Additional features
As we said earlier, this program not only performs the functions of a tonometer, but also helps determine the pulse rate, test vision and hearing. The last two tests are particularly accurate and come with easy-to-use step-by-step wizards. In addition, the app includes tools for measuring lung capacity, blood oxygen levels, and counting steps taken. Yes, this is quite a multifunctional solution. However, some of his tools do not work very well. So, for measuring steps and checking the overall level of activity, a third-party program - Pedometer - is much better suited.
As a bonus, the application developers have added several ready-made training programs to it.
People prone to frequent fluctuations in blood pressure must keep a device such as a tonometer at home. Since the correctly measured pressure can be used to choose the appropriate treatment method. And if a person becomes ill on the street, at work, in a cafe, what to do in this case, because you cannot always carry a blood pressure monitor with you in your purse. There is a simple method for determining pressure using a regular ruler, thread, ring (paper clip or nut), which is considered quite effective.
How to measure pressure with a ruler
To carry out the procedure, you need to take any ruler, 20 cm of thread and a ring, or even a regular paper clip. To measure blood pressure, you need to sit comfortably on a chair and extend your arm on the table. You don’t even have to take off your clothes, as they don’t interfere with the procedure. You need to place a ruler on your hand so that its beginning is in the elbow bend.
With your other hand you need to take the thread with the weight by the free end, place the pendulum over the ruler without touching it, and draw it along the ruler from the elbow to the wrist. At this moment, breathing should be calm, you should not strain, be distracted, or talk. You need to move the pendulum slowly and smoothly. At a certain segment, the pendulum begins to swing across the ruler. The mark on the ruler where the pendulum began to move is considered the upper pressure mark. For example, the movement began at 11 cm, which means the pressure is 110 units.
Now you need to measure your lower pressure. To do this, the ruler must be placed with the beginning of the divisions towards the wrist, and the pendulum must be moved in the direction from the wrist to the elbow. The lower pressure is determined in the same way as the upper one - movement across the ruler at a certain mark is considered the value of the lower pressure.
Using this method, you can measure the pressure not only of yourself, but also of another person. A person’s standard blood pressure is considered to be 120*80 units, but everyone’s normal blood pressure is different.
What is an electronic tonometer?
Electronic devices are divided into automatic and semi-automatic. Their system works identically, the only difference is that the automatic unit turns on and operates by pumping air using a bulb, and its semi-automatic counterpart - by pressing buttons. In both devices, blood pressure readings are visible on a small monitor.
Semi-automatic devices are more suitable for people whose blood pressure can be measured by relatives, because when pumping air on their own, a person performs physical activity, so the final numbers may not be entirely accurate.
The main feature of the electronic tonometer is that it has a function for storing the numbers of measured blood pressure. In addition, the unit remembers the date and time of the last measurement, and this is quite important for an elderly person.
People who have vision problems can use a special tonometer with a large screen, enlarged numbers and a function for voicing the results of blood pressure measurements. Many devices connect to a computer and make it possible to monitor a loved one’s blood pressure level from a distance.
Today, automatic blood pressure monitors, which have a special cuff to measure blood pressure on the wrist, are very popular. They are widely used among athletes and travelers. But here it is worth considering that atherosclerotic changes begin very early in the vessels of the wrist, so it is recommended to use such a tonometer before the age of 50. In addition, it is forbidden to measure blood pressure in people who have suffered wrist injuries, because the result will be incorrect.
What to do with high blood pressure
It should be remembered that you cannot sharply reduce your blood pressure, so it is not recommended to immediately use strong medications, as they can cause side effects such as dizziness and nausea.
The simplest way is this method - with any finger, press the tragus of the ear and rotate it clockwise now in the first half of the day (until 16 o'clock), if the clock hand has passed 16 o'clock, the rotation should occur counterclockwise.
To safely reduce blood pressure, Corvalol or a mixture of tinctures of hawthorn, motherwort, and valerian are well suited. You can purchase each tincture at a pharmacy and mix them together. Use 1 tsp. mixture by mixing it with 50 ml of water.
