Blood Pressure

There were a couple of things I did not know about how blood pressure readings should be taken.  A recent trip to my new GP fixed that.  Dr Choo is an elderly GP running an old clinic near SDMC.  I liked him.  He spent hours explaining the nitty-gritties of medical care, which is helpful to an ignoramus like me.  Most GPs just can't wait to get you out of their rooms so that they can move on to the next patient.  Medical ethics is something I've been mulling over since my recent surgery, but that's another story for another day.

A normal diastolic reading ranges between 60 - 80.  Mine was teetering between 40 to 60 which tells you that a blackout is imminent.  Dr Choo laid my concerns to rest.  He told me that the ordinary OMRON SEM-2 you buy off the pharmacy shelves is only as accurate as it gets.  The gadget tries to gauge your reading as best it could.  At my age, my vessels are expected to thicken, thereby making it more cumbersome for any gadgets to get an accurate reading.  (The most accurate reading, according to Dr Choo, can only be taken by inserting an instrument directly into the blood vessel but that is simply not done under ordinary circumstances.)  I was advised to pay more attention to my systolic reading instead.

The BP gadget you bought from any pharmacy shelves is designed to be used on your left hand.  (Something to do with its proximity to your heart, or so I heard.)    It comes with an electronic gadget which is connected to an adjustable cuff through a rubber tube.  The tube enters the cuff at a point marked with a little arrow. The cuff is wrapped around your left arm with its lower edge placed about 2 cm above your elbow.  The little arrow had to be adjusted so that it points at your middle finger.  A sensor inside the cuff (located on the left of this arrow) takes the actual reading on the pulse which is located on your inner arm..

In my case, I had to take the readings on my right hand.  The little arrow had to be adjusted towards my inner arm to point towards the outer edge of my little finger.  That way the sensor is directly above the pulse located on the inner arm of  my right hand.