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How often should you check your blood pressure at home?
There is no single number of times a day that fits everybody. How often you should measure depends on why you are measuring: to bring your doctor a picture, to see whether a change is working, or out of worry. The three call for different answers.
If your doctor asked you for a record
The usual request is twice a day, morning and evening, for one or two weeks before the appointment, with two readings a minute apart each time. Ask your doctor what they want: their request beats any general rule, including this page.
If you are watching a change
After a change in medicine or in habits, a steady routine for a few weeks shows more than scattered readings. Same hours, same arm, same chair.
If you are measuring out of worry
Measuring many times a day tends to feed the worry rather than calm it: readings move on their own through the day, and a high one at a bad moment leads to another measurement, and another. Agree on a routine with your doctor and keep to it.
What makes the readings worth something
Sit five minutes before, feet flat, back supported, arm at heart height, no coffee or tobacco in the previous half hour, and empty bladder. Write the time and what was going on.
Questions
Should I measure before or after my medicine?
Whatever your doctor asked for, and always write down which one it was. The two are not comparable.
What if one reading comes out high?
Wait a few minutes and measure again, sitting and calm. If it stays high over several days, that is for your doctor. If it is very high and you feel chest pain, shortness of breath or weakness, that is an emergency: call your local emergency number.
Is it better in the morning or at night?
Both, if you can: many people get different numbers at each end of the day, and that difference is itself information for your doctor.
Sistola is a record-keeping app. It is not a medical device, it does not measure blood pressure and it does not diagnose or treat any condition. Always consult your doctor.