"Why is my blood pressure getting less and less accurate?" 4 issues to pay attention to when measuring your blood pressure yourself

A friend with high blood pressure told Huazi that his blood pressure was always inaccurate. When he measured his blood pressure, the value kept fluctuating. Why was this? Huazi asked him if he had been measuring his blood pressure continuously. He answered yes. Huazi said that he had made a "common mistake" that many people with high blood pressure would make.

Many people measure their blood pressure whenever they remember, regardless of time and frequency. If the measured value does not meet their expectations for blood pressure, they will become anxious, which will affect their blood pressure. If they measure it repeatedly at this time, blood pressure fluctuations will occur and the measurement will be inaccurate.

1. Four issues to pay attention to when measuring blood pressure by yourself 1. Do not measure too many times: Each time you measure blood pressure, in order to avoid errors, you can measure it 2 to 3 times at intervals of 2 minutes, and the lowest blood pressure value will be used as the standard. Because the blood pressure measured requires the resting blood pressure value after complete relaxation, if the number of measurements is too many, it will cause anxiety, increase sympathetic nerve activity, and cause blood pressure fluctuations, which will make the measurement inaccurate.

2. Use the cuff correctly: For self-measurement of blood pressure at home, it is recommended to use an upper arm electronic blood pressure monitor, which is easy to use and has high accuracy. The cuff needs to cover 80% of the upper arm. Do not tie it too tight or too loose. After tying it, it should be tight enough to insert a finger. The lower edge of the cuff should be 2 to 3 cm above the elbow. People with thick or thin arms should choose a suitable cuff according to the actual situation. If a standard cuff is used, there will be errors.

3. You cannot measure your nighttime blood pressure by yourself: Some patients also measure their blood pressure when they get up to urinate in the middle of the night to check their nighttime blood pressure, which is not accurate. The so-called nighttime blood pressure refers to the blood pressure measured during sleep using a 24-hour dynamic blood pressure monitor. If you measure it after waking up, it is out of the physiological state of the human body at night and is not considered nighttime blood pressure. Therefore, nighttime blood pressure can only be measured by an automatic blood pressure monitor, or by someone else to help measure it while you sleep, and you cannot measure the accurate value by yourself.

4. Sitting posture is more accurate: When the human body is sitting, the upper arm and the heart are at the same level, which has the least interference with the blood pressure value and is more accurate. Therefore, when measuring blood pressure, you should take a sitting posture.

2. Self-measurement of blood pressure at home is more accurate than that in the hospital. Many people told Huazi that when they measure their blood pressure, they go to community clinics or pharmacies to measure their blood pressure for free. Huazi said that although free measurement is cost-effective, the blood pressure measured in this way is not necessarily accurate. Because one-third of people have "white coat hypertension". In other words, when these people see the doctor's white coat, their blood pressure will rise due to nervousness and they are easily disturbed by the outside world.

Home is the most familiar environment for people, where they can be most relaxed. In fact, the accuracy of blood pressure measured at home is higher than that measured in hospital clinics. However, it should be noted that the blood pressure standard in hospital clinics is 140/90 mmHg, while the reference standard for self-measured blood pressure at home is slightly lower, at 135/85 mmHg. The best blood pressure control target is below 130/80 mmHg.

3. Requirements for measurement time at different treatment stages When you first start taking antihypertensive drugs or when adjusting antihypertensive drugs, blood pressure fluctuates greatly and needs to be measured every day. Usually, two measurements are taken, the first one is in the morning after getting up, emptying the bladder and before eating breakfast, and the second one is at night before going to bed.

It should be noted that it takes a certain amount of time for antihypertensive drugs to reach their optimal efficacy. For example, dihydropyridine drugs take 1 to 2 weeks to achieve their optimal antihypertensive effect, while pril drugs or sartan drugs take 2 to 4 weeks to achieve their optimal antihypertensive effect. Therefore, it is usually necessary to measure and record blood pressure every day for 2 consecutive weeks to obtain more accurate data as a reference for adjusting medication.

Once blood pressure is under stable control, measure it 1 to 2 times a week and keep records.

In summary, people with high blood pressure need to pay attention to monitoring their blood pressure, but they should pay attention to the common problems when self-measuring blood pressure and avoid misunderstandings in order to obtain accurate blood pressure values ​​and better guide antihypertensive treatment. I am pharmacist Huazi, welcome to follow me and share more health knowledge.