Inflatable cuffs, otherwise known as blood pressure cuffs are usually wrapped around a person's upper left arm at about the same vertical height as the heart. The blood pressure cuff is manually inflated by squeezing a rubber bulb repeatedly until the body's large artery is totally occluded, which causes a momentary stopping of the blood flow.
Blood pressure cuff and manometer are components making up a blood pressure meter, also known as sphygmomanometer. The inflatable cuff restricts the blood flow and the manometer measures the blood pressure.
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Listening with the stethoscope placed near the brachial artery, the person measuring your blood pressure will slowly release the air in the cuff. As the blood in the artery begins to pulse, it creates a pounding or whooshing sound. The pressure the pressure at which the said sound started or is first heard is your systolic blood pressure. Then, the cuff pressure is will be released until the sound stops. The pressure where the sound was last heard is recorded as your diastolic blood pressure.
Children and adults having smaller-or-larger-than-average-sized arms may require special-sized cuff. They can be obtained on some pharmacies or from medical supplies company. Also, there are some adult-sized inflatable cuffs and none of the said sizes is considered as standard. Mis-cuffing or using blood pressure cuff with a wrong size can significantly cause inaccurate BP readings. Hence, it is important to measure your upper arm's circumference in order for you to know the size of the cuff you need.
Adult or regular cuff are designed for average-sized persons while large adult cuff fits individuals that are plus-sized. For the super-sized persons or mid-sized individuals having big and heavy arms, adult thigh cuff is typically used. Even if the cuff rightly fits your arms, it doesn't mean that it is the right cuff size for you. It is actually not the cuff size that matters but the length and the width of the bladder inside the cuff. You can only say that the cuff is perfect for you if the inflatable bladder found inside it has the right length and width for the size of your arm.
Blood Pressure Cuffs PRESSURE
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