After your visit
Home Blood Pressure: Measure Carefully and Keep a Useful Log
A blood-pressure log is most useful when measurements are taken consistently. Record the actual numbers rather than labeling a reading “good” or “bad.” Ask your clinician how often to measure and what readings should trigger a call for your situation.
What to do next
- Use a validated upper-arm monitor with a cuff that fits. Ask your care team to check your technique and device.
- Avoid smoking, caffeine, and exercise for 30 minutes beforehand. Empty your bladder and rest quietly for at least five minutes.
- Sit with your back supported and feet flat. Place the cuff on bare skin with your arm supported at heart level; do not talk.
- Take two readings one minute apart and record both, with the date and time. Follow your clinician’s monitoring schedule.
When to contact your care team
If either number is above 180 systolic or 120 diastolic without symptoms, wait at least one minute and recheck; if still very high, contact a clinician immediately. With chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness, trouble speaking, or vision change, call 911 immediately. Do not stop blood-pressure medicine based on a home reading.
Put it into practice
Bring the log and monitor to follow-up. Report unusual readings as well as typical ones; leaving out high numbers makes the record less helpful. If a measurement failed, mark it as missing rather than inventing a value.
Notes for your next visit
Write these in your own notes or on a printed copy. Bring them to your follow-up.
- Date/time and both readings:
- Symptoms or anything unusual during measurement:
- My clinician’s call threshold and contact number:
Sources and further reading
General education for adults. Follow your clinician’s individual plan and the current instructions for your prescribed product. If instructions conflict, ask your clinician or pharmacist to clarify. For a medical emergency, call 911.