With the popularization and improvement of scientific and cultural knowledge, many hypertensive patients have realized the importance of controlling their blood pressure. Since blood pressure fluctuates all the time, it is often difficult for hospital blood pressure measurements alone to reflect the usual level of blood pressure at rest. Therefore, doctors are now encouraging hypertensive patients to measure their own blood pressure at home. However, in the hypertension clinic, we often hear people complaining that their sphygmomanometers are not accurate or that the nurses do not measure correctly. In fact, this is a lack of understanding of the production and measurement of blood pressure. There are many factors that affect blood pressure. The so-called blood pressure is the blood through the heart beat on the large blood vessels side pressure, from the theory that a heart beat to form a blood pressure. Since the heartbeat is always increasing or decreasing due to neurological and endocrine changes, the blood pressure also fluctuates frequently. In addition, there is a slight difference in blood vessels between the two arms. Therefore, measurements may also be inconsistent from one arm to the other. Some people have normal blood pressure at home, but when they are in the hospital, their blood pressure rises unconsciously, which is called “clinic hypertension” or the “white coat effect” in medicine. If medication is administered according to the results of measurements taken in the hospital, it may be too low or result in a waste of medication. Therefore, medical experts now advocate that patients measure their own blood pressure at home every day. 1, to buy a blood pressure monitor. There are many different types of sphygmomanometers on the market today, such as automatic and semi-automatic sphygmomanometers, as well as mercury column sphygmomanometers. Generally speaking, as long as you carefully follow the instructions, most of them are still relatively accurate. The main point of operation is that the inflatable capsule in the cuff should be fixed 2-3 centimeters above the elbow joint, close to the inside of the body, with a palpable brachial artery pulsation below. Each measurement should be fixed on the same side of the arm to the side with the higher blood pressure. In the case of wrist sphygmomanometers, the airbag should be placed on the wrist on the palm side of the hand, not on the wrist on the back of the hand. If the mercury column sphygmomanometer is inflated manually, it is best to ask someone else to give you a measurement, because you need to exert yourself to pump, which can easily cause the blood pressure to rise and affect the measurement results. 2. Time of measurement. The blood pressure of human body fluctuates at any time with physiological conditions such as exercise or sleep. Each person’s blood pressure changes differently. Generally, it is highest in the morning and lowest at night, and some people can rise again in the evening to form a small peak. Therefore, at the beginning of the day should be measured several times, after the blood pressure control is normal, can be measured once a day in the morning and once in the evening. 3. Measurement method. Measurement should be done in sitting position or lying down after 5-15 minutes of quiet rest. Sitting position measurement arm should be naturally forward, the sphygmomanometer and the heart position, not hard upward arm; arm clothing can not be too much, it is best to measure only in a shirt outside the sleeve. Simply pulling up the sleeve of a thicker coat will not work, because the shoulder sleeve is stuck too tightly, which will compress the blood vessels and make the measurement results low; at the same time, the shoulder sleeve is too much, which is bound to affect the position of the cuff compression and make the measurement fail. Usually, a fully automatic sphygmomanometer will automatically display three numbers. The first number is the systolic pressure, which is often referred to as high pressure; the second number is the diastolic pressure, which is also referred to as low pressure. The legal unit of measurement of pressure is kilopascal (Kp), but the customary blood pressure with millimeters of mercury (mmHg) that, at present, both can be used, 1Kp = 7.5mmHg. customary notation: systolic blood pressure / diastolic blood pressure mmHg.; the third figure is the heart rate. The unit of heart rate is the number of heart beats per minute (times/minute), in the automatic blood pressure monitor is based on the measured pulse interval and deduced, each measurement is only counted for more than ten seconds, so the accuracy is low, only as a reference. Formal measurement of blood pressure can generally be taken three times. The first time, because the instrument and the body have a process of adaptation, the figures may differ greatly, so you can not care about it. The second and third measurements should be closer. Because blood pressure often changes with heartbeat and blood vessel elasticity, three measurements may yield three different values, which is normal and not a problem with your sphygmomanometer. The average of the second and third blood pressure measurements can be recorded as the blood pressure at that time. If you still have doubts, you can take the sphygmomanometer to the hospital for control measurements. 4. Normal range of blood pressure. According to the new standards set by the World Health Organization and China in 2004, regardless of gender and age, normal blood pressure should be controlled below 140/90 mmHg (millimeters of mercury); if there are complications such as diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease and cardiac insufficiency, the blood pressure should be controlled below 125/85 mmHg; there are some elderly people who have simply increased systolic blood pressure, which is more than 140 mmHg, and diastolic blood pressure, which is not high, is called systolic blood pressure, which is below 90 mmHg. 90 mm Hg or less, known as systolic hypertension, should also be treated with antihypertensive therapy. After taking medication, systolic blood pressure falls at the same time, diastolic blood pressure also falls, which do not have to worry about, as long as there is no dizziness, dizziness and other symptoms, diastolic blood pressure, even if it falls to 65 mm Hg is also safe. 5. Record carefully. Record your feeling and blood pressure as well as the medication you take every day, and go to a regular hospital or doctor for review and consultation regularly. According to your condition and climate change, adjust the treatment program appropriately.