I have undoubtedly had my blood pressure taken hundreds of times in my life. Considering I've been to dozens of doctors in my life, been hospitalized or in the ER multiple times, this has really added up. It's not something I ever minded. I mean, who cares about having their blood pressure taken?
However, during a recent hospitalization I experienced the most painful blood pressure cuff of my life.
I had my pressure taken about three times a day. An automatic cuff was used and no matter what arm was used, it was killer on my upper arm and my hand was tingling all over by the time it finished.
I have relatively small girly arms, so I usually have the problem of cuffs not getting tight enough. I've never experienced anything quite like this. I would try to really meditate and relax myself prior to the vitals being taken because if my SBP was higher than 130, they had to take it again.
I finally asked a nurse why the blood pressure cuff hurt so much. She said hospital cuffs always hurt more. Wha?
The BP cuff in L&D actually broke blood vessels and left me with red streaks up and down my arm.
ReplyDeleteI've read nurse rants complaining about the patients who complain about the tight cuffs. So I guess we're supposed to just suck it up.
However, I suspect the engineer who designed those things was a sadist.
M
Did the same to me. I still have broken blood vessels on my chest & upper arms, more so on the left side.
DeleteI-had-my-blood-preaurre-taken-at-the-emergency-room-at-thr-local-hospital.I've-been-in-horrible-pain-that-has-worsened-over-the-past-year.-the-lack-of-feeling-came-back-to-my-had-and-two-finger-however,-the-pain-in-my-right-arm-where-the-cuff-was-does-not-stop-hurting.stephen
DeleteOuch. The nurses should have their BP taken with the automated cuffs to see how it really feels!
ReplyDeleteOr just rock it old school and take the damn thing manually. That's what I do. Though, to be fair, many of my patients are in A.fib/flutter and the machines can't ever read off that properly.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem is that they inflate SO MUCH MORE than a human nurse usually would. I mean, the nurse or doctor at my usual practice knows me and my usual is ~125/75, so they will take it to about 180 mmHg and go from there but a machine just will. not. Try 240! Once you *start* with painful restriction it takes a while to compensate, too, so half the time if I'm not warned to expect it, it would have to do it AGAIN because I squirmed. That was always great.
ReplyDeleteAt a few places I've been to, the automatic BP cuffs have actually hurt, though not enough to make my hands tingle THAT bad. But I've had students use my arm for practice and they never even came close to making me feel uncomfortable
ReplyDeleteUsually you can set the auto-cuffs as to how high they inflate on the first go-round; i suspect it is just efficient to have the all of the cuffs set to a super-high default to capture all of the hospitalized patients who have super-high blood pressures. If it's set too low on a patient with very high blood pressure, it'll take the cuff forever because it'll keep cycling but not getting a reading. Maybe you should just bring your own manual cuff to the hospital the next time you're there and pull the "I'm a doctor and manual cuffs are more accurate" card.
ReplyDeleteSometimes thr problem is if the machine hasn't been cleared from the last reading. They have memory, and will go above the last systolic reading about 20-30 mmHg. If you turn off the machine between patients, or at least 'zero' it, this should be less of a problem.
ReplyDeleteI have one patient who comes in and this person has a myriad of medical issues, including chronic pain, but per this patient's report, the BP cuff is worse than what they are treated for. I came up with a way to get the auto BP, while keeping this patient comfortable, and proving my point that if the patient is talked to through it (if they are prone to 10/10 pain with BP cuffs), they almost never c/o pain.
This patient remembers me, and will request I do the BP if they come in. (Freq flyer in the ED).
As far as blood vessels breaking and causing 'red streaks'- that was likely because the cuff wasn't the right size or not placed on properly.
As a side note- a major pet peeve is when pt's ask if the cuff can be put on looser. Ummnn, no- it has to be put on correctly to obtain the correct pressure, and I will not be back here q15min to place it on and off when I have 3-4 other patients on q15min VS.
binkRN, your side note is very disturbing to me. Your time is worth more than a patient's comfort? When a patient tells you that a procedure like taking their blood pressure is causing extreme pain, you need to stop and listen to them.
DeleteOf course the cuff has to be placed correctly to obtain correct readings but these cuffs have not always caused the type of pain and numbness they do lately. While blood pressure cuffs have always been uncomfortable for me, it was only recently that they started being so tight my fingertips felt like they were going to pop right off. This is undue pain for a vitals check.
