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I'm convinced most people take BP wrong. Here's how: Lie down on a bed on your back, and put the cuff on your arm and get the 'button' within reach of your fi

I'm convinced most people take BP wrong. Here's how: Lie down on a bed on your back, and put the cuff on your arm and get the 'button' within reach of your finger to turn it on. Then completely relax (and DO NOT move) with soft music or whatever. Then without moving your body at all, after 10 minutes (at least) push the button to start the pressurization and reading. This gives an accurate reading and is often DRAMATICALLY lower than if you don't do it this way. I was convinced I had super high potentially life-threatening BP until I learned this. Now if you want to see I'm right, get up and walk around some and then sit back down and take another reading. It will be noticeably higher, because your heart starts pumping harder even from minimal movement.

geye1234 2y ago
I don't disagree, but wouldn't the counterargument be that the 120/80 and 140/90 thresholds (or whatever they've redefined hypertension as) apply precisely to sitting rather than lying, and after only a minute's stillness, rather than ten? And also that you spend 16 hours out of 24 not lying down?
epcoa 2y ago
You don’t live your day to day life listening to soft music, lying down ready to doze. If your BP is elevated due to stress throughout the day it’s elevated, you will accumulate the harms. Idealizing conditions also gives a misleading reading. > Now if you want to see I'm right, get up and walk around some and then sit back down and take another reading. This doesn’t prove you’re right, just demonstrates normal physiology. Kind of like saying when you dyno an engine you should do it at idle. That is a valid measurement, just not the one that’s interesting. In a healthy adult you will see a more significant increase in systolic pressure, but mean pressure shouldn’t rise nearly as greatly. What you’re trying to observe is not the minimum ideal (your method) nor the short term maximums but an average of normal activity. There’s a reason why ambulatory BP monitoring is the gold standard for diagnosing hypertension.
- quantadev 2y ago
  If you go to an emergency room and say you've taken your BP and it's high, they'll do basically what I said. Lay you down, let you relax 10 min, and then take a reading. If the reading comes up 120/80 they'll say go home, you're fine, whatever you did to take the BP yourself was wrong. I've seen this happen to someone. That's how I know.
  - epcoa 2y ago
    You are confusing the assessment of an acute condition with a chronic one. There is a huge difference between assessing and treating an acute elevated BP and chronic hypertension. ERs don’t treat or admit to the hospital for chronic hypertension. As I said, you can’t assess chronic hypertension by only evaluating in idealized circumstances, however this is a fine enough way for ruling out hypertensive emergency which is all an ER cares to do. And yes, you want to idealize conditions if you’re considering aggressive emergent treatment protocols that can have serious side effects. Like I said, the best option for evaluating chronic hypertension is 24 hour ambulatory BP (which of course would include quite a bit of resting time) - usually 15 to 30 minute intervals. Why? I think the first two sentences of the prior comment are pretty intuitive. And truth be told if the reading comes up 160/100 they’ll still send you home and tell you to follow-up with your PCP. There are of course other factors (like say having heart failure, symptoms other than headache), but usually it’s BP north of 180/120 where the ER starts getting concerned, and even then you will likely be released for outpatient follow-up +/- some oral medication. In the public, hypertension is primarily a chronic condition and a slow killer. There are only a few circumstances where rapid control of blood pressure is not counterproductive since over time your body compensates while your organs (primarily kidneys, heart, and brain/eyes) slowly worsen in function.
    - quantadev 2y ago
      No I'm not confusing anything with anything else. You've just gotten offended over something -- probably the word "wrong" in my original post, which made you then decide to take it over literally. I think people will get 90% of the way to lowest BP reading simply by being still and silent for 10 mins. I doubt the lying down part is that important. I just originally didn't know that. I'd be doing something active (or just worked out), then decide to take BP and get a high reading. I think you probably assumed every word of my initial post was meant to be an absolute thing, rather than a general idea of the necessity to be relaxed not only during the reading but for several minutes before. Anyone can look that up and find out I'm right.
atahanacar 2y ago
>This gives an accurate reading and is often DRAMATICALLY lower Just because it gives lower results doesn't mean it's more accurate. I can raise my arm during measurement or use a tourniquet above the cuff and get a lower result. That doesn't mean the measurement is accurate at all. There are standardized procedures on how to measure BP. Your "accurate" method is not one of them.
- quantadev 2y ago
  The word "accurate" was the wrong choice of words. The machine itself is always going to be "accurate" if it's working correctly, and cuff is used right. Perhaps "proper" was a better word, since we're not talking about the accuracy of a measurement. Since you'll get a higher readout after exercise, or even moderate daily activities, it's recommended that the person be perfectly relaxed for a few minutes before taking the reading. What I described is just my way of being perfectly relaxed, and what I know for a fact doctors do if they suspect an actual BP problem, and want to "scrutinize" it to find the true lowest resting reading.
rootusrootus 2y ago
I've heard that for some people it's exactly the opposite. Standard procedure, IIRC, is to have the arm resting in a position that puts the cuff right about even with your heart. But some people get really big jumps in BP when supine, and I've heard it suggested that doctors might want to start doing their BP tests in that position because those people may not get diagnosed correctly despite spending a third of every day with high blood pressure.
- quantadev 2y ago
  I think the main point is not necessarily the laying down part, but it's just that you need to be perfectly still for 10 min. Your BP will still be dropping more even after 5 min. This is just how to get the lowest resting reading. Of course others on this thread have balked about whether this lowest readout has value on it's own.

