Manual and digital sphygmomanometers are readily available in any medical institutions or hospitals and can be easily learned for use. However, taking your own blood pressure measurements is not an alternative for a professional check-up but rather it can alleviate the fear of a possible dilemma in blood pressure. Request a member of the family or a close friend to help in your measurements. Generally, a cuff comes with the sphygmomanometer, wrapped around the upper portion of the arm with the gauge facing outwards.
The stethoscope should be placed on the inside arm of the elbow
where you begin to pump the bulb. The air is released slowly for you to heat the heart beat clearly.
The following steps are the detailed procedure on how to use this device:
• Wrap the cuff just enough around the upper portion of the arm. Be sure to place the device just
beside your arm where you can immediately read the numbers on the monitor. The earpiece of
the stethoscope should now be on your ears to prepare yourself for listening intently.
• Using your fingers, locate the pulse on your brachial artery, on the inside folds of your elbow. It
is approximately an inch away from that fold, a little above the crook.
• After you had place the stethoscope in your ears, place the other flat end at that pulse of the
brachial artery, and be sure to keep it secure before you can start pumping the cuff with air. You
need to be steady so as not to affect reading in whatever way.
• The valve should be tightened while you begin to pump up the bulb of the sphygmomanometer
several times in order for the cuff to be filled with air. Check on the monitor if you had reached
pressure around 180mm.
• After which, gradually release the bulb until the air passes out of the particular puff. Check on
the numbers that are flashed on the blood pressure device.
• The pulse that you first heard on the stethoscope should be noted down and the last pulse
should also be listed down accordingly. The results must be written higher over the lower
number, which represents systolic pressure over diastolic pressure.
• Using this device can use a bit of practice. In order to have a perfect and accurate reading, you
need to learn how to effectively operate this tool.
Useful Reminders
Emotional anxieties, food intake, weather conditions and even pain can alter the results of the
blood pressure reading. Therefore, you need to be comfortable at least 15 minutes before taking
measurements. Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol should be avoided before the procedure. Also, it is would
be best to repeat the procedure twice or thrice with an interval of one minute to eventually reach the
accurate results.
Manual sphygmomanometers are more efficient compared to other similar devices. Even professional
doctors and medical people guarantee the accuracy and dependability of this type of device. Just be able
to use this one properly as instructed.