the floor.
When using digital blood pressure monitors, it is important to sit still while the unit is in operation. If you move around during testing, the results might not be accurate. Using a cell phone while taking your blood pressure might cause an inaccurate reading with digital blood pressure monitors also.
If you at any time notice the readings from the monitor are strange, then you will have to repeat the test after a few minutes. That also means that the cuff will have to be removed and once you are about to redo the test, the cuff has to be put on again.
All blood pressure monitors should be checked periodically for accuracy. The best way to do that is to take your blood pressure monitor with you to the doctor’s office so your doctor can take your blood pressure with his equipment and yours at the same time so you can compare results.
Even though blood pressure naturally rises and falls throughout the day, it is still important to be consistent when taking readings. Without consistency it is difficult to recognize patterns in the blood pressure readings. Therefore the testing must be done at the same time every day and in a relaxed condition, because things such as walking up stairs can affect the results of the test.
There are some blood pressure monitors that allow you to save your results. However, keeping a journal of your readings can still be helpful. This is because you can then add relevant information, such as notes on your health when the reading was taken and if you were relaxed or not. The more information you can provide your doctor, the better your diagnosis and treatment will be.
You must log in to post a comment.