How to: Measure Blood Pressure

An introductory video explaining how to manually measure blood pressure. In this video, we are sharing with you the auscultatory method of determining systolic and diastolic arterial pressures. The cuff is placed above the antecubital artery and the cuff is above the upper arm. The stethoscope is placed near the antecubital artery and no sound will be hear when there is enough pressure to close off the artery. When the pressure is slowly released, the sound of blood jetting through the vessel by the vibrations of the wall is called the Korotkoff sounds. The first sound is also the systolic pressure. The diastolic pressure is when a muffled quality occurs. Please note that the sound is often overestimated because sound can still be heard even after deflation of the cuff. This method is not 100% accurate but will give values within the 10% range.

This information was written in the Textbook of Medical Physiology by Guyton and Hall.

**Disclaimer: we are not medical professionals.

[beefnugget]

I literally came here because I was just curious on how to read blood pressure, I'm not a doctor, nurse or in any medical field whatsoever and yet this was so easy to understand. You explained everything so clearly.

Seriously though, medical schools should use your footage for training

[batoolhayat]

All this year in medical school didn’t learn how to check blood pressure the right way and finally his videos just so helpful he goes through every little details thanks 😊

[nursejules-mr]

You seem so relaxed and explain things clearly unlike my teachers. I learned more in this video than in a whole day of class. Thank you for the hope!

[levimartinez]

I don’t know why but this was always something I was confused about. Very helpful video (7 years later) - I was 10 years old when this video came out and now I’m a prospective medical student. Crazy how time flies.

[pillowburger]

Small tip for those that still stumble upon this video. When testing the stethoscope PLEASE do not tap because some are much more capable on picking up sounds and if you tap with them on, then it will definitely hurt your ears. A better way is to just gently rub you finger over it and listen to which side is louder. Which ever side is louder is the side you should use! Hope this helps to those that need it!

[theexos]

For people arguing about the proper pressure to pump the cuff up to. This is a neat trick I learned being an EMT, where all we do is take manual blood pressures. Palpate the patient's radial pulse while pumping the cuff. Once you feel the pulse disappear pump the cuff around 20mmhg more and you will know around where their systolic pressure is. This stops the chance of pumping the cuff too low or too high for your patients.

[lionelmrocki]

A few too many inaccuracies for my liking and many other commenters have picked up on one or two...

1. The part that wraps around the arm is a CUFF. A Cusp is a segment of heart valve, or when your birthdate is close to borderline between two astrological signs(!!)
2. The stethoscope is not turned off or on with rotation. It has 2 sides, each specialised for particular sounds. The "bell" is better for hearing low frequency sounds and the "diaphragm" for higher frequency sounds. For brachial blood pressure, use the diaphragm side.
3. The bell must not be under the cuff. The edge of the diaphragm housing can be. Likewise, don't apply a lot of pressure to hold the stethoscope in place. That can result in inaccurate readings.
4. Open the release valve more gently, letting the air pressure down more slowly to get accurate readings. The needle is moving so far between each pulse in your video, that you'll only get rough readings.
5. Systolic pressure reading is not because of the heart contracting. When the cuff pressure is so high that it squeezes the artery shut, no blood passes to the point where the stethoscope is. As you release the pressure in the cuff, the first sounds indicate that blood is just getting past the cuff for a moment. The heart's maximum output pressure has just exceeded the pressure in the cuff. This happens to occur in early systole.
6. Diastolic pressure is when the cuff pressure has dropped to the lowest pressure that the heart still drives arterial circulation, just before the heart goes into diastole (where the atria begin to refill the ventricles)

[natashaclapp]

Thank you so much for explaining this. In my pre nursing class, I was told that the first beat was the systolic pressure, and the second beat was the diastolic. I was so confused in lab wondering why I was getting 120/110 lol NOW it makes sense. Diastolic is the last heart thump! Awesome! Thank you! 😀

[alex]

Today was my first day volunteering in my local hospital. As soon as I went in, the nurse called me and taught me how to take blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation... I was nervous for my first one, but later I got the hang of it and did many after that- it felt amazing doing that!

[McCormickAnatomyEd]

I just spend like 3 hours trying to take my moms bp, and i couldnt hear jacksquat!
Then i watched the video and notced i had my stethoscope "off", i had no idea those could be " off" !
Thanks a lot for the video, seriously!

[ianmccusker]

Thankfully this is still on YouTube. And millions of thanks for your explanation, on how to take Blood Pressure manually. It’s probably: The nicest - Most simply put - Comprehensive tutorial - I’ve watched; oh yeah, and that includes on any subject matter HaHa..!! Absolutely brilliant - Thank you very much

[thechinadesk]

Thanks for taking it step by step and not skipping over too many points too quickly. Much appreciated!
One of the biggest problems with so many "how to" videos is that the instructor often assumes too much knowledge on the part of the listener. He or she has forgotten what it was like to be a total newbie.
Occasionally it's even worse. The instructor is more interested in showing off than actually helping newbies understand.
One question though. How would one go about taking one's own BP using the same equipment? Any special dos and don'ts?

[FryonMusic]

Marie Wallace, the purpose for going up to 200mm Hg is that it is a starting point for checking blood pressure.

Since you slowly let out air while listening to the brachial artery, you want to allow yourself enough time to hear the first rush of blood through that artery. For some people experiencing hypertension, that first rush of blood may be at 180mm Hg or even higher, which is why the standard starting point is 200mm Hg.

Hope this helps!

[ultramet]

Thank you so much! I walked in on my lab during this practice last night and hated myself for being late. Didn't have a CLUE as to how it was done properly but now I do thanks to the video :)

[elverdad]

Wow, there's an amazing amount of critical comments on here! 

Just wanted to thank you for mentioning about turning the stethoscope "on" and "off".  I found that out the hard way when I was taking my Nursing program.  And when I was asking other Nursing students about it, I found out that ALL the Nursing students I asked, were "faking" their readings.  They didn't know how to take a B.P.  -  I should have clued in when all the Nursing students kept saying my B.P. was 120 / 80.  I thought it was because I was walking everywhere.

Keep up the good work!

:)

[apriltwotwo]

The clearest and simplest video i have ever watched about it. Thank you very much...VERY HELPFUL

[sabaafreen]

Amazing video! My stethoscope was off and I had no idea. It was frustrating for me. I'm so glad to get this problem out of the way. Thank you so much!

[yasminvillanueva]

For many of you saying this was innacurate and had poor technicality I actually found it very easy to learn. He's to the point and easy to understand. I get confused with too much wording and dont learn correctly. This has definitely helped alot thank you! 😊👌

[tylishahogan]

Thank you guys so much for this video! I am soon to be an MA and this answered exactly what I've been looking for! thank you again.

[alexmarrero]

Best instructions I've seen on this topic. Finally we know how to do this.