Agreed! Do these nurses ever get their OWN blood pressure checked? IF there's a way to do it right, why don't they do it RIGHT?
DeleteYou are a jerk because of what you said. I will now always refuse BP machines.
DeleteSomeone needs to put your testicles in one and say sooo sorry it hurts.
DeleteI'm sorry, that sucks! I didn't realize that it was actually hurting people...I thought they were just being sort of histrionic and tired of having measurements taken at all hours of the day .
ReplyDeleteIt's BS!!! My blood pressure is (on average) 110 over 70; I give blood regularly and it NEVER hurts, but just this past week at the orthopaedic office & OBGYN it was the same -- too tight & too LONG!!! Of course, the blood pressure is going to be high -- it's stressing out the patient!!!! What are the doctor's trying to GIVE everyone high blood pressure so they can prescribe meds to EVERYONE. That's messed up!
DeleteListen here intern: if someone says something hurts BELIEVE THEM YOU SON OF A BITCH. I had a nurse cut me twice. I said ouch both times. It wasn't until she saw blood that she said ,oh I guess it did hurt. If that happened anywaherel but a hospital someone would have gotten punched.
DeleteListen here intern: if someone says something hurts BELIEVE THEM YOU SON OF A BITCH. I had a nurse cut me twice. I said ouch both times. It wasn't until she saw blood that she said ,oh I guess it did hurt. If that happened anywaherel but a hospital someone would have gotten punched.
DeleteWow..I sure hope you don't carry that attitude with your practice. I've had issues with Blood pressure cuffs for years and no one seems to get how really bad it is. Like getting your arm in a vice grip and having 5 People all pinch as hard as they can on the inside of your arm.
DeleteNot everyone feels this but some do. Don't sluff it off and show a little compassion. I would imagine the pain alone is bringing up the readings. Now on a 24 monitor. Pure torture!
As a previous poster mentioned the calibration can be off, with the cuff set to inflate higher than it should or because it wasn't cleared from a prior patient. Sometimes older electronics are more prone to miscalibration.
ReplyDeleteI generally switch arms if I have an issue with a cuff, or I give up and do a manual if there's an IV in the other arm. You can always ask them to get a different machine. If the cuff is making your fingers tingle I will wonder about the accuracy of the reading.
I always hate getting my BP taken. It HURTS!! :( Doesn't matter if it's automatic or manual, I get lightheaded and dizzy from the pain.
ReplyDeleteBest of all, whenever I go to a new doctor they always assume my BP is going to be high since I'm fat, and they over inflate the cuff. (I have normal BP. They never believe me.) Last time that happened it hurt so much that I started crying. *^_^*
This has been a problem for years, even when I was thin. I absolutely hate it.
And I have a 3 month diabetic checkup on Thursday, so I get to have my arm squeezed again! Blood drawn too. *Sigh* The rubber tubing tied around my arm hurts far worse than the needle. :(
Today it hurt so much having my BP taken I started to cry! I could NOT help it. It was tight and pinched. I begged the nurse to stop. She finally did. Not sure what to do. I am 60 years old and a fun loving girl! I hated it!!
DeleteI rather suspect it causes false readings also--normally the cuff is no big deal but one day a nurse did something different (I suspect it was taking the pressure too high but I didn't see the gauge) and it really hurt--it left my arm sore for the next hour.
ReplyDeleteIt also caused the doctor to ask about high blood pressure--I don't have high blood pressure! I assume I tensed up from the pain and thus read high.
I have always found blood pressure measurement extremely painful - almost to the point of being ready to rip the cuff off. Afterwards my upper arms feel bruised and tender for days. My upper arms are fat and they use a large cuff but it still hurts - automatic or manual. Is there a different way to get a non-painful reading?
ReplyDeleteIt used to be that taking my blood pressure did not hurt and I did not mind it. But, with the automatic blood pressure cuff my upper arm gets squeezed so tight that I nearly scream. My hand goes numb and the cuff leaves an awful red mark on my arm from being so tight. What's going on here? It used to be a pleasure to get my blood pressure taken, and now I'm dreading it almost as bad as I do needles....
ReplyDeleteThat very same thing happened to me on Monday April 8th. I have nerve damage now. I hope it's not permanent.
