Home Blood Pressure Measurement Card (Free Download)

The one page behind Choosing a Home Cuff You Can Actually Trust and Bring Your Own Data - What Your Doctor Cannot See. Tape it next to where you keep the cuff. A reading taken wrong is worse than no reading, this is how to take one you can trust and compare over time.

Before you measure (the 5 minutes that matter)

• Empty your bladder. A full bladder can add several points.
• No coffee, food, exercise, or smoking for 30 minutes beforehand.
• Sit and rest quietly for 5 minutes. No phone, no talking.

How to sit

• Back supported against the chair, feet flat on the floor, legs uncrossed.
• Bare arm resting on a table so the cuff is at heart level.
• Cuff snug on the upper arm, lower edge about an inch above the elbow crease.
• Don't talk during the reading.

What to take

• 2 readings, 1 minute apart, each time.
• Twice a day: morning (before medication and coffee) and evening (before supper).
• Do this for 7 days when you want a true picture. A minimum of 3 days still helps. Some people discard day one.

What to write down

• Record both readings each time (don't keep only the lower one).
• Average all of them at the end of the week. The average is your number, not any single reading.
• Log it in the Blood Pressure Toolkit - BP Log and Ten-Second Shortcut.

Quick reference

• Judge home numbers against home thresholds, not office ones. A home average at or above 130/80 is where stage 1 begins, the same line the office uses. The older 135/85 figure lines up with the older office line of 140/90, so if someone quotes it at you, check which guideline they are working from.
• One high reading is a question, not a verdict. The average over days is what counts.

Where this fits: technique follows the AHA's measurement guidance. Built to feed the Blood Pressure Toolkit - Pre-Visit Summary Template.

Print it. Tape it by the cuff.