How to Check Blood Pressure

Have you ever heard of a medical term called 'lab coat syndrome'? Well, it is a condition, when a person's blood pressure shoots at the sight of a medical practitioner. Hence, if you are planning to get your blood pressure checked from a medical practitioner, this syndrome can deter you from knowing your correct blood pressure. However, checking your blood pressure is not at all a big deal. You can get the basic equipment for checking blood pressure at any drug store. Newer and advanced methods of blood pressure measuring equipments are easier to use and they give precise blood pressure readings too.

How to Check Blood Pressure With a Sphygmomanometer?
The basic sphygmomanometer kit comes with a stethoscope, a gauge and a cuff. Bend your arm and wrap the soft cuff snugly around it. Make sure you don't wrap it too tightly, as it can obstruct the blood circulation. Start pumping the hand bulb, thereby squeezing the arm. This obstructs the blood flow temporarily. You will find that the pressure gauge reaches its peak value. Now, deflate the cuff, so that the reading on the gauge decreases and the blood flow resumes. As soon as the blood flows through the brachial artery, you can hear the first pulse. It is the systolic or the peak pressure, this is when the heart contracts. The reading recorded when the pulse becomes inaudible, is the diastolic or low blood pressure, when the heart relaxes.

How to Check Blood Pressure With an Electronic Blood Pressure Monitor?
This is the simplest method of measuring the blood pressure. Press the On/Off button, on the digital panel of the electronic monitor. Wait until the 'ready to measure' symbol in the form of a 'heart' flashes on the display panel. Once it does, hit the 'start' button. The cuff automatically inflates until the level of mercury rises up to 180 mm. The blood pressure monitor may automatically detect if you need a higher value. Once it reaches the peak value, the cuff begins to deflate automatically. The digits on the display start dropping. The 'heart' symbol stops flashing, once the measurement is completed. Then the blood pressure readings and the pulse rate flash alternately. Repeat the procedure twice or thrice, with at least 10-15 minutes of interval in between, so as to ensure a normal blood circulation.

Aneroid or Digital Method?
The manual method using a sphygmomanometer is an aneroid method, whereas, the electronic monitor is a digital method to measure blood pressure. The aneroid method is a bit tedious as compared to the digital one. You often have to rely on an assistant to help you measure your blood pressure. The digital method, on the other hand, is very simple to use and gives an accurate reading. But the drawbacks of the digital method are that, the electronic monitors do not come cheap and most have provisions to fit on the left arm only. Moreover, as they are sensitive, even normal body movements or an irregular heart rate is likely to affect its readings.

Check your blood pressure every few days, particularly if you have high blood pressure or if you are above 40 years. Maintain a blood pressure chart by keeping a record of the date on which you checked your blood pressure, as well as the corresponding blood pressure on that day. This will guide you to take the prescribed medications for maintaining a normal blood pressure.