DeleteI left the hospital 6-9-15 after surgery and my right arm is still bruised and tender from 2 specific blood pressure readings. I had several readings during my visit, but one specific Nurses's aid took it twice and both times it hurt so bad I almost screamed but dared not because he made me fearful of him. I am very suspicious of his intentions to actually cause me pain. The same equipment was used by others but he is the only one that hurt me. I pray that I do not have nerve damage.
DeleteI just bought an iHealth BP monitor - uses the iPhone to display the readings. It went to 255 on my arm (boy was that painful) while I was trying to figure out how to stop it - ended up ripping the tube out of the dock base to stop it inflating further. Waited a while and tried it again and it did the same thing, only this time I slid the stop button on the iPhone screen. Bit nonplussed about that but I have experienced problems in hospital where nurses were unable to get a reading with an automated machine and strangled my arm in the process.
ReplyDeleteWaited for husband to appear as my next guinea pig for the new iHealth BP dock - and it behaved absolutely perfectly. He was delighted and thinks its marvellous and plans on using it daily.
He has smaller upper arms than me. Any suggestions as to how I can get it to work for me would be appreciated.
At 46 I've had my blood pressure taken a good few times and thoug occasionally there has been a little discomfort it hasn't bothered me, but yesterday i had it done and it was staggeringly painful - so much so I ended up holding my breath. Despite telling the nurse at the time, and speaking to her again today she just didn't get how painful it was and just sees me as a nuisance who is over sensitive, suffering from the white coat syndrome and that the machine is new and not 'worn in' yet! I am still feeling the effects today, 24 hours later.
ReplyDeleteSurely it should be at an appropriate level of tightness from the get go? I'd say she was simply no good at it - she certainly couldn't find a vein in my arm for the needle - but it was an automatic machine.
i hate those machinss. they do hurt. i will ask for manual from now on. or the right cuff. no more pain from these damn machines that everybody usees. they NEVER ADJUST THE CUFF. NEVER.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. I just went through this very scenario when I have never had high blood pressure but the cuff would not stop squeezing and I thought there is no way a good reading is going to come from this for it really really hurt. No one would listen to me. It made me cry.
ReplyDeleteMy heart goes out to you, Lisa, and everyone who's had a similar experience. There are those of us who are actually physically sensitive to pain, sans drama or histrionics. Unfortunately, there are those in the medical profession who are grossly insensitive and too overbooked to care. While conventional medicine has its value, it can often be exceedingly, and unnecessarily, painful and harmful, to the point of tears--or worse. No one should have to suffer even more than they might already be suffering, especially within the domain of health care--where is the care in that? And if the pain is so bad that it causes one to cry, especially at the hands of a health care professional, then the very least they can do is compassionately listen and immediately do something to alleviate the patient's suffering. Peace, love and compassion!
DeleteI need to have my BP checked but its so painful I keep putting it off and I know death would be worst of course but it feels like my hand and fingers are going to explode I hate the thought of having to get it done and had no idea so many others were experiencing similar discomfort :(
DeleteI had my BP taken on 20 April and it was the worse experience I have had. It hurt so much I told the doctor to take it off and he would not as he said it would go down soon. My hands felt numb and tingly with pins and needles and I thought my arm would explode as it got tighter and tighter. I have had my BP taken in the past with the manual equipment and it has always been fine. I am now too scared to go back to have it all done again next week which is what my doctor has suggested. The top of my arm has three red lines on it which I presume are broken blood vessels which I noticed the next day and which are still bright red. Scary experience which no one should have to suffer at the hands of their GP. I'm glad I saw this page as I thought I was being a big baby.
DeleteI have had a 24hour blood pressure machine put on me today, the nurse that fitted it stunk of B.O. . Had it on for two hours could not stand the pain, every 15minutes. Kept doing it. My hand went blue almost purple. I ripped it off. What now?
DeleteI have low blood pressure and a really high tolerance for pain, but one of those auto cuffs really did me in - the pain almost reduced me to tears this week when I was in the hospital. The nurse kept saying, "Yeah, I know it's uncomfortable." No. Uncomfortable is when there's a pebble in your shoe. Uncomfortable is an itchy tag on the back of your sweater. Uncomfortable is a normal BP test.
ReplyDeleteMy arm kept hurting and it felt like the underside was completely bruised. Since there were no mirrors around, I couldn't check until I got home. When I did get to check, I found that, yep, the whole underside of my upper arm was (and still is) a patchwork of bruises.
