Home Blood Pressure Monitors

Upper-arm or wrist blood pressure monitors for home use offer convenience, portability, and accuracy. In addition they are quite affordable and easy to operate.

Why You Might Need a Home Blood Pressure Monitor

Home monitoring provides your healthcare professionals with better information to understand and manage your high blood pressure.

The American Heart Association and other medical groups recommend that people with hypertension or suspected high blood pressure routinely monitor themselves.

Because blood pressure monitors are widely available and do not require a prescription or doctors approval, home monitoring of your blood pressure is an easy, inexpensive and excellent step you can take to improve your overall health.

The right home blood pressure monitor varies from person to person, so make sure to check out all the alternatives before choosing the one that is right for you.

Use our easy 7-step selector to narrow down the choices to find the one that best matches your needs and your price range.

Finding the right home blood pressure monitor can be incredibly confusing.  There are so many available now that narrowing you choice down to even a dozen can be a challenge.  For some people price will be the most important factor, for others it will be a specific feature set or possibly the choice can be narrowed down by choosing a particular brand name.

Use the dropdown menu options below to specify exactly what you need, just skip any that you are unsure about or don't care about and then click the "Find" button and you'll be whisked off to a page containing your specified shortlist of home blood pressure monitors.

What is High Blood Pressure?

Blood pressure is the force generated by the blood against the walls of arteries during cardiac contraction and relaxation (e.g., the pumping action of the heart).

High blood pressure is a dangerous condition:

• About one out of three U.S. adults—31.3%—has high blood pressure.
• High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease. Heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in the United States.
• More than one in five (22.4%) people with high blood pressure don't even know that they have it. ^1,2 

Fortunately, high blood pressure can be treated with diet and drugs, if it is detected early.

Home blood pressure monitoring can help people of all ages keep track of their health -- including children and teenagers who have high blood pressure. And you can keep much better handle on your high blood pressure and spot problems easier because you can check your blood pressure anytime you like at home here your are most relaxed. Home and workplace monitoring may also help when the exact opposite occurs -- your blood pressure seems fine at the doctor's office, but is elevated elsewhere.

Even if you are NOT currently diagnosed with high blood pressure, if you have prehypertension, or another condition that could contribute to high blood pressure, such as diabetes or kidney problems, home blood pressure monitoring could help your doctor diagnose high blood pressure earlier than if you have only infrequent blood pressure readings in the doctor's office.

Home Blood Pressure Monitors are Easy to Use

We've all seen the old manual method of checking blood pressure. A doctor or nurse, trained in the procedure, uses a stethoscope along with an inflatable arm cuff connected by a rubber tube to a gauge that records the pressure. Knowing exactly when to check the gauge by listening to the blood flowing in your arm, takes skill and training.

Luckily, today's home blood pressure machines take all of the skilled work -- and guesswork - out of the equation by doing all of the "heavy lifting" for us. All models differ slightly, but you basically, wrap the blood pressure monitor around your upper arm or wrist and turn on the machine. Automatically, the wristband will inflate to the proper pressure, and your systolic and diastolic pressures, as well as your pulse, will appear on the large, easy-to-read digital display.  Then simply consult the included blood pressure charts to learn your optimal pressure.

Many of the digital blood pressure monitors also include a PC interface so you can download and analyze your readings and even send them to your doctor if you like. Some of the newest models (the iHealth Blood Pressure Monitoring System, for instance) even work together with the ihealth app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod.

Choosing the Right Blood Pressure Monitor for You

Before you decide on a blood pressure machine, it's important to know the right technique for checking your own blood pressure and to find a good home blood pressure monitor that fits your needs.

The easiest way to learn to take your own blood pressure readings is to ask your doctor or nurse to teach you. If you have already purchased a home monitor, take it with your and have them show you how to use your blood pressure monitor correctly.

Quality brands to look for and consider when shopping for a home blood pressure monitor include Omron, Microlife, ReliOn, Lifesource, Panasonic.

Remember, always consult your physician for specific information about your blood pressure.

1 National Center for Health Statistics. Health, United States, 2008. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics; 2008.

2 Lloyd-Jones D, Adams RJ, Brown TM, et al. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2010 Update. A Report from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics Subcommittee. Circulation. 2010;121:e1-e170.