Knowing your blood pressure is extremely important and can be measured at home, the doctor’s office, pharmacies and even the grocery store!
It can be helpful to know how the test is performed:
• Your arm should be fully supported - with your upper arm at heart level, back supported and your feet flat on the floor.
• You or a healthcare provider will wrap the blood pressure securely around the upper part of the arm. For an accurate reading, it is important to know that the lower edge of the cuff should be about 1 inch above the bend of your elbow.
• The valve of the cuff should be open slightly, allowing the pressure to slowly fall.
• As the pressure begins to fall, the reading should start when the pulsing is first heard - this is the systolic pressure.
• As the air continues to be let out of the cuff, the sounds will disappear and is recorded - this is the diastolic pressure.
There are many factors that can cause a false reading such as: inflating the cuff too slow or not high enough, loosening the valve, taking blood pressure under stress or after you have consumed caffeine or used tobacco products within 30 minutes of taking your blood pressure.
Now that you know how the blood pressure reading works, you can start browsing our online store of trendy sphygmomanometer’s!