How to take measurements correctly?
Before you start measuring, you should know that it is forbidden to drink tea or coffee an hour before measurements. In addition, there is no need to smoke. If the patient does not have any special recommendations from the attending physician, then blood pressure should be measured twice a day before taking medications. It is worth considering the fact that it is recommended to empty the intestines and bladder first.
You need to use the tonometer correctly:
- Start measuring blood pressure only after a short rest. It is enough to remain completely calm for about 5 minutes. If before this a person experienced physical exertion or was worried, then the rest time should be increased to half an hour.
- During the study, it is forbidden to strain muscles, talk and be distracted by extraneous phenomena. All these factors can significantly distort the result.
- If the patient has been in the sun or cold for a long time, then blood pressure must be measured some time after entering the room.
- It is worth measuring blood pressure in a warm and quiet place.
- You need to use only a working electronic blood pressure monitor that runs on alkaline batteries or mains power. It is not recommended to use batteries, as their charge is often not sufficient for accurate measurements.
- The cuff must strictly correspond to the parameters of the shoulder. For a fat person, you should purchase a large cuff.
What helps increase blood pressure
If you don’t have medications at hand, you need to find the seventh vertebra on your back (located in the place where the neck ends and the back begins) and start massaging it clockwise before 16:00, counterclockwise after 16:00.
You can use chocolate to raise your blood pressure, but if you don’t have any at home, a piece of bread sprinkled with salt works great.
It is not recommended to drink coffee to increase blood pressure, as it negatively affects the functioning of the cardiovascular system. Instead of coffee, sweet black tea, tincture of Eleutherococcus, and ginseng are excellent.
If you determine the pressure level in time, it will be easier to choose an adequate first aid method. Correctly measured pressure using a ruler can help in an emergency when there is no tonometer at hand.
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In the 21st century, many things that require a technical approach have become simpler. We no longer need to look for a payphone on the street to call our loved ones. There is no point in wearing a watch - your smartphone has everything. Almost every home has scales (including kitchen electronic ones). Even during repairs, large quantities of measuring instruments are not always needed, since a laser level downloaded as an application to a smartphone would be more accurate. So it has long been possible to measure blood pressure at home – without the presence of doctors. And mechanical blood pressure monitors have been replaced by electronic devices for quite some time now.
But no matter how technically we secure ourselves, we cannot foresee everything. And sometimes the question of how to measure blood pressure at home without a tonometer becomes the most pressing. Is this possible in principle? Of course, alternative methods do not imply ideal accuracy, but they can be useful.
What should a person's pressure be?
First of all, each of us should know our normal blood pressure level. True, in individual episodes its rhythmic frequency may be individual due to the presence of certain factors. These include:
- Age.
- Body type.
- Psycho-emotional state.
- Times of Day.
- Ambient conditions.
- Pregnancy.
- Meteor dependence.
- Poor nutrition.
- Taking certain medications.
- Individual body temperature.
- Pathologies of the urinary system.
- Overwork.
- Hormonal disbalance.
The presence of serious diseases such as hypertension or hypotension also needs to be taken into account. The main clinical picture of these diseases is manifested in sharp jumps in blood pressure, both upward (hypertension) and downward, which is characteristic of hypotonic pathology. Patients with these diseases require constant monitoring of blood pressure levels to timely prevent the development of complications.
In medicine, normal blood pressure is considered to be 120/80, and it is easy to calculate blood pressure using this simple mathematics:
- Systolic level - add your age multiplied by 0.6 to the number 102, add the resulting result with the weight indicator multiplied by 0.1.
- Diastolic level - add your age multiplied by 0.5 to the number 63, and add the total amount with the weight indicator multiplied by 0.15.
However, such calculations provide only an approximate figure for the actual state of blood pressure. Note: a low indicator indicates disturbances in the cardiovascular structure, a high indicator indicates heart pathology.
Today, there are two types of methods that allow you to find out blood pressure parameters without a device:
- High quality.
- Quantitative.
