Top wide variety (systolic pressure). The first, or upper, variety measures the strain on your arteries when your heart beats.

Bottom wide variety (diastolic strain). The 2d, or decrease, variety measures the pressure to your arteries among beats.

You could have high blood strain for years without any signs and symptoms. Uncontrolled excessive blood stress increases your risk of great fitness troubles, which include coronary heart attack and stroke. Fortunately, excessive blood pressure can be without problems detected. And as soon as  you have got excessive blood strain, you could paintings with your physician to govern it.

Symptoms

Most people with excessive blood pressure haven’t any symptoms or signs and symptoms, even supposing blood strain readings attain dangerously high levels.

A few human beings with excessive blood stress may additionally have headaches, shortness of breath or nosebleeds, but these signs and symptoms and symptoms aren’t specific and commonly don’t occur till excessive blood stress has reached a extreme or existence-threatening degree.

When to look a doctor

You’ll possibly have your blood stress taken as part of a routine physician’s appointment.

Ask your health practitioner for a blood stress analyzing at the least each  years beginning at age 18. If you are age forty or older, or you’re 18 to 39 with a excessive chance of high blood strain, ask your doctor for a blood strain studying every year.

Blood stress typically must be checked in each fingers to decide if there’s a distinction. It’s essential to use the best-sized arm cuff.

Your medical doctor will likely endorse more-frequent readings if you’ve already been recognized with excessive blood strain or have other hazard factors for cardiovascular disease. Children age three and older will typically have blood pressure measured as a part of their yearly checkups.

Hypertension If you don’t regularly see your doctor, you’ll be capable of get a unfastened blood stress screening at a health aid honest or different places in your network. You also can locate machines in a few stores as a way to measure your blood strain for free.

Public blood strain machines, consisting of the ones found in pharmacies, may additionally offer beneficial statistics approximately your blood pressure, but they’ll have a few obstacles. The accuracy of those machines relies upon on several elements, inclusive of a correct cuff length and right use of the machines. Ask your doctor for advice on the use of public blood pressure machines.