Which arm should the blood pressure be measured on?

Measure blood pressure on the right or left?

In general, blood pressure can be determined on both arms. The assumption that blood pressure must be measured on the left because the left arm is closer to the heart is incorrect. On one hand, the heart is usually located centrally in the chest - only the apex of the heart is slightly shifted to the left in most people. On the other hand, the vessels supplying the left and right arms both originate from the aortic arch.

For measurement, the arm with the higher values in comparative measurements should be preferred. To find out which arm has the higher values, the measurements - especially when newly determining hypertension - should be taken several times on both arms, so that later the arm with the higher measurements can be used for measurement.

The differences between both arms usually arise from a different muscle density or a higher muscle tension in one of the two arms.

However, if the values on one arm are significantly higher than on the other, this may indicate a vascular disease.

Differences of up to 10 mmHg in the systolic (upper) value are still considered normal. If the values differ by more than 10 mmHg, there may be a peripheral arterial occlusive disease (pAVK) behind it. In this case, the arteries that supply blood to the arms and legs are narrowed. The advanced stage of the disease is known as "claudication." Since it leads to pain while walking, those affected take breaks repeatedly and use this time to look at the displays in shop windows.

If the differences are greater than 15 mmHg, the risk of suffering from a cerebrovascular (affecting the blood vessels of the brain) disease also increases by about 60 percent.

So if you frequently notice differences of more than 10 mmHg between both arms during home comparative measurements, please discuss this with your treating physician. He can assess whether further clarification is necessary.

With BloodPressureDB, the measurement site (right/left wrist or right/left upper arm) can also be recorded. A statistic then shows average values for the respective measurement sites separately.

Sources:

By Sabine Croci. This article is medically reviewed. Last updated (12/2023).
Information on the website and within the app cannot replace a consultation with a doctor, but can certainly complement it.

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Which arm should the blood pressure be measured on?

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