geye1234 2y ago

I don't disagree, but wouldn't the counterargument be that the 120/80 and 140/90 thresholds (or whatever they've redefined hypertension as) apply precisely to sitting rather than lying, and after only a minute's stillness, rather than ten? And also that you spend 16 hours out of 24 not lying down?

epcoa 2y ago

You don’t live your day to day life listening to soft music, lying down ready to doze. If your BP is elevated due to stress throughout the day it’s elevated, you will accumulate the harms. Idealizing conditions also gives a misleading reading. > Now if you want to see I'm right, get up and walk around some and then sit back down and take another reading. This doesn’t prove you’re right, just demonstrates normal physiology. Kind of like saying when you dyno an engine you should do it at idle. That is a valid measurement, just not the one that’s interesting. In a healthy adult you will see a more significant increase in systolic pressure, but mean pressure shouldn’t rise nearly as greatly. What you’re trying to observe is not the minimum ideal (your method) nor the short term maximums but an average of normal activity. There’s a reason why ambulatory BP monitoring is the gold standard for diagnosing hypertension.

quantadev 2y ago
If you go to an emergency room and say you've taken your BP and it's high, they'll do basically what I said. Lay you down, let you relax 10 min, and then take a reading. If the reading comes up 120/80 they'll say go home, you're fine, whatever you did to take the BP yourself was wrong. I've seen this happen to someone. That's how I know.
- epcoa 2y ago
  You are confusing the assessment of an acute condition with a chronic one. There is a huge difference between assessing and treating an acute elevated BP and chronic hypertension. ERs don’t treat or admit to the hospital for chronic hypertension. As I said, you can’t assess chronic hypertension by only evaluating in idealized circumstances, however this is a fine enough way for ruling out hypertensive emergency which is all an ER cares to do. And yes, you want to idealize conditions if you’re considering aggressive emergent treatment protocols that can have serious side effects. Like I said, the best option for evaluating chronic hypertension is 24 hour ambulatory BP (which of course would include quite a bit of resting time) - usually 15 to 30 minute intervals. Why? I think the first two sentences of the prior comment are pretty intuitive. And truth be told if the reading comes up 160/100 they’ll still send you home and tell you to follow-up with your PCP. There are of course other factors (like say having heart failure, symptoms other than headache), but usually it’s BP north of 180/120 where the ER starts getting concerned, and even then you will likely be released for outpatient follow-up +/- some oral medication. In the public, hypertension is primarily a chronic condition and a slow killer. There are only a few circumstances where rapid control of blood pressure is not counterproductive since over time your body compensates while your organs (primarily kidneys, heart, and brain/eyes) slowly worsen in function.
  - quantadev 2y ago
    No I'm not confusing anything with anything else. You've just gotten offended over something -- probably the word "wrong" in my original post, which made you then decide to take it over literally. I think people will get 90% of the way to lowest BP reading simply by being still and silent for 10 mins. I doubt the lying down part is that important. I just originally didn't know that. I'd be doing something active (or just worked out), then decide to take BP and get a high reading. I think you probably assumed every word of my initial post was meant to be an absolute thing, rather than a general idea of the necessity to be relaxed not only during the reading but for several minutes before. Anyone can look that up and find out I'm right.

atahanacar 2y ago

>This gives an accurate reading and is often DRAMATICALLY lower Just because it gives lower results doesn't mean it's more accurate. I can raise my arm during measurement or use a tourniquet above the cuff and get a lower result. That doesn't mean the measurement is accurate at all. There are standardized procedures on how to measure BP. Your "accurate" method is not one of them.

quantadev 2y ago
The word "accurate" was the wrong choice of words. The machine itself is always going to be "accurate" if it's working correctly, and cuff is used right. Perhaps "proper" was a better word, since we're not talking about the accuracy of a measurement. Since you'll get a higher readout after exercise, or even moderate daily activities, it's recommended that the person be perfectly relaxed for a few minutes before taking the reading. What I described is just my way of being perfectly relaxed, and what I know for a fact doctors do if they suspect an actual BP problem, and want to "scrutinize" it to find the true lowest resting reading.

rootusrootus 2y ago

I've heard that for some people it's exactly the opposite. Standard procedure, IIRC, is to have the arm resting in a position that puts the cuff right about even with your heart. But some people get really big jumps in BP when supine, and I've heard it suggested that doctors might want to start doing their BP tests in that position because those people may not get diagnosed correctly despite spending a third of every day with high blood pressure.

quantadev 2y ago
I think the main point is not necessarily the laying down part, but it's just that you need to be perfectly still for 10 min. Your BP will still be dropping more even after 5 min. This is just how to get the lowest resting reading. Of course others on this thread have balked about whether this lowest readout has value on it's own.