Reading the numbers
What the readings mean
Plain explanations of the numbers in your diary, why they move, and when a change is worth a phone call.
Blood pressure cuff size chart: measure your arm first
The four adult cuff sizes with their arm circumference ranges, how to measure your own arm, and what a cuff that is too small does to your readings.
Can you check blood pressure without a cuff?
No home method replaces a cuff, and most smartphone measurement techniques have never been validated. What a calibrated camera estimate is, what wrist and finger devices are worth, and what to do today if you have no cuff.
How to check blood pressure at home, and when to take the readings
The routine doctors expect from home readings: which cuff, what to avoid for thirty minutes, how to sit, which arm, what times of day, how many days, and what to do with a high number.
How to keep a blood pressure log your doctor can use
What to write down, how many readings a week needs, why the first day is dropped and how the average is read, with a printable sheet and the app as the two ways to keep it.
Low blood pressure readings: what counts as low and what to write down
Below 90/60 is the line the NHS and the AHA use, and on its own a low reading is usually not a problem. What changes that, what the standing test is for, and what to record.
Normal blood pressure by age, and why the ranges have no age bands
There is no age row to look up: adults are read against one set of ranges. Where age does change the numbers, why age charts exist anyway, and what to use instead.
The pulse number on your blood pressure monitor, and what it tells you
The third number is your heart rate, a separate measurement from the two above it. What a resting pulse of 60 to 100 means, when a slower or faster one matters, and where the pulse belongs in your log.
Which blood pressure number matters more, the top or the bottom
Whichever number is higher decides the range, so 140/70 and 128/92 both sit above the line. What each number measures, when the bottom one is the problem, and which one the doctor reads first.
Which doctor to see for high blood pressure, and what to bring
Start with your usual doctor; a specialist joins for extreme numbers, an unusual cause or treatment that is not working. When 180/120 is an emergency, how the diagnosis is made and what to take to the appointment.
Why blood pressure readings change through the day
Blood pressure is supposed to move: it climbs on waking, sits higher at work and falls lowest in sleep. What moves it in the ten minutes before a reading, why the clinic number differs from yours, and what counts instead.