How do I measure blood pressure at home?

Here’s how to take your blood pressure at home:

1. Make sure you’re relaxed before taking your blood pressure.
2. Place your arm on a level surface, such as a table, with your palm facing up.
3. Wrap the cuff around your bicep and squeeze the balloon to inflate it.
4. Using the aneroid monitor’s values, inflate the cuff around 20–30 mm Hg higher than your normal blood pressure.
5. If you don’t know what your normal blood pressure is, see your doctor about how much to inflate the cuff.
6. After inflating the cuff, lay the stethoscope flat side down on the inside of your elbow crease, towards the inner part of your arm, where the primary artery of your arm is located.
7. Before using the stethoscope, make sure you can hear correctly with it. You can accomplish this by tapping the stethoscope.
8. A high-quality stethoscope is also beneficial.
9. Deflate the balloon slowly while listening through the stethoscope for the initial “whoosh” of blood flowing. Make a note of or memorize that number. That’s your systolic blood pressure, also known as the upper reading.
10. You’ll hear the blood pulsing, so keep listening and slowly deflate the balloon until the rhythm ceases.
11. Take a measurement when the rhythm ceases. That’s your diastolic blood pressure, also known as the lower reading.