Blood pressure at home: how to measure it properly
Sit for five minutes, arm at heart height, three readings. The details that change the number.
Dr Priya Halden
GP, founder
Home readings are more useful than clinic ones because you are calmer. They only work if you take them the same way each time.
Before you start
Sit for five minutes. No coffee or exercise for thirty minutes before. Feet flat, back supported, arm resting at heart height.
Taking the reading
Cuff on bare skin, snug but not tight. Take three readings a minute apart and write down the second and third.
What to send us
A week of morning and evening readings, then we look at the average together. One high reading is a reading. A week of them is a pattern.
Related service
Long-term conditions
Diabetes, asthma and blood pressure, reviewed on a schedule so nothing slips.
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Written by
Dr Priya Halden
Priya opened Halden in 2018 with one rule: you see the same clinician every time.
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