Experiencing the same thing. Doctor took BP, it was fine (high BP, uncomfortable, but no more than it ever had been in the past), machine for patients use - absolutely excruciating - then appt with health assistant (not manual) ghastly - sharp pain, fingers tingling. They want to do the 24 hour monitoring - I can't see how my results won't be affected by a) expectation of severe pain and b) confirmation of the same via actual experience. I'm not prone to histrionics regarding pain. This feels like my arm has been placed in a vice.
ReplyDeleteI had my BP checked 2 days in a row with that horrible machine, 26 and 27th of November, now, 3 days later I'm still having sever pain in my left arm. I cannot use it to do anything, possible nerve damage. I tried NSADs , hot and cold treatments without any improvement. I'm starting to think they want more and more people to be high blood pressure patients, and consume their drugs, that's what results from such painful tight cuffs. Never had a normal BP reading due to enormous pain during and afterwards. Although with non automatic devices my BP is 110/70 some times 100/60.
ReplyDeleteI've never commented on anything before.. and yesterday a new patient rights activist was born during a routine BP test. Like many of you above I am VERY pain tolerant, not prone to complaining in the doctor's office, have normal to low BP, no special conditions etc.. and found the automatic BP cuff SO painful I had to restrain myself from crying out too loud. My request for STOP went unheeded the first time. Finally I made it clear it was unacceptable.. so the tech switched arms.
ReplyDeleteNow I have two arms that ache and throb with radiating nerve pain in both thumbs 36 hrs later.. This cannot be right. Formal complaint time is coming. .Soon. The whole even was shocking.. such a simple procedure and so much distress with possibly permanent damage according to what i've read. Thank you all for telling your stories here so I know i'm not alone. Feeling strong enough to go forth in action on this. Bring back the manual BP test! The automatic version is clearly fraught with all sorts of problems.. and not right for everyone.
This REALLY makes me furious! How many of us have been poo-poohed or shrugged-off by techs, nurses, and doctors in response to excruciating pain? And now we're learning that most machines are not calibrated properly and most BP measurements taken in medical facilities are inaccurate, AND the pain and pressure of a too-tight cuff INCREASES the blood pressure reading!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteTotally unacceptable.
I plan on making a lot more noise on the issue, instead of whimpering like a baby BEFORE they begin, "Oh, this hurts me so much, please try to make it less painful", and crying out in pain throughout the procedure. First, I'm going to request they use a wrist unit, and if they say no, I'm going to request a manual reading, and if they say no, I'm going to ask them to reset the machine before using it on me - and SHOW ME as they do it so I can see the difference in settings/calibration.
Thanks to everyone for sharing your experience and information: knowledge is power if you use it.
Just returned from a frightening and painful experience while being triaged for an appointment today. The nurse wrapped the blood pressure cuff around my arm (had on a sleeved sweater ) and it got so tight it was shutting off my circulation. I told her again and again that it was HURTING! She wouldn't stop, just brushed me off with "it happens". When in my appt with the doctor I asked him to look at the phenomenon (red dots covering my skin on my lower arm and hand) that had just occurred from measuring my blood pressure. He said, "Your blood vessels burst." Well, I was dumbfounded. And felt so angry that I allowed that nurse to continue to hurt me to such an extent.
ReplyDeleteI had the same experience last night in the Erie triage the nurse took my blood pressure yes it was high! But I am sure the ungodly pain I was in also made the reading higher! My arm and hands were so numb and shaking very badly! My arms and hand and fingers have very red dots now on both sides of my body! My upper arms are all bruised as well, Because my pressure was so high the cuff kept tightening even harder!I always dreaded getting my pressure checked because I am always in severe pain when they take it!
DeleteI had the same experience last night in the Erie triage the nurse took my blood pressure yes it was high! But I am sure the ungodly pain I was in also made the reading higher! My arm and hands were so numb and shaking very badly! My arms and hand and fingers have very red dots now on both sides of my body! My upper arms are all bruised as well, Because my pressure was so high the cuff kept tightening even harder!I always dreaded getting my pressure checked because I am always in severe pain when they take it!
Deleteall i can say is thank goodness im not the only person who has suffered at the hands of these damn machines! my hand went purple and the veins stood out. i was shouting at the nurse "look at my hand!! omg its going purple!" she said "keep still its trying to find your pulse" i said its really hurting me and the natrual thing was for me was to shake my hand as it was going numb..she sighed and did someting to the machine and reinflated again and it all started again! the reading was high... the doctor said he needed another reading before i left. this time i was sat on the bed and she brought the machine to me and used the other arm. it was a normal reading!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad I found this discussion. Although I am over-sensitive to pain, using the machine is a much more painful process for me. A manual reading causes me to tense a bit. Yesterday in the hospital I cried out. I was in for an outpatient procedure and had my pressure taken several times. No comment from the nurse.
