Blood pressure refers to the force exerted on the walls of arteries by the blood that circulates inside them. This pressure is mainly caused by the contraction, or pumping, of the heart. Your blood pressure will most likely be measured using a cuff wrapped around your arm, which is then inflated with air. The device then gives two readings in millimeters of mercury, a unit of pressure also written as mm Hg.
Step 1
Learn the results of the blood pressure test you took. You should receive them almost instantly, and they should be indicated as two whole numbers. The usual format you will receive your test results in will be a larger number written above a smaller one.
Step 2
Focus on the larger number written above the smaller one. This number is your current systolic blood pressure or the pressure of your blood on your arteries when your heart beats. Normal systolic blood pressure is less than 120mm Hg. Any systolic blood pressure reading above 140mm Hg is considered high. Schedule an appointment with your doctor immediately if the test results you received were high, or even nearing the 140mm Hg mark.
Step 3
Move on to the smaller of the two numbers. This is your diastolic blood pressure or your blood pressure between heartbeats. A normal reading falls under 80mm Hg while anything higher than 90mm Hg is classified as high. Again, talk to your doctor if your results were higher than 90mm Hg.
Step 4
Pay special attention to your results. Even though they might not qualify as high, they could still be considered to belong in a range called pre-hypertension. This ranges from 120mm Hg to 139mm Hg for systolic blood pressure and from 80mm Hg to 89mm Hg for diastolic blood pressure. If your results fell in those ranges, you are at a higher chance of developing high blood pressure and should talk to your doctor about taking preventative measures to ensure you stay inside normal ranges.
Tips and Warnings
- Make sure you are calm while taking blood pressure tests. Emotions like anger can raise your test results and make them inaccurate.
- High blood pressure can be a serious medical condition. Talk to your doctor immediately if your test results were elevated.
