Mistakes during BP measurement

Measuring blood pressure (BP) is quite easy and with a simple demonstration, a non-medical person can measure anyone's blood pressure. Courtesy to the digital blood pressure machine, a person can measure his/her own BP (although there is debate regarding the accuracy of a digital machine) too. No need to go to a doctor, nurse or hospital to measure the blood pressure. But do you know that some silly mistakes can alter your blood pressure? Some easy-to-avoid conditions may affect the actual measurement and show a high BP! In this post, we will learn 7 such mistakes!

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Here are the 7 mistakes!

Chitchat during measuring your blood pressure:

Do you talk or gossip with the doctor at the time of BP measurement? You should stop doing that. Complete silence, for the time being, is essential.

Presence of clothes in the arm:

The shirtsleeve or other clothes shouldn’t be kept in between the arm and cuff of the BP machine. The cuff should be in direct contact with the skin.

Not keeping the arm in the heart level:

If you put your arm above or below the level of heart, the measurement won't be accurate. In either sitting or lying position, the arm should be kept on the arm level.

Poor posture:

Your back should be supported with/without a chair and it should be straight. If it is unsupported or bending forward (to the manometer kept on the table), the result may vary.

Sitting with crossed leg:

If you are habituated sitting with your crossed leg, refrain yourself from doing that for the time being. Keep your feet flat on the ground or on a footstool.

Wrong sized cuff:

There is the various size of cuff available in the market; child-size, L size, XL size etc. Choose one which fits best in your arm.

Full urinary bladder:

If your bladder is full, go to the toilet at first before sitting for measuring the blood pressure. You may be very good at controlling your urge but your BP doesn't. It might go up!

Additional:

How many points it may go up for every mistake? 

You will find here https://wb.md/2QsqTuW

Enjoy the visual presentation

Source: The video above