How To Read Blood Pressure Reading

Extreme High Or Low Readings

There may be times when your blood pressure is extremely high or very low. In some cases, you may need to call your medical provider or take other action. If you do get a high or low reading, Lark will recommend that you wait 5 minutes, then take your blood pressure again to make sure the initial reading was accurate.

A hypertensive crisis is when blood pressure is over 180 systolic or 120 diastolic. Since a sudden increase in blood pressure can lead to organ failure, stroke, or heart attack, immediate medical attention is necessary to evaluate and treat the condition. Treatment may include changing medication protocols or other care.

Hypotension occurs when blood pressure is under 90 systolic or 60 diastolic . The American Heart Association says a single low reading may not be a problem, but it could be problematic, especially if you have symptoms such as feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or nauseous. To be on the safe side, it is always better to call your healthcare provider if you are worried.

How To Read An Aneroid Sphygmomanometer

An aneroid sphygmomanometer is a more secured alternate to other blood pressure monitors. Also, this one is dependable and reliable and has been deliberated to be very accurate. It is also becoming more popular compared to mercury BP devices especially in hospitals and medical clinics. This is a device that has been created to be as durable and accurate as any other competitors. The competition can also be a good way for medical industries to work harder and discover new efficient devices in monitoring blood pressures.

This blood pressure monitor is inexpensive yet works competently which results to a high-quality

diagnostic capability. It consists of a needle that doesnt discontinue or hamper

performance, an adjustable Velcro cuff, a metal inflation valve and a durable case to protect

the device from any untoward damage.

Follow these simple steps for reading

First, check on the cuff that it is of the proper size. Then, wrap it around the upper

portion of the arm just beyond the elbow. It should fit just right to have an accurate

reading. A smaller or bigger cuff can greatly affect the results.

Take a comfortable seat and rest easy with arms flat on the table. Feet should also be

flat on the floor.

Look for the brachial artery and place the stethoscope over it.

Now, you can begin to inflate the cuff by squeezing the bulb just approximately 30

points beyond the recent systolic results.

sound that you hear. This represents the systolic blood pressure.

Home Remedies For Low Blood Pressure

While you can seek clinical advice and medication to cope with low blood pressure, using natural and home remedies can also be of help. These are:

• Eating Small Portions Periodically- Between major meals of the day, do not stay hungry. Munch on healthy snacks and foods. This will help in thwarting major fall in blood pressure readings.
• Drinking Adequate Fluids- It is important that you do not become dehydrated as that can lead to hypotension. Drinking 2 liters of water day is a must for this. Apart from water, you may have fruit juice. Pomegranate juice is advisable for coping with hypotension.
• Raisins- You may eat a handful of raisins everyday to cope with low blood pressure. Drinking water in which the raisins are soaked overnight can also be of help.
• Almond and Milk- To improve hypotension related conditions, you may intake almonds soaked in milk. Mixing almond paste in milk and drinking it may also help.
• Beetroot Juice- Drinking a glass of beetroot juice daily will aid you in battling low blood pressure. You may add a little honey with the juice to enhance the taste.

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Heart Rate And Exercise

In discussions about high blood pressure, you will often see heart rate mentioned in relation to exercise. Your target heart rate is based on age and can help you monitor the intensity of your exercise.

• If you measure your heart rate before, during and after physical activity, youll notice it will increase over the course of the exercise.
• The greater the intensity of the exercise, the more your heart rate will increase.
• When you stop exercising, your heart rate does not immediately return to your normal heart rate.
• The more fit you are, the sooner your heart rate will return to normal.

Learn more:

How Blood Pressure Is Measured

A doctor or nurse will measure your blood pressure with a small gauge attached to an inflatable cuff. It’s simple and painless.

The person taking your blood pressure wraps the cuff around your upper arm. Some cuffs go around the forearm or wrist, but often they aren’t as accurate.

Your doctor or nurse will use a stethoscope to listen to the blood moving through your artery.

Theyâll inflate the cuff to a pressure higher than your systolic blood pressure, and it will tighten around your arm. Then theyâll release it. As the cuff deflates, the first sound they hear through the stethoscope is the systolic blood pressure. It sounds like a whooshing noise. The point where this noise goes away marks the diastolic blood pressure.

In a blood pressure reading, the systolic number always comes first, and then the diastolic number. For example, your numbers may be “120 over 80” or written as 120/80.

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How To Measure Your Blood Pressure At Home Using A Home Monitor

Follow the instructions that came with your monitor. Make sure you place the cuff around your arm as described in the instructions.

