Blood Pressure Monitors

Have you purchased a monitor for determining blood pressure at home? If you are not aware of how to use a blood pressure monitor, then this post guides you through the procedure.

Procedure to Determine Blood Pressure

• You will need a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope before starting the job. The first thing you need to do is to remove any thick clothes like sweater, coat, etc from the patient’s arms. A normal shirt will not affect the reading in any way.

• Now, wrap the cuff around the biceps; arrows on the cuff indicate the correct method to wrap it.

• Once this is wrapped, place the stethoscope under the inner crease of elbow joints just inside the fore-arm. The cuffed arm should be placed at the heart level. Now, insert the stethoscope into your ears.

• Close the screw valve at the pressure dial’s end; this builds up air in the cuff as you press the pressure ball.

• Monitor the dial as you press the ball. A common doubt that most people get is about the amount of pressure build-up required. For this, you will also have to monitor the patient’s radial pulse and increase the pressure till the radial pulse disappears. At this instant, fill the cuff with extra 20mm Hg.

• Once the required pressure builds up, open the valve very slowly and simultaneously monitor the gauge closely as the needle drops downwards. You will also need to listen to the beats heard in the stethoscope. The first blood pressure reading is the needle reading when the heart beat starts. When the heart beat stops, the corresponding reading is the second one.

Now that you have learnt how to use a blood pressure monitor, it just needs some practice to become perfect.