Blood pressure monitors

[Lily the Pink]

I have an old digital blood pressure monitor, but it does not seem to be very consistent. I can get a reading of say 130/72 but if I try again immediately, I might get 120/73. Is this to be expected or is the device faulty (it has new batteries) ?

[Boosted LS1]

I usually go for the second reading. It let's me know I've survived :-)

[rowley birkin]

Let's hope it is the monitor that's faulty...

[loggo]

I would say that kind of variation is fairly typical. Blood pressure is constantly varying. I think if you were sat quietly without distractions and did a few checks which increased then I would be a little concerned

[xx99xx]

I usually take 3 in quick succession and go with the average. Usual rules, relax and sit down for 10 minutes, no caffeine, alcohol etc for a more 'natural' reading.

Then if you were especially bored, repeat the process on the other arm as wild differences between left and right can indicate a circulatory problem.

[randlemarcus]

loggo said:

I would say that kind of variation is fairly typical. Blood pressure is constantly varying. I think if you were sat quietly without distractions and did a few checks which increased then I would be a little concerned

Concerned enough to raise your blood pressure?

[Lily the Pink]

xx99xx said:

I usually take 3 in quick succession and go with the average.

What sort of variation do you typically see across those readings ?

[xx99xx]

Lily the Pink said:

What sort of variation do you typically see across those readings ?

Similar to you. I have a very old (maybe 15 years old) wrist cuff. Whilst I know it's not going to be super accurate it's a useful estimate. It's at least beneficial to monitor any changes from one day to the next.

[Mr Pointy]

Lily the Pink said:

What sort of variation do you typically see across those readings ?

I've just done three readings on my Omron BP monitor over the space of ten minutes & got 120/81, 139/78 & 125/82 which it averages to 128/80.

[Slowboathome]

This is worth a read. Made me more relaxed about variations in readings.....

https://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articl...

[Lily the Pink]

Slowboathome said:

This is worth a read. Made me more relaxed about variations in readings.....

https://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articl...

That's very interesting. Thanks.