ReplyDeleteSince I thought it was just me, I let it go. Knowing it is not just me,next time I am going to ask what can be done to make it less painful. I will be real interested in the results!
I was recently in the hospital for Addison's Disease, and I found the blood pressure test to be much more painful when my pressure was super low than once they got it up to normal. I almost wanted to scream and rip it off a few times, and I was left with big red streaks on both arms that I hope will fade soon/eventually. The cuff was long, which is the only size the hospital had to accomidate more people, and it seemed to fit on my arm just fine, with room to spare. Once my BP was reading normal again, it wasn't bad at all. Is that normal, or does it normally hurt more only if you have high BP?
ReplyDeleteI am mad. The new blood pressure machines with the overly tight cuffs have left broken veins on my upper arms & left side of my chest that will not go away. Do not want them to use the new machines on me anymore.
ReplyDeleteCount me in-I had my blood pressure taken unexpectedly (and without my agreeing to it)at the dentist today, and it was horrible, I kept telling the hygienist to stop, that it was too tight, and she kept saying just a little longer. I explained that I was very used to having my blood pressure taken, and that something was wrong with her equipment. She absolutely ignored me.
ReplyDeleteOf course the reading was way off, and my arm still hurts 2 hours later.
glad I found this place. for over the last year getting my BP checked at the VA has been EXCRUCIATING.. and I have a high pain threshold. I just suck it up,.. while watching my arm turn purple.... now they tell me I have high BP and want me to be taking my own BP at home and keep logs. they gave me an auto arm cuff. I just can not take the pain anymore, so I bought one of the those wrist BP monitors. no pain at all, just pretty snug, like the arm cuff use to be.. so no more will I let the VA nurses take my BP again, unless they agree to use my device. issue solved.
ReplyDeleteI have an ongoing battle with "healthcare assistants" and nurses about taking BP in the surgery. They rarely acknowledge that it hurts. They don't seem to understand that even being called in for review causes me to have anxiety attacks now. They are reluctant to accept readings taken at home, even though it is in my record as the only acceptable way to get realistic readings.
ReplyDeleteThe wretched receptionist won't let me make an appointment with the person who has actually said "come and see me", because that person isn't on the normal roster for doing BP reviews. And they wonder why my BP is high?!
This trend seems to have started about 15 years ago or so. I just had a manual reading done at my doctor's office yesterday. Arm went numb. Blood pressure normal. Took reading again, because I told doc I had a headache. Again arm went numb. Blood pressure well within normal range. Got home, could not hold anything in that hand or it would shake uncontrollably. Fine today, except arm feels bruised from shoulder to wrist. I'm seriously considering not allowing my blood pressure to be taken again, unless they use a wrist cuff. I'm not a wuss, I've had children, had a kidney stone. I can deal with pain. This is ridiculous, and I'm just not going to risk injury anymore. I am D.O.N.E. with it.
ReplyDeleteI tried the wrist cuff because the other one was too tight & it made my hand go numb.
ReplyDeleteHello im unfortunately experiencing this pain myself. The cuffs pinch me so much that they end up doing it twice cuz they cant get a reading of my bp. So I try to breathe through the pain so the machine could get a reading. But now I have a bruise my left arm hurts so much but not my right. Its been a couple of days since my last dr appt. I cant take this anymore. Im on zoloft so now I believe im bruising even more easily not just on my arms. Im in my 20's this is messed up if it hurts me I can only imagine what the older folks are going through. Im sorry I hate drs and nursing staff so much.
ReplyDeleteMy 14 year old daughter has numerous medical conditions. One of her issues is vein malformations in her left forearm, right palm, and right middle finger, which she has had four endovascular surgeries to treat as they become symptomatic again. She was having a routine BP taken at her pediatrician's office last month for her school physical and the automated machine inflated a second time after not registering the first time. Suddenly, her arm was purple and I yelled at the nurse to take it off. My daughter was in terrible pain and we assumed that her previous vein malformation ruptured due to the BP cuff. We just came back from the specialist in Denver who treats her vein malformations and he said that her veins were fine based on the MRI. So, the pediatrician things the ongoing pain she's had since the BP incident happened a month ago is nerve damage... now what???
