Monitoring Your Blood Pressure
at Home
101 Tips To Monitoring Your Blood Pressure At Home
If you care about your blood pressure, then you should consider
monitoring it from home. But, you still need to make regular
doctor visits to make sure that you are making the right lifestyle
choices.
If you decide to monitor your blood pressure at home, then
you need to keep track of the results. Doing so will tell
you what works for you and what not in lowering or maintaining
your blood pressure.
When you choose to monitor your blood pressure at home, you
have choices of the equipment to use. You can use an aneroid
monitor that has a dial gauge and uses a pointer to read,
or a digital monitor with the option of a manual or automatic
cuff. Digital monitor will show your reading on the screen.
Some people might suggest using a finger or wrist monitor
but these are usually less effective as they are not as accurate,
more movement sensitive and more costly as well.
When you choose the monitor, you need to choose one that
has the right cuff size for you. Ask your doctor if you are
not sure what size you should get. If the cuff size is wrong
your reading will be wrong, hence not beneficial.
Ask your doctor to show you the right way to operate the
blood pressure monitor. Using it the right way will ensure
you get the right readings.
Before checking your blood pressure, there are certain things
that you should do, such as avoid drinking or use any caffeine,
alcohol or any tobacco products thirty minutes prior to checking.
Relax and don't talk for at least three to five minutes before
taking a reading.
Make yourself totally comfortable. Do not cross your legs
or arms and keep your back straight. When you strap the cuff
on, make sure that your arm is at the same level of your heart.
Rest it on a table or solid surface. Be sure the cuff is snugly
fit around your arm with just room for a finger. The bottom
of the cuff should be an inch from the crease of your elbow.
Next, you should also understand what your numbers mean before
monitoring your blood pressure from home. A normal blood pressure
would be a reading of 120/80 or less. High blood pressure
would show 160/100 or anything higher. Anything in between
these readings would mean prehypertension and this means you
are half way to developing high blood pressure.
| 
