Ask a doctor on the topic of General medicine

blood pressure monitor

November 1, 2012 | 15,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Hello,

I am driving myself crazy with measuring my blood pressure. I have two devices for the upper arm, one bought from the pharmacy from Visicor, where I have values of about 100 to 60, sometimes even lower. Then one from Rossmann, cheaper from Sanitas, where the Sys. values are higher by up to 20... Recently measured at the doctor's office, I had 110 to 65. Which one do you think I can trust more?

Because I have driven myself crazy with measuring, I have now taken the devices to the basement so I won't touch them anymore. Now I have a thought creeping into my mind whether it is possible that I have damaged my blood vessels in the upper arm. I have definitely measured about 30 times a day for two weeks and the cuff was pumped up strongly, I have quite thin arms and sometimes it almost hurt, could something have happened to the vessels, that they are somehow damaged now? As I said, the pumping really hurt. Best regards

Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Good morning,

First of all: It's good that you brought the devices to the basement! All measured values are within the normal range, so there is no need to check them. You have only worried yourself unnecessarily. The most accurate measurement is at the doctor's office, not much worse is the one with the upper arm device. Wrist measurements can sometimes deviate by 20 mm Hg. However, you must consider that our blood pressure fluctuates depending on physical and mental demands, it can rise up to 160 during exertion and may drop to 90 in the afternoon, even when you are healthy. That's why everything is in the green for you. You have definitely not damaged your veins, they can withstand much more pressure! You may have irritated your muscles a bit, but they will recover in any case.

Best regards, Dr. Frauke Höllering, Specialist in Internal and General Medicine