1. You May Not Know Anything Is Wrong
With hypertension, you may not experience any symptoms at all. Many people with high blood pressure don't realize there's a problem until after they visit their physician. Due to the lack of symptoms, hypertension's often considered "the silent killer." At times, you may have high blood pressure symptoms, but your symptoms may seem mild. A few hypertension symptoms include changes in vision, nausea, headache and dizziness. Unless you get your blood pressure checked, you may associate these symptoms with another disorder.
2. Put on the Cuffs
To know whether or not you have hypertension, you'll need to have your blood pressure measured. This is done with a blood pressure cuff. If you're not due for a doctor's checkup, you can measure your blood pressure on your own. Many pharmacies and grocery stores have blood pressure cuffs available for public use. You can also purchase a blood pressure monitor for home use. When you're going to measure your blood pressure, put the cuff around your arm. After operating the machine, you'll inflate the cuff and feel it tighten around your arm. The device will measure your blood pressure at that time and then give you a reading. You'll get two numbers returned to you: the systolic pressure's the top number and the diastolic pressure appears at the bottom. The systolic pressure reflects the pressure present when the heart pumps while diastolic pressure shows the amount of pressure when the heart's resting between beats. If the top number measures more than 140 mm Hg or the bottom comes back higher than 90 mm Hg, then you may have hypertension.
3. Doctor Confirmed Hypertension
If you suspect you're suffering from hypertension, you should make an appointment to confirm diagnosis with your doctor. To diagnose hypertension, your doctor will first take your blood pressure reading. If the numbers come back high, he'll likely want to order further testing. These tests are used to see if your body has suffered any damage from your high blood pressure. You'll first get a blood test to measure your cholesterol level and screen for any possible kidney damage. Your doctor's main concern will involve any damage to your heart. You may get an electrocardiogram or an echocardiogram to see how well your heart's working. An electrocardiogram measures the electrical activity of your heart while an echocardiogram takes an ultrasound picture of the heart. After confirming diagnosis with these tests and assessing damage, your doctor will decide on the best course of treatment for your hypertension.
