The little blood pressure machines are great. But they don’t usually tell you what the readings mean. A blood pressure chart that you can understand is the only thing that will really tell you whether or not you need to worry over the readings it is giving you. You have to put it all into perspective to make sense out of it.
OK, so you have two numbers in the reading, a larger one and a smaller one. The larger number is the systolic blood pressure reading, and the lower number is the diastolic blood pressure reading. It doesn’t matter right now what these names mean, but it does matter what the numbers mean.
If the larger number is 120 and the smaller number is 80, then you are perfect, for that is the optimal blood pressure and it should be your target value. The closer you are to those numbers the better. If the larger number is between 120 and 130 with the smaller one between 80 and 85, you’re still just fine.
Here’s where it gets a little more tricky. At 140 for the higher number and 90 for the lower number, you’re still reasonably fine, but be careful. At 150 to 160 and 90 to 100, you have mild hypertension, which is just another word for high blood pressure. If you haven’t seen your doctor yet, you should. But don’t worry – they have great medications to control it.
At 160 to 180 with the lower number around 100 to 110, then you should act and make an appointment with your doctor as soon as you can, for you have moderate hypertension, or high blood pressure. Again though, don’t panic; the medical profession has great medication these days for just this kind of thing.
Readings where, for our simple blood pressure chart, the higher number is over 180 and the lower number is over 110 should be taken seriously. This is severe high blood pressure. You should see your doctor about it as soon as possible. But remember, the medications can treat the condition, so don’t worry too much – you’ll only make things worse.
It’s possible to get special computer software to create a fancy blood pressure chart, or you could get graph paper and create your own chart, based on the readings you get from the blood pressure machines. But you don’t have to go to all that trouble.
The simple chart I have shown you is really all you need to get an idea of where you are. You can, and probably should, follow it up by a visit to your doctor, just to have an expert check you out. It’s easy and painless and it could prevent a lot of trouble later on.
But for now, as long as you’re in one of the safe zones, just carry on using this simple blood pressure chart. It should keep you right. Of course, it goes without saying that you should be relaxed and calm every time you take a blood pressure reading.
If you’ve just come in from a hard jog and you take a reading and check against the blood pressure chart, you will probably raise your blood pressure even higher when you see where you are. So, be sensible and it will serve you well.
