Regularly testing your blood pressure at home can help:
- confirm the accuracy of blood pressure readings taken at your doctor's office
- show how well your treatment is working
- keep you motivated to stay on track with your treatment program
Many people feel nervous when they visit the doctor's office. This can affect blood pressure readings, making them higher than they normally would be. This is known as white coat hypertension. It affects about 20% of people diagnosed with high blood pressure. That's only 1 out of 5 people - so don't assume you have this problem just because you have high blood pressure. No one wants to have high blood pressure, and since you can't feel it, it's easy to assume the readings are wrong. Don't mess around with high blood pressure. You can find out if you have white coat hypertension by monitoring your blood pressure at home between office visits.
Monitoring your own blood pressure can also help you tell how well your treatment is working. Seeing your blood pressure improve on a regular basis can help motivate you to keep taking your medicine and stay on track with healthy lifestyle changes.