ReplyDeleteI was in an ambulance this past weekend and the automatic cuff hurt so badly it made me cry out in pain. My arm went completely numb and I was practically screaming through the oxygen mask they had on me for the paramedic to tear the cuff off of me. He looked at me like I was crazy and ask me "have you never had you're blood pressure taken before?" Really, dude? More times than I can count. Never has it ever made me feel like my arm was about to pop off. Of course, my BP was through the roof, so that may have had something to do with it. I ended up with big purple bruises all over my upper arm. I wish I could send him a picture :(
ReplyDeletewhat i dont understand is why do they insist in carrying on with trying to get a reading when it hurts so much! it makes me think we are making it up! grrrrrr
ReplyDeleteIf pain causes a rise in blood pressure, then the reading obtained this way must be inaccurate. No surprise either that my blood pressure reading was high when the nurse told me that she had found a lump in my breast, then proceed to take my pressure. Anxiety at receiving that news would send my pressure soaring....I would think.
ReplyDeleteYep me too. Really painful !!! Last time I had tears in my eyes it was so painful. Glad its not just 'me' as hubby and no doubt nurse/doctor think I'm a big baby as i sit there huffing and puffing trying to 'breathe through the pain' with tears in my eyes !
ReplyDeleteI actually purchased a wrist cuff BP monitor as was advised by GP to get a home monitor to keep an eye on things while starting on medication and thought 'yeah this is the gizmo for me ...no more crushed exploding arms ' :-) .
The Wrist cuff was great no pain, but BP result surprisingly low and i had doubts it was due to my new drugs, and 4 weeks later when I went back to GP I took the wrist cuff and checked it against the doctors readings and it was substantially lower on the wrist cuff and my Doctor told me the wrist cuffs aren't as reliable as the arm cuffs :-(
Ordered an Arm BP monitor from Amazon. Arrived today and using the M-L cuff (for my arm size) the pain was horrendous as it blew my arm up to unacceptable levels and i was wondering how to shut /cancel /rip off the damn thing it hurt so bad and it took forever to deflate !
An hour later I'm still sitting here with a sore arm and a bruise appearing so its going back !!!!!!!!
Don't these doc/technicians test this on REAL people with high blood pressure ??? or read these posts as clearly this is a serious issue for many ?
For sure my BP will be high in future at the doctors, not due to white coat syndrome, but due to the knowledge of the BP monitor pain about to come !!!!!!! Grrrrrr
Same here. Whether it's an automated machine or a regular cuff put on by someone, it usually hurts. Unusual if it DOESN'T hurt. Sometimes I can take it, other times it's so ridiculously painful I can't. I find that if I ask for a large or extra large cuff that it doesn't hurt as much. However, that can be a fight as some won't get another cuff. When it's extremely painful, the pain is very intense in one spot only - right where the Velcro band is holding the cuff on the arm. Can only use my left arm as I have carpal tunnel on the right and that makes it even worse. Last time they never even got a reading - put the cuff on and when inflated my hand started swelling up and turning pink. VERY painful. I stated that (by going OW! OW! OW!) and by the time I ended saying that, it was inflating again. That's when I was MORE vocal/louder about the fact that it hurts tremendously! stop! take it off! and she did, but when I asked what the reading was she said she couldn't get one. My arm hurt in that one spot for literally more than a week. Depending on the size cuff used, I can have readings of VERY high to normal. To prove the point, if a high reading happens, I ask them to try the next size up cuff and see what the reading is. It's ALWAYS a much lower reading than the high-reading cuff. No matter what you say - because, of course, THEY'RE the medical person - you don't know what you're talking about. At that point I don't care WHAT they say, they are NOT going to continue making me have pain because they won't take the time to get another cuff.
ReplyDeleteAs an aside and talking about IVs, I was told by more than one Dr and a nurse that if you get an IV (only ones I've ever had were to put me under, so this may relate only to the anesthesia used) and it burns at the IV site, it means that whoever put it in didn't get it completely in the vein, that it's leaking out and that's what makes it burn. I had to have broken bones reset and they put me under with an IV. BURNED LIKE HELL!!! Kept telling the person who put it in that it was burning, to please take it out and do it again. Of course, they ignored me and under I went. If it's in the vein correctly, it won't burn.
