I had a doc appointment a couple of weeks ago. My wife was driving and we were running late, so I was getting stressed about missing the appointment on top of being stressed about going to see the doctor. There was a lot of traffic so I decided to get out at a red light and run to my appointment while my wife parked the car. I only barely made it and the first thing they did was take my pressure. They took it twice, because at the first they were like, this can't be right. When I explained, they asked if I had a blood pressure monitor at home so I could take my own pressure at a more quiet moment.
The guidelines for taking blood pressure state you should be sitting quietly for 5 minutes beforehand, something that almost never happens at the doctor's.
A PA explained to me once: they’re taught you have to sneak quietly into a room where the patient has been sitting in the dark listening to soothing music for 15 minutes and take their BP measurement without them noticing. Goals.
You are kidding but having hypertension issues for years, I can confirm you that tension is a highly-dynamic value that can change in few minutes for a lot of reasons. Here the standard toi
I've never been to a doctor where they waited the appropriate amount of time. It's always almost immediately as you sit down. This has caused a lot of problems for me. I learned most insurance companies require a doctor hold you until your blood pressure is "normal" (where normal is < 140/90 for their purposes). This resulted in several times where I was kept in an office with nurses coming in and out every 3 minutes to repeatedly take measurements which simply made it worse.
Blood pressure is highly variable even moment by moment. A single data point at your yearly visit is basically meaningless. Even your posture can shift it. Legs in a different position? Too much tension in one arm over the other? Seated awkward? Have gas? Unfortunately, it's also very difficult to get a 24 hour monitor unless you have another suspected condition (such as kidney problems).
