Well, last time I had mine taken 'electronically' the nurse said it was so high I had to immediately see a doctor. The doctor used the 'old fashioned' pump method and found I was fine...she said some people just don't get on with the electronic type so don't take the readings as gospel! :neutral_face:

Excellent find

Wow. Good find. Do they work??

Good spot OP, heat added.

Might be this one which has decent reviews at a much higher price:

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/2389994.htm

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salter-Automatic-Blood-Pressure-Monitor/dp/B00N8YGUOA

Think I needed one last night trying to buy anything from the Boots 70% off sale. ...

I have high blood pressure, but when i suggested buying my own monitor as it may be helpful, my own doctor advised against it. She had had people coming in panicking because they had used their own monitor which was telling them they had a problem, when in fact they were perfectly fine.
She told me to come to her regular clinics to have it monitored instead as its far more accurate and i wont be worrying if it goes off while im going up the stairs or something like that.

She also suggested that the wrist worn monitors were particularly inaccurate/difficult to use accurately.

A word of gentle advice - electronic BP monitors vary extensively in their accuracy, reliability, quality and reproducibility of readings.
A good starting point is to pick one listed as being validated for home use by the British Heart Foundation - there's a huge price range in monitors validated by them, including the cheapo (£10) one sold by Lloyds Pharmacy some time back.

http://bhsoc.org/index.php?cID=246

This is not a guarantee that the monitor will always be accurate, but at least an indication that a respected third-party body in the medical field has tested the monitor against the stringent conditions specified in an established testing protocol for accuracy, and found it to conform to tolerances deemed to be acceptable for home use.

They also list a more expensive set of BP monitors which have been validated for clinic use (and I assume against more stringent standards than the home use ones above):

http://bhsoc.org//index.php?cID=247

I've heated this deal as it's a very good price for a BP monitor, however bear in mind it is not in the BHF home use validated list.

The omron one seems accurate. I believe some docs use them. Good for the price this one

Needed for reading the HUKD comments sections.

I need this due to the amount I spend ( cough, save ) on this site lol

These work absolutely fine. They are much more accurate and reliable than conventional ones used by nurses. By taking your blood pressure at home you can reduce white coat syndrome and potentially get a better BP reading than you would in surgery.

Best time to take a reading is when your sitting down relaxed.

Try not to take it soon after:
waking up
drinking coffee
drinking loads of fluid (needing the toilet)
having a large meal
shortly after taking part in physical activity.

I have a different, more expensive monitor and it always reads a lot higher than the reading that the doctor gets. My doctor also has an electronic monitor and if it reads high, he changes to the manual method, which again measures lower.

As mentioned above, my doctor also stated that the monitors that go around your arm rather than your wrist, are more accurate.

Take whatever you buy when you next see your Doctor and do a comparison with whatever he/she uses.

I have a KineTik one and did this and it was within 5 of the Doctor's one.

So it doesn't work then, and its free at the Docs. Best save £7.50 I reckon.

Three KineTik models are in the BHF validated list - your model may be one of those.

You're a fool if you trust electronic readings over a manual reading by a medical professional. I'm a nurse, I use electronic ones daily, much quicker and free's up my hands to do other important stuff for a patient. Electronic ones are great, but checking someones blood pressure manually will always be the best option and the most accurate.

Checking your own BP manually isn't that hard to do either with a bit of practice, just pump up the cuff, feel for a radial pulse, when you can't feel a radial pulse, pump the cuff 20-40 higher, slowly turn the nozzle on the pump, with a stethescope on the skin where your elbow joint is (ACF), you will here 5 thumping sounds as the pressure decreases, the pressure when the first thump is heard is the systolic, the last one you hear is the diastolic pressure. Takes a bit of practice and sadly we hardly ever use it these days, lost skill.

Sure there are some youtube clips that will explain in greater detail. You just need a sphygmomanometer and a stephescope.

I gave heat, as these are still great. But I don't want people to believe the results these give are more accurate than a manual BP check by a Dr, utter rubbish.

edit: saying you're a fool was a bit harsh, just ill informed. If there is any discrepancy in a BP check, a manual one will always be the go to option.

Unless you have been specifically advised to get one by a doctor then please don't buy this. I'm an A&E doc and have seen people turn up just because they have an odd reading (neither an accident nor an emergency (usually)). If you need a period of BP monitoring your GP can arrange this with an outpatient 24hr BP monitor. I see no reason why a member of the general public would need one of these. If you haven't been trained to measure blood pressure manually or how to interpret the results, you do not need this.

...well that's just plain daft! Electronic ones are far too sensitive to give totally accurate readings, to be sure you need the manual type. If you're worried about your BP then go to the docs, you're totally entitled if you pay tax and NI, if you're not worried then don't go. :smiley:

just make sure you don't get too worked up about this deal

Every home should have one.

I just came on to post this deal, good job I searched first! I bought one today and have used it this afternoon. There was 2 left on the shelf in my local Asda. They are over £20 on Amazon