I'm glad it's not just me. I'm just over half way through 24 hour monitoring and the last few times it has been so painful I've nearly cried and my hand is going purple. How can this measure accurately when you are so stressed and tense? I know I don't have a low pain threshold, I've had 2 babies with only gas and air and one with no painkillers at all. I'm keeping a diary of my actiivty etc and the last few entries are just about pain and how stressed and upset I'm feeling.
ReplyDeleteI have just had a 24 hour monitor at home because I have been told I have white coat syndrome. I made it to 14 hours it was so tight that I thought my veins were going to pop in my hand. I'm left with a large rash on my arm where the cuff was still 14 hours after taking it off. The rash is itchy and as drove me mad all day. Yes my experience was painful.... I find it hard how such a simple procudure can effect do many ... Feeling upset and emotional by the whole experience
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether having your blood pressure taken (even just manual) can actually damage your (deeper) blood vessels as well, the valves in them? For a number of years I had my blood pressure taken almost every month at the doctor’s office, always a very unpleasant experience (and always a normal BP). At one point I said to my doctor(s) I didn’t want to have BP measurements anymore, it didn’t feel right, too aggressive. I had my blood taken numerous times as well, which also involves a very tight strap around the arm. Last summer I first noticed un unpleasant feeling in my left arm and a slightly swollen vein on my upper forearm. In winter felt nothing. But this spring again I’m having an unpleasant, awkward, aching feeling in my left arm, which I feel is coming from the vein(s) (deep inside), it feels like a problem with the blood flow. And my feeling tells me this has to do with the previous BP measurements and the abnormal vein tightening they involve… Can they indeed damage valves in the deeper veins?... (ps: I’m only 30 yrs old)
ReplyDeleteHow can the medical profession keep ignoring this problem when so many people are saying how painful it is for some of us to have our BP taken with an arm cuff. I have taken photo's of big black bruises front and back of arm after a BP reading. My doctor's surgery now have it on their computers that I will not have an arm cuff. If they won't accept my wrist monitor reading (which has been tested and gives the same reading as their arm cuff) then too bad. While in hospital recently and after numerous arm cuff readings which were horrendously painful and left red streaks and bruising a wonderful nurse said she would not dare risk doing an arm cuff reading and fitted a 'comfort band' around the bottom of my leg with a BP cuff on top - no pain. To me it just seems pointlessly cruel to continue with arm cuffs on people who experience pain from them as they cannot be getting an accurate reading anyway.
ReplyDeleteI went into the hospital on Day One with no bruises on me. I went home on Day Two with an arm covered in bruises, all the way around, and from my arm pit almost to my wrist. It's now Day Three, and the bruises are even uglier now. I look like someone has beaten me.
ReplyDeleteSome of the BP readings didn't bother me, but most of them hurt. One of them was really bad. The idiot taking it put it around my elbow, where I had a really nasty bruise from the tech taking blood from me during recovery. Because I was out of it, I moved when he went to put the needle in, and he hit something that caused one of the worst bruises.
So where does this fricking idiot put my blood pressure cuff? Right around my elbow, with that bruise at dead center. The pain was excruciating--the worst I've ever had from a blood pressure reading, so I told her to take off the cuff, right then. She IGNORED me. Then she went and did it again, holding my arm as if I were a child wanting to get away. This time I screamed at her to take it off--she still ignored me, and I kicked the bed until it was over trying to make it clear to her that I was not kidding about that pain.
I had red streaks on my arm exactly where the cuff dug into me for over an hour.
I called the head nurse in and showed her the bruises I now had all over my arm, and the red streaks from the cuff. I told her, "When I tell you to take off the cuff, I'm not saying it to be a drama queen. I'm telling you to take it off because it's causing me too much pain. Don't you dare ignore me again if I say the cuff is cutting into me, and don't treat me like the pain is in my head. Because it's not in my head. Look at these bruises and tell me again that it's in my head. Nobody winds up looking like this without having been hurt enough to leave a bruise, and I have them all over this arm. That's a sign that you have to stop taking my blood pressure there."
They stopped taking my pressure for the rest of the night because they knew I was too ticked off to cooperate anymore, and would be too stressed to get an accurate one, besides. In the morning, they put the cuff around my leg, and that worked much better. I barely noticed it.
why would a blood pressure machine pump repeatedly 3 times one right after the other until my arm turns purple and reads very high example (pump release, pump again release, pump again release) I thought it was over the first time put it kept going. Do you think this was done on purpose.
