Blood Pressure Monitors – What type to get

Transcript

When you go to the doctor’s office, a lot of y’all get nervous and that level of anxiety can result in something called white coat hypertension, meaning your blood pressure is actually normal, but when you see me, you get anxious and you raise it. The best way to see how your blood pressure is actually doing is to check it at home. What blood pressure monitor to buy? Now I’m seeing blood pressure monitors vary in range from anywhere from $20 to over a hundred dollars. I would opt for the mid range around 40 to $50 to get a decent quality. I prefer the monitors that check blood pressure in the upper arm, rather than the wrist. They’re kind of closer to the heart. So they may get a better, accurate reading. Also, if you’re tech savvy, I would opt for the ones that are Bluetooth or WiFi enabled. That way they can connect to your phone and record the readings. Now, if you already have one for a few years, you may want to consider getting a new one every two to three years. You got to remember, these are just consumer products. They’re not hospital grade, so their accuracy can deteriorate. If you want to make sure your blood pressure monitor is actually working correctly, you can bring it to your doctor’s office and compare it to their machine. And this should be done probably on an annual basis just to make sure it is actually accurate.