Blood pressure is the pressure that the blood exerts upon the walls of arteries as it flows through the body. Imbalance of blood pressure can cause health problems. People may suffer from either high blood pressure or low blood pressure. It is important to monitor blood pressure to diagnose potential health problems. Reading the blood pressure measurements determines possible problems. Patients should know the correct technique of how to check blood pressure to monitor it themselves.
Techniques and procedures are available about how to properly check blood pressure. If you know how to check it correctly, you would be able to accurately monitor it. Even some medical professionals do not follow the correct procedures to monitor blood pressure, which may lead to inaccurate readings. Hence, patients should ensure proper procedure to monitor it is followed to get accurate readings.
Monitoring Using a Sphygmomanometer
A sphygmomanometer is an instrument used to measure blood pressure. A sphygmomanometer is also known as the blood pressure meter. The sphygmomanometer device is of two types, a manual sphygmomanometer and a digital sphygmomanometer. A manual sphygmomanometer can be further classified as a mercury sphygmomanometer or an aneroid sphygmomanometer. Apart from a sphygmomanometer, a stethoscope is also used to take readings.
Taking a Reading
- It is best if a reading is taken after resting for at least five minutes.
- A reading should not be taken under stress or after a person has consumed tobacco in the past half hour. It is also not good to take reading after exercise.
- It is recommended that a regular reading be taken in the morning and nighttime for over a week.
- A reading can be also be taken two to three times, one minute apart, while resting in a sitting position.
To monitor the blood pressure and to get an accurate reading, the person should be sitting at the right position. To monitor pressure of the blood accurately, follow these instructions:
- Keep the upper arm at the heart level with proper support. Keep it bare and roll up the sleeve.
- Keep legs uncrossed, with the feet placed on the floor.
- Wrap the blood pressure cuff around the upper arm. Keep it one inch above the bend of the elbow.
- The cuff should be inflated quickly, either by pressing a button or by pumping the bulb.
- Open the cuff valve slightly.
- The pressure falls and a sound is emitted. This sound gets recorded and is called as systolic pressure.
- As the air goes out, the sound disappears, and the point at which it disappears is recorded. This reading is called the diastolic pressure.
This procedure may be performed two to three times to correctly monitor the pressure. Do not inflate the cuff too much or too slowly, otherwise the pressure may not be monitored correctly.
© Newsmax. All rights reserved.