ReplyDeleteJust had my BP taken yesterday, the damn cuff squeezed until my fingers turned purple and I'm bruised from elbow to shoulder today. I'm a big, healthy girl with a BP that clocks in on my home machine @ 120/75. It's funny how it's only high at the offices of my medical group, and the docs all push BP meds. I was in the ER a couple of weeks ago for a sprained knee and my BP in intense pain was 139/80. I'm calling BS.
ReplyDeleteI am a multi-disease patient. Never had a problem with BP. Until a few months ago. Both manual and automatic blood pressure methods start giving me excruciating pain. One of my many problems is LGMD and it got worse recently... I wonder if my BP experiences aren't related to the MD...
ReplyDeleteWhen in hospital I had great pain with the automatic blood pressure pump. The lady whose pressure was taken before me had very high blood pressure. When I asked the staff nurse why it had hurt so much for me she said it should have been reset. My home pump inflates to 190 mmHg before going down. If the blood pressure is higher than 190 on the systolic (top)number the machine will restart and pump in more air to the higher level. This is what it says on the machine instruction leaflet. So this is why it should be reset. I will ask my doctor to reset her machine next time I go because I almost screamed both times when mine was taken this week. Hope for a better way of testing in the future.
ReplyDeleteim having a 24 hr bp monitor check i dont like pain it makes me very angry and this test is barbaric ! are they trying to finish me off FFS ive had to switch arms and the arm it has been on for 12 hours is in a mess, i have a deep throbbing pain down my arm and its going up into my shoulder and through my chest, on the whole its just annoying me and making feel ill, which in turn is raising my blood pressure , bp test dont make me angry you wouldn't like me when im angry. ITS RIDICULOUS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have been told over and over that it doesn't hurt that bad and it will be over shortly (when you are in pain every second is unbearable). From now on I will ask for a manual reading and if that is not available I will try the wrist cuff but NO MORE arm cuffs.
ReplyDeleteI was in the ER two days ago, and they use the blood pressure cuff on me. I never scream so loud! They had to remove the cuff, my phone went under the palm of my hand, and hurts so bad today, I have to wear a brace. I am contacting the hospital to report this. I can't even use my hand.
ReplyDeleteHad BP Monitor put on by nurse. Told to come to Mater !morning with Monitor. Tried to take it off next morning, it got stuck and kept expanding. Eventually got it off. That was nearly two weeks ago. My arm is sore all the time and pains when I am in bed. I am 85. Had it taken loads of times, never had this reaction before. Can't carry anything. I am worried about arm, skin looks most peculiar. Don' want to go back to hospital. Don't trust them.
ReplyDeletehi i,m glad to see i,m not the only one suffering from pain from the cuff i cry it,s so bad and it always leaves me with bruises i have started getting a phobia about it it,s only the last yr it has done this to me,i,m 77 and it is absolute torture
ReplyDeleteI had a 24 hr BP monitor fitted at 9:15 this morning. By 2 pm the pain had become unbearable. I've just come back from seeing the nurse again, to get it taken off. She said 'it does get a bit uncomfortable', I told her it wasn't uncomfortable, it was excruciating!
ReplyDeleteI have a pretty high pain threshold, have had two babies, and complex spinal surgery. But this was up there with them. The nurse said, I'll try and loosen it for you, we don't have another size. But she just didn't get that it doesn't matter how loose or tight the cuff is, when it decides to inflate, it will keep on inflating itself, to the pressure it's been set at. Mine was obviously set too high - I was watching the numbers as it inflated to 230 plus! When you have a nurse on the other end of the pump, they can watch the pressure and see your pain (sorry, 'discomfort'!) But these robotic machines depend on the brain or otherwise of the person who set them. This nurse, although lovely, just couldn't understand the physics.
They said I should carry on about my normal day, although I took two days' leave from work in case. I've found that it's not very helpful when the pain brings you to tears at the checkout at Lidl, because it's gone off three times in quick succession while you're trying to load up your shopping! I went home and went to bed, to try and relax so my BP would be lower, and the evil machine might not feel the need to inflate so high. But no, it just kept up its sadistic work.
So I phoned the surgery and said I can't bear the thought of another twenty hours of this, and went back in. When the nurse took the cuff off my arm, it was covered underneath in big red and black bruises. She said, 'oh it has pinched a bit'!