How to check your blood pressure at home, with a digital monitor or by hand

High blood pressure rarely causes symptoms, so a reading is the only way to find out where your blood pressure is. Home checks help because:

• They show your usual blood pressure. Many people get nervous at the clinic and read higher there. This is called white coat hypertension.
• They catch the opposite problem. Some people read normal at the clinic but high at home or at work (masked hypertension).
• They help your doctor decide whether you need treatment and whether it is working.

Home readings don't replace check-ups. For the condition itself, see our high blood pressure guide.

Use an automatic (digital) monitor with a cuff for the upper arm. The WHO advises upper-arm devices that are validated, meaning tested for accuracy against a standard method. Check the box or ask your pharmacist or health center.

Less reliable choices:

• Wrist and finger monitors often give wrong numbers, especially if your hand is not at heart level. Most guidelines don't recommend them.
• Phone apps and smartwatches that show blood pressure are not tested as medical devices.
• Old mercury devices are being phased out worldwide because mercury is toxic.

The cuff size matters as much as the machine. A cuff that is too small reads too high; one that is too large can read too low. Measure around the middle of your bare upper arm with a sewing tape measure. Your arm should fall inside the centimeter range printed on the cuff. If not, get a cuff in your size made for your monitor. "One size fits all" cuffs are less accurate for very thin or very large arms.

Bring your monitor to your next check-up so the nurse can compare it with the clinic's device.

Small things can push your reading up by 10 points (mm Hg, the unit on the screen) or more. Get ready like this:

• For 30 minutes before: no coffee, tea, energy drinks or cola, no smoking or vaping, no exercise and no big meal.
• Go to the toilet first. A full bladder raises the reading.
• Sit on a chair with a backrest, next to a table, in a quiet spot.
• Rest for at least 5 minutes before you start. Ten is even better.
• Back against the chair, feet flat, legs uncrossed.
• Rest your arm on the table so the cuff is level with your heart. A pillow under your arm helps.
• Don't talk or use your phone while resting or measuring.

Just arrived from a hot, rushed commute? Wait until you calm down.

Models differ, so read the leaflet once. The usual steps:

1. Bare your upper arm. A tight sleeve rolled up can squeeze your arm, so take it off instead.
2. Wrap the cuff snugly, with its bottom edge 1 to 2 cm (about a finger's width) above the crease of your elbow. Put the artery mark on the cuff over the inside of your arm.
3. Check the fit: two fingers should slide under the bottom edge, but no more.
4. Rest your arm on the table at heart level.
5. Press start and keep still and quiet. The cuff squeezes hard for a few seconds, then slowly lets go.
6. Write down the top number, the bottom number and the pulse.
7. Wait 1 minute and measure again, still seated. Write that down too.

The first time, check both arms. If one keeps reading higher, use that arm from then on. Tell your doctor if the gap is more than 20 points for the top number or 10 for the bottom.

If you get an error, check the cuff, rest a minute and try again.

The manual method uses a cuff with a hand bulb, a pressure dial (an aneroid sphygmomanometer) and a stethoscope. It needs training and good hearing, so most families do better with a digital monitor. To learn it, ask a nurse at your health center to teach you.

The steps health workers follow:

1. Prepare and sit as for a digital monitor. Wrap the cuff on the bare upper arm.
2. Feel the pulse at the wrist (thumb side). Pump the cuff until the pulse disappears and note the number. Let the air out fully.
3. Place the flat part of the stethoscope on the inside of the elbow, just below the cuff.
4. Close the valve and pump quickly to 20 to 30 points above the number where the wrist pulse disappeared.
5. Open the valve slowly, so the needle falls about 2 to 3 points each second.
6. The number where you first hear two tapping sounds in a row is the top number (systolic).
7. The number where the sounds stop is the bottom number (diastolic).
8. Let all the air out. Write the exact numbers; don't round to the nearest 5 or 10.

Letting the air out too fast, or not pumping high enough, gives a wrong reading. Dial gauges lose accuracy over time; the WHO advises having them checked about every 6 months, or as the maker says. Digital monitors may not read well with an irregular heartbeat such as atrial fibrillation, so a trained health worker may check by hand instead.

Blood pressure is lowest in sleep, rises on waking and is often higher at work than at home. So measure at the same times each day.

When your doctor wants your usual blood pressure, a common plan (from NICE in the UK) is:

• Twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. Before breakfast and before dinner are easy times to remember.
• Two readings each time, 1 minute apart, seated.
• For at least 4 days, ideally 7. Skip the first day, then average the rest.

Your doctor may give you a different plan.

Don't measure again and again because one number worried you; worry itself can push the numbers up.

A written record makes home readings useful. Use a notebook, a printed chart or your monitor's memory. For each reading, write:

• the date and time
• the top and bottom numbers and the pulse
• which arm you used
• when you last took your blood pressure medicine, if you take one
• anything unusual: dizziness, a bad night's sleep (puyat), pain or stress

Bring the log and your monitor to every visit at your health center or YAKAP clinic. Your doctor looks at the average over several days.

You can also go over your readings with our blood pressure coach, ask a nurse or book a call.

A reading such as 128/82 has two numbers. The top one (systolic) is the pressure in your arteries while the heart squeezes; the bottom one (diastolic) is the pressure while it relaxes and refills.

Home readings tend to be a little lower than clinic readings, so the cut-off is lower:

• At home, an average of 135/85 or higher counts as high.
• At the clinic, 140/90 or higher on two different days counts as high.
• Below 90/60 is low. It matters mainly if you have dizziness, blurred vision, weakness or fainting.
• 180/120 or higher is very high. If you also have chest pain, trouble breathing, a severe headache, blurred vision or confusion, get help now (see when to get help now). If you feel fine, sit quietly for a few minutes and measure again. If the repeat is still 180/120 or more, see a doctor today.

A single high number is not a diagnosis. Doctors look at the average over several days. If you are on treatment, your doctor will give you your own target. Never change, skip or add medicine because of one reading: write it down and ask your doctor.

Studies collected by the WHO show how much these can raise the top number:

• Talking during the reading: up to about 19 points
• A full bladder: up to about 33 points
• Smoking in the half hour before: up to about 25 points
• Arm hanging below heart level: up to about 23 points
• Crossed legs: up to about 15 points
• Caffeine shortly before: up to about 14 points
• A cuff that is too small: up to about 11 points

Can you tell your blood pressure by how you feel? A stiff or aching nape (batok), a headache or feeling hot is often blamed on blood pressure. Each of these has many other causes, and most of the time high blood pressure gives no warning at all. Use the monitor instead of guessing, and don't take or skip a medicine because of a sore nape.

You don't need your own monitor to know your numbers. Ask at your barangay health station or rural health unit (RHU), or go to your PhilHealth YAKAP clinic. Under PhilHealth's primary care rules, your clinic records basic health data, including blood pressure, at your first visit of the year (the First Patient Encounter). As of July 2025, PhilHealth says YAKAP services are free at accredited clinics, and a private YAKAP clinic may charge up to ₱900 for the whole year.

In Western Visayas and Cagayan Valley, the DOH's Healthy Hearts Philippines programme, supported by the WHO, uses validated blood pressure devices and a digital registry to follow patients between visits. As of September 2025 it had trained more than 1,400 doctors, nurses and midwives, and barangay health workers bring blood pressure checks closer to communities.

If you have high blood pressure, your YAKAP doctor can also prescribe free medicines from accredited pharmacies, up to ₱20,000 a year. See our PhilHealth YAKAP guide and our annual check-up guide, or use Find care to look up a health center close to home.