Sometimes your blood pressure goes up but comes back down to normal. Other times, it stays high. When it’s temporary, your blood pressure goes back down to normal. These brief periods of high blood pressure are okay.
Hypertension is when your blood pressure is even when you’re calm. If it’s 130/80 or higher even when you’re relaxed, then it’s high most of the time. When blood pressure stays high, it’s bad for your blood vessels and body.
To figure out if you have hypertension, you need more than one reading on different days.
Why Do You Need More Readings?
Think about your weight. You don’t use one measurement, because sometimes your weight is higher or lower. Maybe you ate a big meal or haven’t used the bathroom in a while. You’ll weigh more, because food and water are heavy. You’ll weigh less if you just used the bathroom and have an empty stomach. This is why people who track their weight will weigh themselves first thing every morning after they go to the bathroom.
Blood pressure works the same way. Some things raise your blood pressure, like talking, stress, and having a full bladder. Your blood pressure will go back down once you’re calm, quiet, and have gone to the bathroom.
Other things can make your reading look higher than it really is. For example, your reading will be higher than your actual blood pressure if you have clothes under the cuff or your arm is lower than your heart. This is like measuring your weight while wearing a heavy jacket.
One Reading is a Photograph
Even if you do everything right, your blood pressure will be a little different between readings. Blood pressure changes throughout the day. Sometimes you know why but other times you don’t. This is why one reading is a snapshot in time. But it doesn’t tell you what your overall blood pressure is.
To figure out what your blood pressure is most of the time, you need multiple readings. More readings help you figure out what’s a temporary change. If you have one that’s high but all the other ones are normal, you know that your blood pressure is normal. The high reading was temporary.
Just like your weight, it helps to take it the same time every day. If you can, you’ll get the best information if you take it in the morning and evening.
Diagnosing Hypertension
Hypertension is when your blood pressure is 130/80 or higher most of the time. This is true whether it’s only the top or bottom number. So, both 138/78 or 128/83 would both be hypertension.
To figure out what your blood pressure is most of the time, you need readings from different days. More readings give you a more accurate picture.
Once you have multiple measurements, you take the average of them. You do this by adding up all the top numbers and divide by how many readings you have. Then do the same for the bottom numbers. Instead, you can use our calculator.
Find Your Overall Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure changes during the day. Use 2 or more readings from different days to see what your blood pressure is most of the time.
This tool finds the average of your readings. Your average shows what your blood pressure is overall.
Enter at least 2 readings to see your result.
