Blog
Practical notes on keeping a blood pressure log that is actually useful — less paperwork, clearer appointments, no medical advice.
Pulse rate on a blood pressure monitor: what the third number means
The third number on most home monitors is your pulse in beats per minute. How the cuff picks it up, the AHA's 60 to 100 resting range, and why a watch may disagree.
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Validated blood pressure monitors: how to check if yours is one
Find the exact model, search validatebp.org, STRIDE BP or your country's list, then have a clinician compare it with clinic equipment yearly. What validation covers.
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How to use a wrist blood pressure monitor correctly
How to use a wrist blood pressure monitor: where the cuff goes, why heart level matters, the steps in order, common mistakes, and how accurate wrist readings are.
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How to use a pulse oximeter and read the SpO2 and pulse rate
How to use a pulse oximeter: warm hand, no nail polish, keep still, wait for one steady number. Which figure is SpO2, which is pulse rate, and what skews a reading.
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How to take blood pressure manually with a cuff and stethoscope
How to take blood pressure manually with a cuff and stethoscope: find systolic by feel, release at 2 mmHg per second, read the Korotkoff sounds and record the result.
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How to calculate average blood pressure and MAP (worked example)
Average the systolic and diastolic readings separately, never together. A worked week of home readings, the MAP and pulse pressure formulas, and a spreadsheet trap.
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Can you check blood pressure without a cuff or monitor?
No. Your pulse gives heart rate, not pressure, and cuffless apps and watches are not recommended for diagnosis. What each method measures and where to get a reading.
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Apple Watch blood pressure: what the watch can and cannot tell you
No Apple Watch measures blood pressure. How Apple's hypertension notification works, how accurate it is, which watches measure or estimate it, and what to log next.
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How to keep a blood pressure and blood sugar log on one sheet
Seven columns for a blood pressure and blood sugar log, the timing labels that make a glucose number readable, a mg/dL to mmol/L table, and appointment tips.
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How to make a blood pressure log in Excel or Google Sheets
Set up a blood pressure log in Excel or Google Sheets: the columns, formulas for morning and evening averages, a line chart, and dates that never swap day and month.
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Why is my blood pressure higher at the doctor's than at home?
White coat and masked hypertension explained, why the home threshold is 135/85 while the clinic threshold is 140/90, and what a week of home readings can show that one appointment cannot.
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How many blood pressure readings a day, and how do you average them?
The seven-day home protocol guidelines actually ask for: two readings a sitting, morning and evening, first day discarded, and the rest averaged. Plus what to do when you miss a day.
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What do the symbols and error codes on a blood pressure monitor mean?
The heart, the irregular-heartbeat icon, the coloured bar, the A/B user letters and the E-codes, explained in plain language, plus which of them belong in your log.
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Why is my blood pressure different in each arm?
A small gap between arms is normal. A systolic difference of 10 mmHg or more is a recognised risk marker, and it decides which arm you should use for every reading from then on.
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Is your blood pressure cuff the right size?
The wrong cuff can shift a home reading by nearly 20 mmHg. How to measure your arm, which size that means, and why one spare cuff fixes more bad readings than a new monitor.
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What do the two blood pressure numbers mean?
Systolic over diastolic, explained in plain language, with the category chart, which number matters more at your age, and when one reading is an emergency.
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Normal blood pressure by age and gender: the chart, explained
Average readings by age band, the targets that do not change with age, and how to tell whether your own numbers are normal, elevated or high.
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The best time to take your blood pressure, and how to take it correctly at home
Morning and evening, before medication, two readings a minute apart for seven days. The timing guidelines agree on, the 10 steps that make a home reading valid, and how often to repeat it.
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Why did my scan misread my blood pressure monitor? (And how to photograph it better)
Seven-segment displays are genuinely hard for software to read. Here is why a scan can get a digit wrong, how to spot it, and how to take a photo that reads cleanly.
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What to bring to a blood pressure appointment
A short, practical checklist — the log format that helps, the questions worth writing down, and what not to bother with.
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How to keep a blood pressure log your doctor will actually use
The format clinicians want, when to take readings, what to write down, and how to hand it over without retyping a thing.
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