The Importance of a Correctly Fitting Cuff

Today, we’ll be talking about the importance of correctly fitting blood pressure cuffs. After all, you wouldn’t wear pants that are too tight or too loose, so why would you do the same with your cuff!

What is the relationship between cuff size and accuracy? Let’s take a look.

Blood Pressure Cuff That's Too Small

A cuff that is too tight on your arm may cause your blood pressure to be recorded as high. Inaccurately high readings may frighten you to believe that you have a hypertensive emergency. If real, this may be a life-threatening condition and you should see an emergency medicine provider. So… as mentioned before, tight cuffs can cause inaccurately high readings, and thus correctly fitting cuffs are crucial.

Additionally, inaccurately high readings can lead your healthcare provider to think you have hypertension. They may then prescribe medications that are not necessary or increase the dose of your current medications. Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to take any medicines that I don’t need to be on.

One study showed that cuffs that are too tight led to hypertensive readings in 39% of people who did not truly have hypertension.

Blood Pressure Cuff That's Too Loose

A cuff that is too loose on your arm may cause your BP to be recorded as low. These low readings may mislead you to think that your blood pressure is under control or that you have any condition that causes hypotension. While these conditions frequently present with other symptoms, why take the chance with a poorly fitting cuff!

The same study showed that loose cuffs missed 22% of people who actually have hypertension.

So, just like your clothes… get the size that fits!

Thanks for reading! And Stay healthy!

This is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as medical advice. Disclaimer: Takeoff Health may make a small commission from some of the links above.