Can I mess up my blood pressure readings at home? Thoughts?

Also am I wearing my cuff high enough?

@ehdog

It's too tight if it's making your arm numb before it even starts inflating or if it doesn't wrap around your arm at all.

It's also high enough. There's nothing you've described that suggests you're doing it wrong.

@ashlynnmae

How do you know when it's NOT tight enough when it inflates? The issue is the top doesn't feel right enough

@ehdog

We know it's not tight enough if the machine is consistently giving error messages and if you can comfortably slide your entire finger under the cuff without much effort while it's on at its tightest.

Due to the arm's shape, all arms, and due to the cuff's geometry, it doesn't matter as long as you can get the cuff on and the Velcro to catch. If that happens, and it's not badly askew, or the Velcro keeps peeling itself away, then you're good. The machine goes to a certain pressure, an upper limit, and then bleeds off the air until it begins to detect the systolic pressure. That's your systolic, and it continues to bleed off air until it can't detect your diastolic pressure...those beats. Those are your numbers...period.

The cuff does have to be worn in a certain position, though....it matters. The literature will describe where to put the 'arrow', which way the arrow should face (usually toward the wrist), and there's a sign indicating where the sensor is. The sensor should be over the brachial artery. This means the spot where they say to place the sensor, or place the 'line'....whatever the instrument YOU have says is the sensing spot, at the base of the bicep muscle. Not near the elbow...not THAT base, but the bottom edge of the elongated muscle. If you do an arm flex, and feel along the bony are of your upper arm, just below that bunched up muscle...that's where the sensor should be.

You might take it with you to your next doctor's appointment and have the help

I would talk with your doctor about getting a larger blood pressure cough. They do have many different sizes and I think depending on your medical insurance they might be covered and you need to go to a medical store. As I have trouble because they keep wanting to use this very big one fat and cardiology told me an adult long for me, but I am sure you need the next size up.
I wish you the best because I don’t know where you live and you can check Amazon and see if they have a longer cough. I’ll talk to your doctor first.

@ehdog

No. First off you should be able to slip 2 fingers under the cuff in the front. In your case maybe not 2 if they are fat. It should not be tight.
#2 The front of the cuff should be about an inch from the crease in your elbow. You have it too low.
#3. The air tube coming from the cuff should point to the middle finger of your hand. If there is a mark then this should point to the middle finger. There is a doohickey in the cuff that cuts off the blood flow by squeezing on the artery. As the pessure is relaxed the point at which blood starts to flow is your systolic number. When the artery is fully open that gives you your diastolic number.

I do not know if cuffs are interchangeable among/between brands.

If you have enough adipose padding that the device can't properly minipulate your artery at the elbow you might consider a wearable device or a wrist unit.

Great question, @ehdog. I particularly love it because of fantastic timing with my own nurse visit to review how I am taking my blood pressure (bp) at home.

Everyone is bringing up good thoughts to consider. My thoughts go to the root of why you are asking. My doctor recently recommended medication changes, wanted me to bring my home machine in and visit with a nurse for education and make sure my home readings are accurate. The nurse watched me put on the cuff and take my own bp. Then, she took a series of readings alternating between her machine and mine. She determined my machine is accurate, I know how to take my readings properly and helped me understand parameters as to when I would need to contact my doctor. Now I am all set to manage my bp and my doctor knows readings I pass on to her are reliable. I suspect this may eliminate the needs to see my doctor in the clinic should I notice changes.

I guess I give you details of my recent experience to add into the mix of the good recommendations you are reading from others, to encourage you to run your questions by your doctor, maybe request the same type of appointment. It is making things less stressful here because I know my doctor will find the readings I take as reliable and I know when to contact her.

Do you have a specific schedule, or reason you are monitoring your blood pressure? Do you have a range that is “safe” for you?