Elevated Blood Pressure Program

Hypertension (elevated blood pressure) can be silent in nature because you may not experience symptoms. Over an extended period of time, an elevated blood pressure can have devastating affects on the body including stroke, heart disease, kidney damage, congestive heart failure or heart attack.

However, you may have an increased blood pressure at times due to other reasons. Things that can affect blood pressure readings include caffeine or tobacco use within 30 minutes of a reading, talking during monitoring, or even having a full bladder.

If your blood pressure reading is above 140/90 at your office visit, your provider or nurse may recheck it before you leave. If the reading is still high, you may benefit from our blood pressure clinic where a specially trained nurse will recheck your reading again in a calm and inviting environment. These nurses work with your provider to ensure you have a good understanding of your blood pressure readings, how to take a proper reading at home and how your medications work.

If your provider asks you to keep a blood pressure log at home, please follow these tips to ensure you get an accurate reading every time.

• Check your device’s accuracy (have your provider check the device against a manual reading)
• Empty your bladder prior to taking a reading
• Avoid food, caffeine, tobacco and alcohol 30 minutes prior to taking your blood pressure
• Sit quietly five minutes before and during your reading.
• Do not talk, try to be calm and don’t think about stressful things during the reading
• Make sure your arm is positioned properly (Use the same arm each time and rest it on a table or chair arm at heart level. If you need to, place a pillow or cushion under your arm to get it at heart level.)
• Place the cuff on bare skin (rolling up a sleeve can tighten your arm and cause an incorrect reading)

If you would like to participate in the hypertension program, please contact your SoFHA clinic.