Can you feel high blood pressure?
Usually not: you cannot feel high blood pressure. High blood pressure is called the silent killer precisely because most people feel nothing for years while it quietly works on the arteries, heart and kidneys.
Headaches, flushing and nosebleeds are blamed on pressure far more often than they are caused by it, though extremely high readings can produce symptoms and need urgent care.
The only way to know your number is to measure it. A cuff at home, used properly once in a while, replaces years of guessing.
Source: NHS, high blood pressure
See a doctor promptly if
- A reading of 180/120 mmHg or higher with chest pain, breathlessness, weakness on one side, slurred speech, confusion or sudden visual change. This is an emergency
- Blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher in pregnancy, especially with headache, upper abdominal pain, visual disturbance or sudden swelling
- A repeated reading of 180/120 mmHg or higher even without symptoms. This needs same-day medical assessment
- New severe headache, nosebleeds that will not stop, or breathlessness lying flat alongside high readings
- Blood in the urine, or a sharp fall in how much urine you pass, together with high readings
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Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS · How we review
If you are buying a monitor
Get an upper-arm cuff, not a wrist one, from a validated brand like Omron. Expect $30 to $60. Check the cuff size fits your arm; a too-small cuff reads high.
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Have your own result?
Send the report. A doctor explains every value in writing within 3 days.
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Health education, not medical advice.