Investing in a blood pressure machine that can be used at home is a great step in taking charge of your health and well being. Additionally it is an ideal way to keep track of your blood pressure levels on a daily basis allowing you to record your measurements for yourself and for your medical professional. This helps your doctor better manage your meds to provide you the very best treatment. The two main types of blood pressure machines you can work with at home - aneriod monitors (also called manual monitors) and electronic monitors. Each of these machines vary in how you operate them so here are user guidelines for each machine.
Aneriod Machines
1) Aneroid machines mandate that you listen to your heart beat with a stethoscope. So the starting point is to put the ear pieces of the stethoscope into your ears.
2) The disk at the opposite end of the stethoscope needs to be affixed to the inside of the elbow in the fold.
3) Wrap the cuff over the upper left arm, level with your heart.
4) The cuff needs to be inflated manually with an aneriod blood pressure device using the hand pump (bulb). The bulb really needs to be squeezed rapidly and repetitively until the reading surpasses your previous systolic measurement by approx. thirty to forty points.
5) At this point the valve can be slightly loosened to let a little air out of the cuff at a rate of approximately 2-3 mmps. When the cuff deflates more quickly than this the reading won't be precise.
6) As the cuff is deflating you will begin to hear your heart thumping. It is important to be aware of the very first sound of your heartrate since this is the moment that you have to take note of the number on the dial. This number is your systolic blood pressure reading.
7) As the cuff continues to deflate you will notice via the stethoscope that your heartbeat will stop. This is your second indication to take note of the dial reading. This result is your diastolic reading... and your done!
8) If you want to take a second checking it is recommended to wait at least three minutes before re-inflating the cuff.
Digital Monitors
1) Place the cuff of the digital blood pressure machine around your upper left arm and turn the piece of equipment on.
2) Depending on the model the cuff will either inflate automatically or need to be inflated manually with a hand pump in the same way an aneriod machine needs to be inflated.
3) The cuff will begin to deflate slowly and automatically for all digital monitors at which point you can obtain the reading from the digital monitor.
4) You are now finished so you can press a button on the piece of equipment that will let all the air out of the cuff.
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