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January 2015 Moms
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Q:wrist bp monitors

4littlebears4littlebears member
edited November 2014 in January 2015 Moms
Are they as accurate as the upper arm ones? I think I need to buy a new machine and I was looking at some of those. I had some tracers in my eyes, and tried to take my blood pressure right away but got readings all over the place. I've had this now 3 or 4 times this pregnancy.
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Re: Q:wrist bp monitors

  • MusicFanaticMusicFanatic member
    Not for me. At all. I used one before I was hospitalized and was told to check at home. I used a friends wrist one.. I got readings all over.  Apparently, it's more sensitive to body positions and has to be lined up with your heart level.

    If you read mayo clinic on it-

    "Wrist blood pressure monitors are extremely sensitive to body position. To get an accurate reading when taking your blood pressure with a wrist monitor, your arm and wrist must be at heart level. Even then, blood pressure measurements taken at the wrist are usually higher and less accurate than those taken at your arm. That's because the wrist arteries are narrower and not as deep under your skin as those of the forearm."

    Personally, I prefer the upper arm ones.
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    (Zoe Claire- born at 33.6 weeks- November 19, '14 - 5lbs 15oz)
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  • MusicFanaticMusicFanatic member
    saiven said:
    She's the expert ^^^
    hah no!  I just know it didn't work for me. It left too much margin for human error (vs the upper arm) and my readings were just all over. I'm sure they work for some, though. 
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    (Zoe Claire- born at 33.6 weeks- November 19, '14 - 5lbs 15oz)
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  • idontevenknowidontevenknow member
    My main dialysis facility will not use the wrist cuffs on patients (bp is taken every 30 minutes in the hemo setting) because they aren't accurate. Some of my bigger facilities do use them upon patient demands though...

     

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  • 4littlebears4littlebears member
    Thanks ladies!! I haven't had high bp yet this time, but I had pre e with my last so I feel like I need to have one! I will go with the arm one, that's what I have now.
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  • WillCMyInkWillCMyInk member
    I know my Dr's office has used the wrist one every appointment so far except for one where the wrist was reading above the normal range. I will say that toward the end I got into the (bad) habit of taking my BP multiple times back to back with the wrist one and it always varied more than I thought it should.
    Jan15 December Siggy Challenge: Holiday Fails
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    TTC Since 4/13 | Me: 28 DH: 29 | DX: PCOS + High T + Arcuate Uterus (11/13)
    Cycle #1+2 (4/13-6/13): Natural Cycles = BFN | Cycle #3+4 (6/13-11/13): Anovulatory (Provera)
    Cycle #5 (11/13-1/14): Femara + Clomid + Follistim = Cancelled | Cycle #6 (1/14-3/14): Benched
    Cycle #7 (3/14-4/14): Femara + Follistim + Estradiol + Pregnyl + Progesterone
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