Place the arm cuff just above your elbow. The cuff should be about 2cm above your elbow to make sure it can detect the artery in your arm, just under the skin.

Keep still and quietwhile you take your reading. Moving, chewing, talking and laughing can affect your reading. Make sure you don’t cross your legs, as this will raise your reading too.

Take two or three readings, each about one to two minutes apart. If your first reading is much higher than the next, ignore it and take an extra reading. Once you have two to three readings, you can work out the average.

Keep a record of your measurements. Record all your readings in the memory of your monitor, on your computer or phone or on paper whichever you prefer. Write them down exactly as they appear on screen.

Before You Measure Your Blood Pressure

• Avoid things that can raise your blood pressure in the short term. Dont measure your blood pressure within half an hour of eating, smoking, drinking caffeinated drinks such as coffee, or exercising. These can all raise your blood pressure temporarily. If you need to use the toilet, go before you measure your blood pressure.
• Wear loose-fitting clothes. Wear a short-sleeved t-shirt or something with sleeves you can push up easily, nothing tight. This is so that you can fit the cuff around your arm.
• Rest for five minutes before you take your reading. Sit down somewhere quiet, ideally at a desk or table. Have your back supported with your arm resting on a firm surface and your feet flat on the floor. Stay in this position while you take your blood pressure.
• Make sure your arm is supported and at the same level as your heart. Position yourself so that your arm is resting on a surface and is at the same height as your heart. Keep your arm and hand relaxed, not tensed.
• Make sure you are relaxed and comfortable. If you are anxious or uncomfortable, your blood pressure will rise temporarily.

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Diagnosing High Or Low Blood Pressure

Only one of your numbers needs to be higher than it should be to be diagnosed with high blood pressure, and only one needs to be lower than it should be to be diagnosed with low blood pressure.

So if your top number is over 140 or the bottom number is over 90, you may be diagnosed with , regardless of the other number. If your top number is under 90 or your bottom number is under 60, you may be diagnosed with . Use the to see where your numbers sit.

If your top number is consistently higher than 140mmHg, but the bottom number is healthy – this is known as Isolated Systolic Hypertension. If the bottom number is consistently higher than 90mmHg but the top number is healthy – this is known as Isolated Diastolic Hypertension.

Making sure your readings arent a one-off

A single high reading doesnt necessarily mean you have high blood pressure, as many things can affect your blood pressure throughout the day, such as the temperature, when you last ate, and if youre feeling stressed.

Your doctor or nurse will probably want to measure your blood pressure a number of times over a few weeks to make sure the reading wasnt just a one off and that your blood pressure stays high over time.

Read about how , getting a , the you might have if you have a high blood pressure reading, and .

Read more

Find out why systolic blood pressure is the most important when it comes to keeping an eye on your numbers.

Get Regular Blood Pressure Checks

If your blood pressure is in the healthy range and you have no other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and no personal or family history of high blood pressure, it is still important to have a check at least every two years. Your doctor can also check your blood pressure during routine visits.

If your blood pressure is highnormal , or if you have other risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as a personal or family history of high blood pressure, stroke or heart attack, it is best to have it checked more frequently such as every 6 to 12 months or as directed by your doctor. Ask your doctor for advice.

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What Is Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring

If a doctor recommends ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, you will need to wear a blood pressure cuff for 24 hours. It’s connected to a small, portable measuring device that automatically measures your blood pressure at set times and records the readings.

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is used, for example, to see whether blood pressure levels vary greatly over the course of the day and night or whether they are constantly elevated. During those 24 hours, you can do all of the usual things you would otherwise do over the course of the day. If you are especially active at certain times, you can make a note in a diary. Then the doctor has a better idea of how to interpret the recorded values when evaluating them.

Salt Intake And High Blood Pressure

Reducing the amount of salt you eat can also help to manage or even avoid high blood pressure. To help reduce your salt intake:

• Ensure your diet consists of wholefoods including vegetables, fruits, wholegrains, lean meat and poultry, fish and seafood, legumes, unsalted nuts and seeds.
• Avoid packaged and processed foods that are high in salt. You cant see the salt in these foods, so you dont know how much salt you are having. Get into the habit of checking food labels.
• Choose low-salt food where possible. If you cant find low-salt products, those with moderate amounts of salt are ok too. Another simple alternative is to look for labels with low salt, salt reduced or no added salt.
• Avoid adding salt to cooking or at the table flavour meals with herbs and spices instead.

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What Do The Numbers Mean

When a healthcare professional takes your blood pressure, its expressed as a measurement with two numbers, one number on top and one on the bottom , like a fraction. For example, 120/80 mm Hg.

