Choosing & Using a Home Blood Pressure Monitor, & What to Ask the Doctor
Many of the problems of older adults (including falls) can be related to blood pressure.
Home blood pressure measurements can help:
evaluate for drops in blood pressure with standing (a common cause of dizziness in elders)
check for serious illness, since these often (but not always) cause the blood pressure and pulse to be very different from usual
follow-up on blood pressure after a change in medication, which can help doctors and families figure out the best medication dosing for an older person much faster. This is safer for seniors.
In this post, I’ll share some tips on choosing and using a home BP monitor.
And don’t worry: I won’t tell you that you have to plan on checking every day for the rest of your lives. Although there are times when it’s great to check daily — like the week after a change in medication — the most important thing is to have a good BP monitor at home and know how to use it at least occasionally.
Tips for choosing a home blood pressure monitor
Here are the most important criteria to consider when choosing a BP monitor:
Is it easy to get accurate readings? Accurate and reliable readings are key. To find an accurate BP meter for home:
Get an automatic digital monitor. Although manual cuffs are available, these require more training to use properly.
A good quality digital monitor will usually be more accurate and easier to work with over time.
Choose a monitor with a cuff that measures at the upper arm.
Wrist and finger cuffs tend to give inaccurate readings if the body position isn’t “just-so.”
Pick a BP monitor that has good reviews from Consumer Reports or another reputable non-profit organization.
Plan to bring the BP monitor to the doctor’s office, so that staff can compare the monitor’s reading to their own clinic monitor. This is a good way to check the cuff’s accuracy.
Is the arm cuff properly-sized? It’s absolutely essential to have a cuff that is the right size for the person’s arm. Cuffs are usually available in sizes small, standard, and large.
A cuff that is too small will give readings that are falsely high, while a cuff that is too big will give readings that are falsely low.
According to the Mayo Clinic: “The inflatable part of the blood pressure cuff should cover about 80% of the circumference of your upper arm. The cuff should cover two-thirds of the distance from your elbow to your shoulder.”
To purchase a cuff, start by measuring the older person’s arm around the bicep area, using a cloth measuring tape.
7-9 inches –> small cuff
9-13 inches –> standard cuff
13-17 inches –> large cuff
more than 17 inches –> ask the doctor for help finding an extra-large cuff, or even a “thigh cuff”
Is it easy to log the readings and share with the doctor? Remember, you’ll get a lot more help from a home BP monitor if it’s easy to log the readings and share the information with doctors or nurses when necessary.
Most digital BP monitors will store a certain number of readings in the monitor; some can even store readings for two different people.
But readings stored within the monitor can be hard to share with the doctor, so families often still log the blood pressure readings by hand.
Some BP monitors can connect to your home computer, so that the readings can be downloaded.
Check user reviews to make sure that most people have found this feature easy to use.
Can the older person’s doctor recommend a home BP monitor? Although many doctors aren’t prepared to recommend a specific kind of home BP monitor, some primary care clinics are starting to regularly recommend home BP monitoring. See if your healthcare team can suggest a specific home device that they are used to working with.
Tentabs
TenTabs is a one-stop online shop for all your medical, surgical and laboratory supplies. We ensure access to all of your medical and surgical supplies at your fingertips
Visit : https://tentabs.in/
Many of the problems of older adults (including falls) can be related to blood pressure.
Home blood pressure measurements can help:
evaluate for drops in blood pressure with standing (a common cause of dizziness in elders)
check for serious illness, since these often (but not always) cause the blood pressure and pulse to be very different from usual
follow-up on blood pressure after a change in medication, which can help doctors and families figure out the best medication dosing for an older person much faster. This is safer for seniors.
In this post, I’ll share some tips on choosing and using a home BP monitor.
And don’t worry: I won’t tell you that you have to plan on checking every day for the rest of your lives. Although there are times when it’s great to check daily — like the week after a change in medication — the most important thing is to have a good BP monitor at home and know how to use it at least occasionally.
Tips for choosing a home blood pressure monitor
Here are the most important criteria to consider when choosing a BP monitor:
Is it easy to get accurate readings? Accurate and reliable readings are key. To find an accurate BP meter for home:
Get an automatic digital monitor. Although manual cuffs are available, these require more training to use properly.
A good quality digital monitor will usually be more accurate and easier to work with over time.
Choose a monitor with a cuff that measures at the upper arm.
Wrist and finger cuffs tend to give inaccurate readings if the body position isn’t “just-so.”
Pick a BP monitor that has good reviews from Consumer Reports or another reputable non-profit organization.
Plan to bring the BP monitor to the doctor’s office, so that staff can compare the monitor’s reading to their own clinic monitor. This is a good way to check the cuff’s accuracy.
Is the arm cuff properly-sized? It’s absolutely essential to have a cuff that is the right size for the person’s arm. Cuffs are usually available in sizes small, standard, and large.
A cuff that is too small will give readings that are falsely high, while a cuff that is too big will give readings that are falsely low.
According to the Mayo Clinic: “The inflatable part of the blood pressure cuff should cover about 80% of the circumference of your upper arm. The cuff should cover two-thirds of the distance from your elbow to your shoulder.”
To purchase a cuff, start by measuring the older person’s arm around the bicep area, using a cloth measuring tape.
7-9 inches –> small cuff
9-13 inches –> standard cuff
13-17 inches –> large cuff
more than 17 inches –> ask the doctor for help finding an extra-large cuff, or even a “thigh cuff”
Is it easy to log the readings and share with the doctor? Remember, you’ll get a lot more help from a home BP monitor if it’s easy to log the readings and share the information with doctors or nurses when necessary.
Most digital BP monitors will store a certain number of readings in the monitor; some can even store readings for two different people.
But readings stored within the monitor can be hard to share with the doctor, so families often still log the blood pressure readings by hand.
Some BP monitors can connect to your home computer, so that the readings can be downloaded.
Check user reviews to make sure that most people have found this feature easy to use.
Can the older person’s doctor recommend a home BP monitor? Although many doctors aren’t prepared to recommend a specific kind of home BP monitor, some primary care clinics are starting to regularly recommend home BP monitoring. See if your healthcare team can suggest a specific home device that they are used to working with.
Tentabs
TenTabs is a one-stop online shop for all your medical, surgical and laboratory supplies. We ensure access to all of your medical and surgical supplies at your fingertips
Visit : https://tentabs.in/
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