WASHINGTON (AP) - Getting a proper blood-pressure measurement depends on more than just what machine your doctor's office or hospital uses. Harried health workers often don't follow national guidelines to perform the checks properly.
Here are some tips to ensure you get a good measurement:
The first time you see a new doctor, have blood pressure checked in both arms, says Dr. Clarence Grim of the Medical College of Wisconsin. Certain conditions leave blood pressure normal in one arm but high in the other; the arm with the highest pressure should be the one routinely checked.
People with no history of blood pressure problems or other diseases should have a good blood-pressure exam once a year; others may need it more often.
Sit quietly for five minutes before the check. Sit in a chair with feet touching the floor -- not on an exam table with feet dangling -- and have the arm being used bare around the cuff site, says Dr. Ed Roccella of the National Institutes of Health.
The best exams involve inflating the cuff and reading blood pressure three times, Grim says. People with big arms need bigger cuffs, so ask if yours seems small.
Health workers are supposed to deflate the cuff at a pace of 2 millimeters a second, so count. For the average person, that will take anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute. If it seems too fast, ask for a recheck, Grim says.
If a reading is unusually high or low, it's supposed to be checked again with another cuff if it remains suspicious, Roccella says. Electronic cuffs in particular are supposed to be double-checked with manual ones on suspicious readings.
