If you want to check your blood pressure at home, you will need a blood pressure monitor. These monitors are not of necessity very expensive and are within the budget of most households. There are in essence two kinds of home monitor: aneroid and digital.
The aneroid monitor has a dial-type gauge and you read off your blood pressure figures from that. It also has a cuff, which you wrap around your arm and which you inflate with a rubber bulb. The digital monitors also use a cuff, but it can be manually or automatically blown up. The results are read from a small screen. The choice is yours, but most people prefer the automatic digital device.
An aneroid home monitor is portable and necessitates neither batteries nor electricity so is somewhat cheaper than the digital version. It also has a stethoscope built into the cuff for simple monitoring. A problem could arise in raucous surroundings or if the user is hard of hearing. Someone with arthritic hands or fingers may have problems squeezing the bulb as well.
Digital monitors are dearer, yet they are more popular too despite that, because they can be completely automatic. The screen is also easier to read and some units come with a small printer to produce a physical record of your readings. Other digital home monitors have a memory.
The one I use has three memories of thirty slots each so that you can compare records for a month. Having three memories means that you can monitor and record readings for three separate people or three distinct time slots for one person over the period of a month. If you go for three time slots they could be morning, noon and night, as blood pressures vary during the day.
Whichever sort of monitor you opt for, make certain that the cuff is the correct size for you. Be especially careful if you have very substantial or very thin arms. Check the age range for the device as well. Mine says for use only on individuals more than 18 years, but does not say why.
If electricity or batteries is ever likely to be a a problem, then the automatic digital home monitor may not be for you, although you might be able to fix it up to photovoltaic cells and exploit the sun's rays.
Neither of these devices are difficult to use, when you know how, so make certain that the instruction book does not seem as if it was translated by machine. It is of course very important to know how to take accurate readings and how to interpret them. In order to check the accuracy of your machine it is worth taking it with on your next visit to your medical doctor.
You can check your readings against those of his sphygmomanometer, which is considered the gold standard of blood monitoring devices. Your GP will also be able to tell you what your systolic and diastolic pressures ought to be.
