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Publication #FCS8882

 

Healthy Living: Monitoring Your Blood Pressure at Home1

Karla P. Shelnutt2

Do you think that your blood pressure may be too high? Have you been diagnosed with high blood pressure (hypertension)? In either case it is important that you monitor your blood pressure at home as well as getting it checked at the doctor’s office. This can help your doctor determine if you do have high blood pressure or if your treatment plan is working. Read on to learn how to monitor your blood pressure at home.

How to Check

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends an approved automatic cuff-style upper arm monitor to check your blood pressure. Follow these AHA guidelines to ensure an accurate reading:

  1. Make sure the cuff fits.

  2. Don’t smoke, drink caffeinated beverages or exercise within 30 minutes of measuring blood pressure.

  3. Sit with your back straight and supported.

  4. Place your feet flat on the floor.

  5. Support your arm on a flat surface like a table with your upper arm at heart level.

  6. Wrap the cuff around your upper arm.

  7. Take two or three readings one minute apart and record all results.

  8. Take readings at the same time each day.

What do the numbersmean?

You may notice that your blood pressure varies throughout the day. This is normal and is why it is important to take your readings at the same time every day. The AHA has different categories for blood pressure to help you know what your numbers mean:

. 

Category

Systolic

(mm hg)

  

Diastolic (mm Hg)

Normal

<120

and

<80

Prehypertension

120–139

or

80–89

High

      

Stage 1

140–159

or

90–99

Stage 2

≥160

or

≥100

Keep a log of your readings and take it to every doctor visit. This will allow your doctor to keep track of your blood pressure and change your treatment plan if needed. Use the log that follows and make copies as necessary.

. 

Blood Pressure Log

Date

Blood Pressure

Notes

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Footnotes

1.

La versión en español de este documento es Vida Saludable: Monitorsando la presión arterial desde la casa (FCS8882-Span). This document is FCS8882, one in a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, IFAS, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. First published: November 2009. Please visit the EDIS website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

Karla P. Shelnutt, PhD, RD, assistant professor, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension service.

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, Dean.