Blood pressure different between arms

[foodanddrink]

I was at the hospital yesterday and had my BP taken 3 times. The first was the right arm which was slightly low. After 5 - 10 mins I had it taken on the left arm which is much higher than than first one (around 15 points). Third time on the left arm similar measurements to the second one. So there seems to be a difference between arms.

It didn't occur to me until I get home that the measurements were taken on different arms.

Anyone noticed a big difference between arms too?

Doesn’t it relate to whether you are right or left handed.

What do you mean by that?

Forgot to.mention that the readings were taken from 3 different monitors and different nurses.

Just goes to show how much variability there is in these things, why not to worry unless something is consistently bad numbers.

Isn’t it because the aorta goes straight from the heart down the left arm?

My MIL has this and it is due to a narrowing of the veins in her arms.

There were times that my BP were on the low side 95/57 and then there were times they were normal. I'm now wondering was the low readings were from my right arm?

I know BP varies but the big difference worry me a bit.

@StrikingMatches that's what I'm concerned about. Is your MIL on any treatments?

Yes she is she has heart disease, she is diabetic and has TIAs. She takes a multitude of meds but is in her 70s and was a lifelong smoker.

Are you receiving any treatment?

No, I only realised this yesterday and thinking of getting it recheck tomorrow by a nurse. I don't suffer from any ill health so hoping maybe just an error with the monitor.

My dad also had this due to narrowing arteries and I think it can be caused by a dissecting aneurysm. I would go back to doctors.

I bet the dissecting aneurysm thing is quite rare, difficult to diagnose, & trying to treat it is unadvised if not causing actual problems.

Quite normal to have a different blood pressure reading in each arm.

A difference of 15 points or more should be further investigated. It can signify peripheral artery disease which is a risk factor for stroke.

It is worth getting it checked out to put your mind at ease.

I bet OP doesn't have any of these signs of PAD.

Hopefully not

No symptoms at all.

Mayo Clinic says it's only a maybe problem. If you had any of their maybe conditions you would usually have lots of signs of bad health.

I have a friend in bad health & I don't think she'll last > 3 yrs. :( It's blindingly obvious to me but I reckon her family will be shocked. This has happened to me (me seeing the inevitable but others unable to see it) a few times before so I accept that signs of bad health may be difficult for others to see. If you aren't under treatment for many issues, you can't tick my "obvious bad health" box, btw.

I don't get what you're trying to say, @illkk.

I've an ECG done recently and it's all normal. Does that mean no blocked arteries?

I'm saying that if it were me, I would ignore the different BP, in absence of other worriesome symptoms.

The caveat to that is, a lot of people obviously don't have a clue what genuine bad (symptoms) health looks like. So maybe they have to play it safe and always assume the worst.

What you’ve described doesn’t necessarily show different BP in different arms, it shows different BP at different times (ie. right side 10-15mins before the left) & this is mainly normal & is why, when hypertensive people are having their BP checked for monitoring, they’re usually advised to sit & chillax for a bit before getting it done. If you’re really worried about a possible difference between arms then get it checked properly first.

I guess I just need to have it recheck tomorrow for peace of mind.