Home › Instruction sheets › Measuring blood pressure at home

For anyone asked to check blood pressure at home, before a visit or while a medicine is being adjusted.

Drawing: An upper-arm blood pressure machine, a chair with a back, a table with the record, and a clock. — An upper-arm blood pressure machine, a chair with a back, a table with the record, and a clock.

Fill in, then print

Fill in what applies and press Print. There is no Submit button, because nothing is sent anywhere: the details only appear on the printed sheet. Leave a field empty to get a blank line for writing by hand.

Patient's name Date Your target: below Bring this record on

Nothing filled in yet. The sheet will print with blank lines.

The WhatsApp button sends the link to this sheet, not the details typed here.

The machine

An automatic machine with a cuff for the upper arm. Wrist and finger machines and smart watches are not accurate enough.
The cuff must fit your arm. A cuff that is too small reads falsely high.
Bring the machine to the clinic once so that it can be checked against ours.

Before each measurement

No tea, coffee, smoking, food or exercise in the last 30 minutes.
Empty your bladder.
Sit quietly for 5 minutes first.

How to sit

Sit on a chair with your back supported and both feet flat on the floor. Do not cross your legs.
Put the cuff on the bare upper arm, not over a sleeve.
Rest the arm on a table so that the cuff is at the level of the heart.
Do not talk or look at your phone during the measurement.
Take two readings, one minute apart. Write both down exactly as shown. Do not round them.

The 7-day record

Measure every morning (before your tablets and before breakfast) and every evening (before dinner and evening tablets), two readings each time, for 7 days before your visit. The doctor ignores day 1 and takes the average of the rest.

The record table is on the printed sheet. Press Print to get it.

Day and date	Morning (before tablets and breakfast)			Evening (before dinner and evening tablets)
Day and date	Reading 1	Reading 2	Pulse	Reading 1	Reading 2	Pulse
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

What the numbers mean

A home average with the top number 135 or more, or the bottom number 85 or more, is high. This matches 140/90 measured in a clinic.
Your doctor sets your own target. For many adults it is below 130/80.
One high reading is not an emergency. The pattern over the week matters.
Use the same arm each time: the one your doctor found to read higher.

If the top number is 180 or more, or the bottom number is 120 or more

With chest pain, breathlessness, weakness of the face, arm or leg, difficulty speaking, severe headache, confusion or loss of vision: this is an emergency. Call 108 at once. Do not wait to measure again.
If you feel well: sit quietly for 5 minutes and measure again. If it is still that high, contact your doctor the same day. Do not take extra tablets on your own.
In pregnancy: 140/90 or more needs your doctor the same day. 160/110 or more needs a hospital now.

Also tell the doctor if

Readings are below 90/60 and you feel dizzy, faint or weak
The machine keeps showing the irregular heartbeat symbol
You feel giddy on standing after a new medicine or a dose change

Questions about this sheet? Call Caspian Healthcare reception on +91 89193 41154. A doctor is on duty at all hours for problems that are not critical. Caspian has no emergency department: in an emergency call 108.

Where this comes from

Prepared by Caspian Healthcare from the sources above. Last reviewed October 2026. General information: your own doctor's written instructions come first.