Q:
Health Guy, Hello! My father was recently diagnosed with hypertension . In order to facilitate long-term monitoring and management, I bought him a sphygmomanometer . He asked me, when self-testing blood pressure, the values of the left and right arms are different. So, should the left or right sides be based on?
This caused me to ask. I have never paid attention to this question. Please answer: should you measure your blood pressure, should you test your right arm or your left arm?
The blood pressure we usually measure is arterial blood pressure, and arterial blood pressure refers to the aortic pressure (the aorta is the arterial trunk that originates from the left ventricle).
Under normal circumstances, the blood pressure in the right arm is closer to the aortic pressure than the left arm blood pressure. Therefore, it is often recommended to measure the blood pressure of the right upper limb in clinical practice.
Why is the right arm first chosen?
When the right side is in hemiplegia , injury, etc., the measured blood pressure value cannot reflect the real change in blood pressure. In this case, of course, the left arm can only be selected.
But it should be noted that during the first diagnosis, the blood pressure of the upper arms of the left and right should be measured, and the upper arms with the higher blood pressure reading should be used as the measured upper arms.
In addition, it is best for patients with hypertension to choose to measure it at a fixed time every day. The rhythmicity of the blood pressure rise time is different. Patients should conduct self-tests frequently in order to understand the pattern of blood pressure changes. When self-testing blood pressure, pay attention to the following 3 points:
- 81 30 minutes before blood pressure measurement, avoid smoking, alcohol and coffee; it is best not to speak or talk during pressure measurement. When wrapping the arm with a cuff, pay attention to moderate tightness and be able to insert 1 finger.
- When measuring, the middle of the upper arm cuff should be on the same horizontal line as the heart. It is best to place your arms straight on the table to maintain a comfortable position.
