Monitoring your blood pressure regularly to help in diagnose any health hazard at its early stage. Your doctor and you can take certain measures if your blood pressure is out of the normal. It is the only known method which you can be aware if your blood pressure is too high.
Causes of variation in blood pressure
- White coat syndrome: Anxiety or nervousness about having your blood pressure tested. One out of three patients who have high blood pressure at Doctor’s office might have normal blood pressure outside of the office.
- Intake before taking the readings: what you ate or drank before taking the readings is also the reason for variation in readings. If you have taken any stimulant drug or caffeine or worked out within 30 minutes of having blood test, readings might be above from normal.
- Way of sitting: How you are sitting also affects the blood pressure. If you are crossing your legs and your arms are hanging limply rather than resting on the table at your chest’s height might elevates your blood pressure level.
It is imperative to get an efficient blood pressure readings so that individual can be aware about any life threating disease like stroke or any other heart disease.
Ways to test your blood pressure
- First is, to get checked at doctor’s office by health care faculties.
- You can also examine your blood pressure at nearby pharmacy by pharmacist.
- With the help of home blood pressure monitor, individual can monitor blood pressure.
Things you should avoid before testing your blood pressure at home
- You should steer clear from things that can raise you blood pressure on temporary basis like avoid measuring your blood pressure within half an hour of eating, smoking, intake caffeine, or working out. These factors can temporarily elevates your blood pressure.
- You should wear loose outfit during the test, so that theirs proper air circulation and you can fit the cuff around your arm conveniently.
- You should sit comfortably and rest for five to ten minutes before taking the tests.
- Ideally, you should on chair with table in front, so that you can rest your arms on the firm and flat surface. Stay in this poster while you take the test.
- Make sure you are not anxious or uncomfortable while taking the tests.
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Procedure of testing your blood pressure at home
Step 1. Read the instruction manual carefully that comes with the blood testing monitor. Apply the cuff around your arm according to the given instructions.
Step 2. Make sure the cuff should be 2cm above the elbow to detect the artery under the skin.
Step 3. Stay still and be quiet for a while. Chewing, moving, talking, knuckling, crossing legs can affect the results and elevates the readings.
Step 4. Monitor you blood pressure two or three times, each in the intervals of one or two minutes. If the first one is high, just ignore it and take two more readings, you can get idea from the average.
Step 5. Keep proper and distinct records of your measurements. You can write it down or you can save it in monitors.
Some limitations of measuring the blood pressure at home
- Accuracy: The efficiency of this method is quite low as it is advertised. Some of the monitors are found to be faulty due to some technical issues or manufacturing defects.
- Cuff placement: when a normal person with no medical experience what so ever tests his/her blood pressure for the first time. Due to inexperience he/she can make mistake in cuff placement, which can affect the results considerably.
- Anxiety: It can lead to anxious behavior. An individual may use the monitor excessively due to anxiety.
- Alteration in health check-ups: On basis of casual home check-ups, a person can change his/her routine health check-ups. Which could lead to various health issues.
- Continual records: Most people cannot keep proper track of the blood pressure records. Which is also considered as disadvantages.
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