blood pressure measuring

[Thunderchild]

We have the thing to measure blood pressure, stetscope and the thing you put around your arm with the pump but are unsure as to how it works, anybody able to explain ?
thanks
Simon

[dot.hawkes]

it is foolish and dangerous to use the equipment if you don't know how, leave it alone .

[Thunderchild]

thats why I am asking HOW tommorow the doctor will be consulted but obviously is off today and it is not urgent,

[dot.hawkes]

it is one thing asking how to use it but would you even know what the readings would mean?

[gleaveyweave]

Put the cuff around the top part of your arm so that the red mark is against the inside of your elbow. Plug the cuff into the machine and turn it on. Pump up the cuff to around 140-160 (as tight as is comfortable) and then wait as the cuff slowly deflates and the machine beeps with your reading. When you have the reading, deflate the cuff with the button on the pumper and you're done. Hope this helps!

[sholay]

If you have the stethescop (sp?) then its slightly different to the automatic machine:

Put the cuff around the top of your arm with the cable to the machine running in line with the visible artery inside your elbow.

Put the stethescope underneath the cuff onto your inside elbow over said artery.

Put stethescope in ears. Inflate until you can't hear the pulse. Check measurement. This is the top number.

Release pressure in cuff slowly until you can hear the pulse again. Check measurement. This is the bottom number. ie 120/80, etc.

Its a relatively idiot-proof machine, ie, you can't really damage yourself but like dot says, any medical equipment is not a toy and measurements vary considerablely between people so unless your trained the results wont really mean anything to you. How on earth did you come across it??

[Thunderchild]

they are freely available in italy had it for years, well my grandmother asked me to take her preassure I think she knows what the normal readings should be for her but I was not sure how it worked. I've seen it done by other members of the family but never actually done it myself.

[Dr Hungry]

You can buy them on the internet over here no probs. In general, medical equiptment probably shouldn't be messed around with but blood pressure cuffs are fine. You would have to leave the cuff fully inflated for a bout 10 mins to do any damage, and you'd certainly know about it before that started to happen!

As a rule of thumb, you can add 100 to your age and get the expected systolic pressure (top number). It's good to be able to do it, if your grandmother suffers from hypertension, it can sometimes be useful to be able to take it at home to see if medication is working or if she needs to go and see the doctor.

Sholay's instructions are perfect, although I was taught to feel for the pulse at the elbow instead of listening with the stethpscope as you pump up the cuff. That gives you an idea of where to put your stethoscope which is helpful, and it avoids something called the Auscultatory Gap which can cause erroneous readings. When you stop feeling a pulse, pump it up a little bit more, do up the valve, then put your stethoscope onto the right over where you were feeling the pulse and SLOWLY release the valve. They deflate quite quickly so if you do it too fast, you will miss it.

When the sound of the pulse first appears, that is the systolic (or the top) number. When the sound of the pulse disappears again, that's the diastolic, or bottom number. This is often the more important value as the systolic fluctuates quite a lot, eg when you are stressed about having it taken.

Good luck with it and have fun!

[Thunderchild]

thanks all for your help. anyhow I think we need to take it to the doctor to get it checked for acuracy