Keeping your blood pressure in check at home - Karen Hourtovenko

Blood pressure monitoring is not just for our health care practitioner to do — we can do it, too. It is important for each of us to take responsibility of taking care of our health, and blood pressure monitoring should be on our list, especially if you are on blood pressure medication, or if at risk for high blood pressure.

Let’s face it, most think that if we feel OK, we don’t have to do anything for ourselves. Actually, if you have high blood pressure, then it is recommended by the Canadian Hypertension Society that you have and use a blood pressure monitor at home.

We know the more often our blood pressure is elevated, the higher our risk for heart disease. The blood pressure measurement taken in your health care practitioner’s office is only one result and may not actually represent what your true blood pressure is. So to take charge of your blood pressure, it is important to measure it at home, and often.

It is important to buy a monitor that is an approved home monitor, which is accurate and easy to use. The Canadian Hypertension Society has a website that has an up-to-date list of approved devices for you to choose from. The monitor will be marked Canadian Hypertension Society approved (www.hypertension.ca). You can expect to pay around $100 for a monitor that will properly measure your pressure. But, you get what you pay for.

If you are not sure if your monitor is correct, take it along with you on your next visit to your health care practitioner.

The physician, nurse practitioner or nurse will determine if it is calibrated properly by comparing it to their professional device.

It is important to know how to properly monitor your blood pressure.

To start, it is important that you are sitting down and resting for five minutes before taking the measurement. If you are rushing around then sit down to take your reading, it may be abnormally high, so take a rest before you start.

Wear a short sleeve shirt. Make sure when you place the cuff on your bicep area, it is about three centimetres above your elbow. Make sure the cuff is snug, but not too tight. Ensure there is one finger space between the cuff and your arm. Rest your arm on a table, straight and at the level of your heart, with your feet on the floor.

It is also important to restrict caffeine and exercise one hour before taking a reading. Check your blood pressure at different times of the day, such as in the morning, mid-afternoon and evening.

Record each measurement and take your results to you health care practitioner.

You should also take your blood pressure when you are not feeling well, such as dizziness, weakness, headache or when you are generally unwell. It is important to document how you feel as this information is important to your health care practitioner in determining your treatment plan. Hypertension is known as the silent killer because one can have an elevated blood pressure for years, causing damage to the eyes, arteries and veins, kidneys, heart, and brain.

According to the Canadian Hypertension Society, more than 40 per cent of people with high blood pressure do not even know they have it.

So why wouldn’t you want to take care of yourself? By monitoring your blood pressure, you can potentially prevent a catastrophic event in your life. Get a monitor today.

Karen Hourtovenko, RN(EC), is a health and wellness consultant from Sudbury who writes columns about healthy living for Northern Life.