How to Decipher Blood Pressure Readings

Is your blood pressure under control? What do all the numbers represent? Find out more by reading my article.

Things You'll Need

• Standard blood pressure device
• Small notebook to record blood pressure readings

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Instructions

• 1

  Prepare your bare arm to do the reading it doesn't matter much if you use the left or right arm; use the arm that you're more comfortable with and proceed from there.

• 2

  Wrap the cuff around your arm and secure it so it's not loose and yet not so tight that your arm is constricted. Most cuffs secure through the use of a velcro strand.

• 3

  If using an automatic blood pressure device proceed to turn the machine on and sit still until the blood pressure monitor finishes reading your blood pressure. Blood pressure uses two numbers written as 120/80 but what does this all mean. A normal blood pressure reading should be at 120/80 or lower if over 140/90 this indicates that the blood pressure is creeping up at undesired levels. It's very important to regularly check blood pressure readings by a physician, nurse, or other health care provider. Blood pressure needs to be monitored at regular intervals to catch any fluxuations that have developed. But what does the reading mean to put it simply the upper number is called the systolic reading and the lower number is the diastolic reading. The systolic reading dictates measurement of the pressure within your blood vessels as your heart beats; the diastolic measurement dictates the pressure also within your blood vessels but measures them between heartbeats when the heart is resting.