High blood pressure can cause health damage

  • Hypertension, or high blood pressure, if left untreated can lead to serious medical problems; including heart attack, stroke and kidney damage.
  • May have no symptoms, until it is too late. 

It is important to monitor your blood pressure, especially at home

  • Your blood pressure readings can go up, and then they can go down. 
  • One high blood pressure reading does not mean you have hypertension. But a few normal readings doesn’t mean you don’t. 
  • The most important number to know is your average (usual) blood pressure readings. 
  • The blood pressure reading at your doctor’s (or APRN/PA’s) office once or twice a year is not enough! 
  • It can easily be falsely high (or low) at the doctor’s office. (ex: stuck in traffic, rushed in.)
  • You (and your doctor) need to know more. Check at home!! 

How to check your blood pressure at home

  • Purchase a validated home blood pressure monitor. Omron is a good brand. 
  • Upper arm readings, not wrist or finger.
  • Sit 5 minutes first, don’t check immediately after exercise. 
  • Check morning and evening for a set period of time (usually 2-3 weeks to start).
  • Write the numbers down (or use a tracker app).

What is a good blood pressure number?

  • Normal blood pressure (and treatment target, depending on what expert guidelines you look at) is typically less than 130/85 
  • For much older patients, or special cases, treatment targets may be higher. 
  • If very high (ex: 200/110) and/or with severe symptoms (bad headache, chest pain or possible stroke) most health care providers would recommend you seek emergency medical attention immediately.

What to do with all these numbers? 

  • After a period of time (typically 2-3 weeks) send the blood readings to your doctor.
  • Typically best to send via an electronic health record portal (example: the Epic “MyChart” messaging system – non urgent question request).
  • Type all the numbers into the message.
  • Or send just the average blood pressure (add all the numbers up, then divide by the number of readings).
  • Can also send a jpeg or pdf attachment (if you know how to do this).
  • Or the old fashion way, just call and leave a message with the average blood pressure and number of readings you took.

What’s next?

  • Your doctor may recommend treatment immediately.
  • Medication may be needed, but hypertension can also be treated with “lifestyle modification” such as a heart healthy diet and regular exercise. 
  • Depending on many factors, your doctor may wish to see you sooner in the office. 

Final word

  • High blood pressure can be a silent killer.
  • Blood pressure values in the doctor’s office may or may not be an accurate reflection of your daily average blood pressure.
  • Check your blood pressure at home, and communicate with your health care provider.
  • YOU need to know your blood pressure.

The information listed above is for general education purposes only. It is not intended to be considered as medical advice; either implicitly or explicitly.