How to Read a Blood Pressure Machine

Keeping track of your blood pressure is essential to maintaining your overall health. Those with high blood pressure are at an elevated risk of heart attack, stroke and other forms of heart disease. By checking your blood pressure daily, you are aware of when your pressure is steadily rising and when you are at risk. It allows your doctor to know whether or not your blood pressure medication is working. Checking your blood pressure daily also serves as motivation for those who are attempting to lower their blood pressure through lifestyle changes. Aneroid monitors, or manual blood pressure machines, are easy to use and easy to read right at home.

Things You'll Need

• Aneroid monitor

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Instructions

• 1

  Rest your arm on a level surface, with the inside of your arm facing upward. Place the diaphragm or flat disk of the stethoscope directly above the crook of your elbow, closer to the outside of your arm. Correct placement of the disk is essential, as you will need to listen for your pulse in order to get a proper reading. You may need to practice a few times before finding the correct spot for the disk.

• 2

  Cover the disk with the pressure cuff and snugly attach the cuff to your arm with the Velcro attachment. Ensure that you are in a quiet place, especially if you are hard of hearing.

• 3

  Place the earpieces of the stethoscope in your ears and pump the cuff by quickly squeezing the attached hand pump. Watch the gauge attached to the cuff. Continue to pump the cuff until you can no longer hear your pulse, usually when the dial points above 200 or 250.

• 4

  Turn the small knob on the top of the pump slowly which will release the pressure of the cuff. You must do this in an extremely slow manner or you risk ruining your reading.

• 5

  Listen carefully and watch the dial on the gauge. When you hear your pulse return, record the number the dial is pointing to. This is your systolic pressure or the pressure your heart is under during contraction.

• 6

  Continue listening to your heart beat and slowly releasing air from the cuff. When your heart beat finally fades, again record the number the dial is pointing to. This is your diastolic pressure or pressure the heart experiences during relaxation.