Get Virtual Care
For Businesses
About Us
A member asked:
If you wrap a blood pressure cuff too tightly around your arm and then take your blood pressure can it squish/damage the artery?
3 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
No: Squishing the artery to stop the blood flow is part of the process for taking blood pressure. Wish you good health! - Have a diet rich in fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, milk and milk products, nuts, beans, legumes, lentils and small amounts of lean meats. Avoid saturated fats. Drink enough water daily, so that your urine is mostly colorless. Exercise at least 150 minutes/week and increase the intensity of exercise gradually. Do not use tobacco, alcohol, weed or street drugs in any form. Practice safe sex, if you have sex.
Answered 1/12/2019
301 views
No: The artery will be squeezed shut as part of the process. Afteries are designed to withstand this kind of occlusion. During forty years in medicine, I've never heard of anyone having a vessel injury from making blood pressure taken. If you have fragile capillaries or low platelets, you may get petechiae on your lower arm if the cuff is kept inflated for too long.
Answered 1/12/2019
301 views
Related Questions
A member asked:
Occasionally get a pain and sense of tightness in left arm. Have occasional high blood pressure. Could this be what Im feeling? Serious?
A doctor has provided 1 answer
A member asked:
I am experiencing arm pain. From below the elbow to the palm. I am having a sensation similar to the one had when checking blood pressure with that tightness. I took aspirin ?
A doctor has provided 1 answer
A member asked:
I have intense jaw tightness, heart pounding, pressure in my nose, and a feeling of blood rushing back down my left arm. Is this a heart attack?
A doctor has provided 1 answer
People also searched for:
Please explain why is it that the blood pressure cuff normally is wrapped around the arm at the same level as the heart?
How tight does a blood pressure cuff have to be around the arm to properly measure BP at home? Can reading be higher/lower in one arm than the other?
Can a person have a blood pressure reading of 120/80 and still have a partially blocked artery in his arm?
Been obsessively checking my blood pressure (50+ times a day). Will this do any damage to my arm/arteries/etc? Arm feels slightly sore now.
I had bloodwork done from my right arm and today I had a blood pressure artery test done on the same arm. I notice I am bruised tonight . Is this bad?
Didn't find what you're looking for?
90,000 U.S. doctors in 147 specialties are here to answer your questions or offer you advice, prescriptions, and more.
Ask your questionMore of what we treat
Download HealthTap
Video visit and message your doctor
