Dismiss Modal

Management

Step-by-Step: Checking Your Blood Pressure

Choose a preferred language

Sit down and rest for five minutes. Place your forearm on a flat surface with the palm of your hand facing up. Make sure you are wearing a sleeveless shirt or roll your sleeves up. Pull the blood pressure cuff up over your bicep. Tighten the blood pressure cuff around your arm. Turn the blood pressure monitor on. Press the start button on the blood pressure monitor. Read the systolic millimeters of mercury and diastolic millimeters of mercury levels on the monitor. Record both numbers onto a sheet of paper. Sit down and rest for one minute. Repeat steps two through eight, one more time.

Featured in

Author: Wu, Derek

© 2000-2025 The StayWell Company, LLC. All rights reserved. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical care. Always follow your healthcare professional's instructions.

Find a cardiac specialist

Because every beat matters, our cardiac doctors are dedicated to providing care like no other can.

Browse heart doctors

Related Articles
Read article
Heart Health
Patient Stories: Ronnie, Being Diagnosed with Heart Failure

This video is a patient story about Ronnie, who lives with heart failure.

Read article
Heart Health
Changing Your PICC Line Dressings

Watch how and when to safely change and throw away soiled dressings, and how to recognize signs of infection at the insertion site.

Read article
Heart Health
Answers to Common Concerns About Getting a Heart Rhythm Device

Watch this to learn answers to common concerns about getting a heart rhythm device.

Read article
Heart Health
Living With Your Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter

Watch these tips to keeping your long-term PICC line infection-free and in good working order, and how to recognize infections and serious health complications.