Checking Blood Pressure

[azr101]

I check my blood pressure routinely, fortunately it's always in the normal range. However I've noticed that if I take a reading and then wait a moment and check it again it drops signifigantly. What causes this? Which reading is most accurate?

Thanks

[David Dunn]

It is usually a good practice to take two or three readings a couple minutes apart and average them.

It is also advised to be resting for several to many minutes before taking your reading. The value could easily drop after a more rested testing.

[azr101]

Thanks for the response,
So check a few times after resting (3-5 minutes sound okay? and maybe a minute or so between readings) and then take an avereage of the readings.

[David Dunn]

Yup!

[FX01]

My BP tends to run a little high,but at the doctor's office it's always higher when they first check it.
At my last visit, my Doc caught me off guard by strapping on the arm baloon when I was ready to leave, and it was down
to a range he could live with.Just make sure you check it at various times, there's going to be a range within a certain degree.
Hope this helps.

[azr101]

Word.

My blood pressure goes way up at the doctors office too, totally psychosematic.

[FX01]

Word.

My blood pressure goes way up at the doctors office too, totally psychosematic.

It's the white coat thing for me.

[FX01]

Yup!

Good advice.These machines can drive you Crazy.
No Hijack, but Berry and Counting were a good combo.

[papa G]

One thing I have learned as an RN is that a normal BP cuff on a person with bigger arms or just someone obese is that the BP reading is higher if you use a normal cuff.

Moral is, that if your arms are bigger than 15-16 inches you need a larger BP cuff for your reading to be accurate. A small cuff on someone with bigger arms will read a FALSE high reading. So, if your guns are big and they say you have hypertension ask "Did you use a larger cuff or the small one!"

Hope I didn't hurt any BP med sales!:

[azr101]

One thing I have learned as an RN is that a normal BP cuff on a person with bigger arms or just someone obese is that the BP reading is higher if you use a normal cuff.

Moral is, that if your arms are bigger than 15-16 inches you need a larger BP cuff for your reading to be accurate. A small cuff on someone with bigger arms will read a FALSE high reading. So, if your guns are big and they say you have hypertension ask "Did you use a larger cuff or the small one!"

Hope I didn't hurt any BP med sales!:

Good point. I actually purchased the large cuff for my device, but even that is at the edge of it's allowable adjustment. That could very well be the culprit.

I don't think your hurting med sales at all! Sheesh with the new systolic/diastolic standards it seems most people became at least pre-hypertensive overnight!

[LT*]

One thing I have learned as an RN is that a normal BP cuff on a person with bigger arms or just someone obese is that the BP reading is higher if you use a normal cuff.

Moral is, that if your arms are bigger than 15-16 inches you need a larger BP cuff for your reading to be accurate. A small cuff on someone with bigger arms will read a FALSE high reading. So, if your guns are big and they say you have hypertension ask "Did you use a larger cuff or the small one!"

Hope I didn't hurt any BP med sales!:

Same here. I try and tell them every time I have it taken to use the bigger cuff. They always look at me weird and then when they actually use the big one, it's in the normal range or even below that.