Posted by Tiberius (Oklahoma) on 11/17/2025
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For years, I failed to take my BP measurements correctly. I thought I was doing it right but, my BP readings would always be higher than they should be and all over the place. So figured I'd make a post for anyone it might help. As it's not as simple/straightforward as it seems, and there are a lot of little things that can cause inaccurate readings.
I always heard, put your feet flat on the ground, sit up straight, and dont move or talk, and sit for about 5 minutes before taking a reading. But I always missed some vital information... The center of the blood pressure cuff should be at heart level and your palm should be facing up. If you have an arm cuff and just leave your arm resting at your side, the cuff is going to be too low, and give you falsely high reading. So, make sure you have your arm elevated to where the cuff is at heart level, your palm is up (this allows muscles to relax in your arm giving you a more accurate and lower reading). Try not to go too high when elevating your arm as it will make reading it falsely low. You want it at heart level, this is vitally important for consistently accurate readings.
You should sit for at least 5 minutes, not talking, and just relax before taking a reading. You should take about 3 readings and wait 5 or 10 minutes between each reading to get an idea of the average.
Make sure the cuff isn't against anything (like resting directly against your body) or laying on anything, it will give you a falsely high reading.
Dont wear tight pants or tight clothes, they will cause you to have a higher reading.
Dont let your feet hang/dangle, and dont sit in a chair that the seat bottom will be cutting into the back of your legs like an office chair that the seat bottom leans/rocks back (it will cause a higher reading).
Dont take a reading while you need to use the bathroom, holding it causes you to have a falsely high reading.
Dont take a reading if you are stressed or angered, unless you want to see how high it gets in those scenarios.
Readings when you are sleep deprived will be significantly higher.
Taking a reading shortly after a warm or hot shower/bath can cause a false reading (higher or lower depending on how warm/hot it is).
Dont take a reading after you've been doing any strenuous physical activity like exercise, best to wait a couple of hours, unless you're just curious how physical activity affects your BP reading.
It's probably worth noting that a doctors office will almost never take a reading properly and you will almost certainly have a higher reading. They march you back to the room, take your weight, sit you down and slap a blood pressure cuff on you immediately, usually dont elevate your arm so that the cuff is heart level, dont let you relax for an accurate baseline, etc. So you probably dont want to learn based on that or take the readings you get in a doctors office too seriously, especially if they don't even seem concerned.
The absolute best time to take a reading to learn your baseline is early morning after you've woke up and haven't had anything to eat or drink.
I always heard, put your feet flat on the ground, sit up straight, and dont move or talk, and sit for about 5 minutes before taking a reading. But I always missed some vital information... The center of the blood pressure cuff should be at heart level and your palm should be facing up. If you have an arm cuff and just leave your arm resting at your side, the cuff is going to be too low, and give you falsely high reading. So, make sure you have your arm elevated to where the cuff is at heart level, your palm is up (this allows muscles to relax in your arm giving you a more accurate and lower reading). Try not to go too high when elevating your arm as it will make reading it falsely low. You want it at heart level, this is vitally important for consistently accurate readings.
You should sit for at least 5 minutes, not talking, and just relax before taking a reading. You should take about 3 readings and wait 5 or 10 minutes between each reading to get an idea of the average.
Make sure the cuff isn't against anything (like resting directly against your body) or laying on anything, it will give you a falsely high reading.
Dont wear tight pants or tight clothes, they will cause you to have a higher reading.
Dont let your feet hang/dangle, and dont sit in a chair that the seat bottom will be cutting into the back of your legs like an office chair that the seat bottom leans/rocks back (it will cause a higher reading).
Dont take a reading while you need to use the bathroom, holding it causes you to have a falsely high reading.
Dont take a reading if you are stressed or angered, unless you want to see how high it gets in those scenarios.
Readings when you are sleep deprived will be significantly higher.
Taking a reading shortly after a warm or hot shower/bath can cause a false reading (higher or lower depending on how warm/hot it is).
Dont take a reading after you've been doing any strenuous physical activity like exercise, best to wait a couple of hours, unless you're just curious how physical activity affects your BP reading.
It's probably worth noting that a doctors office will almost never take a reading properly and you will almost certainly have a higher reading. They march you back to the room, take your weight, sit you down and slap a blood pressure cuff on you immediately, usually dont elevate your arm so that the cuff is heart level, dont let you relax for an accurate baseline, etc. So you probably dont want to learn based on that or take the readings you get in a doctors office too seriously, especially if they don't even seem concerned.
The absolute best time to take a reading to learn your baseline is early morning after you've woke up and haven't had anything to eat or drink.
