Question about blood pressure machines?
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Regarding BP and automated BP machines:
1. The cuff size may be too large/too small for you, resulting in an inaccurate reading. Most BP machines have standard adult cuffs.
2. If you do not position your arm correctly (with the artery over the "sensor"), the result will be inaccurate.
3. Automated BP machines usually have a sign saying "this information is not intended for diagnostic purposes; see your physician." or similar wording.
4. Blood pressure can vary as much as 20mm Hg (top and bottom) in less than a minute.
5. "Normal" blood pressure varies greatly among individuals under 18. Normal blood pressure in adolescents (I am assuming you are under 18!) is often calculated by age and height. For a highly technical table of this, see http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hype...
6. Hypertension in adults is generally defined as systolic (top number) over 140 or diastolic (bottom number) over 90. Prehypertensive BP is considered 121-139/81-89. However, BP readings in this range for one day does NOT make you at risk for hypertension. BP must be consistently in this range for a period of time for you to be considered hypertensive.
Bottom line? You probably have no cause for worry. (Worrying, by the way, raises your blood pressure!) If you have other health problems, such as being overweight, kidney disease, or diabetes, or if you are on medications, you might want to talk to your physician if you feel you have high blood pressure.
manual is always the better way to go, those machines at the drug stores are notorious for not being accurate. By the way, a blood pressure of 130 or greater is still diagnosed at hypertension.
Manual is always better. All electronics can be inaccurate. Whenever I have to call the doctor for one of my patients, he specifically wants manual blood pressure & heart rate.
The best way to measure your blood pressure is at the doctor's office.
When you are at WalMart, you are out in the open and distracted with lots of people. And you are also in a cramped position. As you saw, the blood pressure dropped as you measured it... possibly because you were getting less anxious.
This could happen for many reasons... Maybe the machine needed to be serviced, or maybe the cuff was too large, too small who knows. Most hospitals use digital machines now so I don't think the machine results differ too much from the manual results.
The machines at stores are usually way off. they are not calibrated on a regular basis. You are better off going to a doctor and getting a base line when you get your annual physical.
I personally believe that the purchase of a digital home blood pressure cuff is a great investment. A good device, with appropriately sized cuff, can be had for around $50 (ask your pharmacist for a recommendation). If you take your BP in the morning, before the stresses, medications, drugs, etc. of daily life are added, it is often quite stable. Take it while sitting in a chair with your feet flat on the floor. Wait to rest for a few minutes first.
If you are concerned with the accuracy of your home unit, take it with you to the doctor's office to compare with their readings. (My doctor's office actually uses a unit very similar to what I see in the drug stores.)
After a few days of readings, you can get a sense of your baseline BP. If systolic stays up around 130, you might want to consider some of the simple things you can do to keep it down. Limiting sodium intake (really easy), losing weight, quitting smoking, increasing potassium intake, etc. all may help. (There is a list about a mile long...)
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