How to measure blood pressure is a common question that often does its rounds among the ones suffering from this life threatening ailment. The most common means is the cuff. Often when you go for a medical checkup, you see the doctor wrapping a kind of thick black pad around the upper arm region. That is the cuff. It is connected to a mercury reservoir beneath a vertical glass tube. The rubber bulb that the doctor uses blows air into the cuff. Thus, the pressure generated within the cuff helps the mercury move inside the column. The mercury level rises when your heart beats and falls when your hearts rests.
There are two digital methods of measuring blood pressure levels as well - the Auscultatory method and the Oscillometric method.
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The Auscultatory method uses a sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope. The doctor usually places an inflatable cuff around the region of upper arm, in such a position that it is vertically of the same height as the heart. Here also, the cuff is tied to a reservoir of mercury. The doctor then manually squeezes the rubber bulb till the time the artery is entirely occluded. The time when the pressure of the cuff is reduced and the flow of the blood is recorded again, is known as systolic pressure. When the pressure further reduces till a point when no sound can be heard is known as diastolic pressure point. It is important to take a record of both the points in order to measure the accurate blood pressure.
The Oscillometric method is functionally similar to the former method. It mostly serves clinical purposes. However, the only difference lies in the fact that this time the mercury reservoir is tied around the wrist and the pressure of the cuff is inflated and released with the help of a pump, which is electrically operated. This method does not require significant skills and the patients can perform the procedure without any professional help.
How to Measure Blood Pressure PRESSURE
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