Checking your blood pressure at home is one of the most useful habits you can build if you have — or are at risk of — high blood pressure. Home readings remove the 'white coat' effect, show how your pressure behaves across normal days, and give your pharmacist or GP far better information to work with.
But the monitor matters, and so does technique. Here's how to get both right.
Choose an upper-arm cuff monitor that's been clinically validated — wrist and finger devices are far less reliable. Check the cuff size fits your arm; a too-small cuff reads falsely high. At any of our branches we stock a clinically validated upper-arm monitor for £45 as a one-off cost, and we set it up with you in store so your first readings are done properly.
Sit quietly for five minutes first, feet flat on the floor, back supported. Rest your arm on a table at heart height, cuff on bare skin. Don't talk during the reading. Avoid caffeine, smoking and exercise for 30 minutes beforehand, and empty your bladder.
Take two readings a minute apart, morning and evening, for at least four days (ideally seven) — then average everything except day one. That average is the number that matters, not any single reading.
Home readings run a little lower than clinic ones, so the threshold for high blood pressure at home is an average of 135/85 rather than 140/90. Below 120/75 at home is ideal for most adults. If your average is high — or a single reading is 180/120 or above — bring your numbers to us or your GP promptly; with a diary of readings, decisions get made faster and better.
1 Lyng Lane, West Bromwich B70 7RW · Mon–Fri 8:30am–6pm, Sat 9am–1pm · 0121 500 5756
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