Blood pressure is measured in millimeters of mercury. Thats what the mm/Hg stands for. Heres what the numbers mean:

• Your systolic pressure is the pressure of the blood in your arteries when your heart contracts or beats.
• Your diastolic pressure is the pressure of the blood in your arteries between beats, when your heart relaxes.

Both numbers are important in determining the state of your heart health.

Numbers greater than the ideal range may be a sign that your heart is working too hard to pump blood to the rest of your body.

For a normal reading, your blood pressure needs to show:

• a systolic pressure thats above 90 mm Hg and less than 120 mm Hg, and
• a diastolic pressure thats between 60 mm Hg and less than 80 mm Hg

The American Heart Association considers blood pressure to be within the normal range when both your systolic and diastolic numbers are in these ranges.

If youre in the normal range, no medical intervention is needed. However, its important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and moderate weight to help prevent high blood pressure from developing.

You may need to be even more mindful of your lifestyle if high blood pressure runs in your family.

How Do Health Care Professionals Measure My Blood Pressure

First, a health care professional wraps an inflatable cuff around your arm. The health care professional then inflates the cuff, which gently tightens on your arm. The cuff has a gauge on it that will measure your blood pressure.

The health care professional will slowly let air out of the cuff while listening to your pulse with a stethoscope and watching the gauge. This process is quick and painless. If using a digital or automatic blood pressure cuff, the health care professional will not need to use a stethoscope.

The gauge uses a unit of measurement called millimeters of mercury to measure the pressure in your blood vessels.

If you have high blood pressure, talk to your health care team about steps to take to control your blood pressure to lower your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Use this list of questions to ask your health care team pdf icon to help you manage your blood pressure.

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The Definition For What Is Considered High Blood Pressure Has Been Tightened Here’s What You Need To Know

If you didn’t have high blood pressure before, there’s a good chance you do now.

In 2017, new guidelines from the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and nine other health organizations lowered the numbers for the diagnosis of hypertension to 130/80 millimeters of mercury and higher for all adults. The previous guidelines set the threshold at 140/90 mm Hg for people younger than age 65 and 150/80 mm Hg for those ages 65 and older.

This means 70% to 79% of men ages 55 and older are now classified as having hypertension. That includes many men whose blood pressure had previously been considered healthy. Why the change?

Whats Considered Elevated Blood Pressure

Blood pressure numbers that are higher than 120/80 mm Hg are a warning sign. It means you need to pay attention to your blood pressure and focus on heart-healthy habits.

Although these numbers arent technically considered high blood pressure, youve moved out of the normal range. Elevated blood pressure may turn into high blood pressure, which puts you at an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

Elevated blood pressure

When your systolic pressure is between 120 and 129mm Hgand your diastolic pressure is less than 80mm Hg, it means you have elevated blood pressure.

No medications are necessary for elevated blood pressure. But your doctor may talk with you about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, such as getting regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, and managing your weight.

You may receive a diagnosis of stage 1 hypertension if:

• your systolic blood pressure is between 130 and 139 mm Hg, or
• your diastolic blood pressure is between 80 and 89 mm Hg

However, the AHA notes that if you get only one reading this high, you may not truly have stage 1 hypertension. What determines the diagnosis of hypertension at any stage is the average of your blood pressure numbers over a period of time.

Your doctor can help you measure and track your blood pressure to confirm whether its too high.

Stage 1 hypertension

If your systolic blood pressure is 130 to 139 mm Hgor your diastolic blood pressure is 80 to 89 mm Hg, its considered stage 1 hypertension.

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A Word From Mantra Care

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Here at Mantra Care, we have an incredibly skilled team of health care professionals and coaches who will be happy to answer any questions and provide further information so you know whats best for your unique needs.

Why Wrong: Reading Blood Pressure Basics

Blood pressure is usually read when you are in the sitting position. There should be back support if seated.

Blood pressure readings should be taken when the person is relaxed and not right after any stressful events or stressful news.

It should be taken in the upper arm and at the level of the heart.

They should not be talking when the blood pressure is being taken.

Smoking, exercise or drinking caffeinated beverages within 30 minutes before their blood pressure reading can give a wrong reading.

The standard of care is to take the first blood pressure reading. If it is above normal, two more measurements are to be taken. The standard requires the measurements be separated by 2 minutes. Most health care workers do not wait the prerequisite 2 minutes.

If measurements are still elevated, your health care provider should take blood pressure readings from both arms.

An additional measurement may be taken once the patient has been laying, sitting and standing for 2 minutes.

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