Need You To Do An Experiment! Is This Normal?

[ana_22]

ok so tonight i took my bp and as i was doing it i though why not take a leg bp....just why not! (when my auntie was in hospital a few years ago i noticed the bp machine was hooked up to her ankle....she had just had a stroke...so im guessing the arms were too busy with ivs and what not)

Any way there is a SIGNIFICANT difference between the bp taken on my ankle..(lower leg part) while i am standing compared to while i am sitting or laying down.

while im relaxing its like 110/70.....while im standing its 190/140 ridiculously high!!!! i understand your leg is doing alot of work while your standing....but is this normal??

i was hoping that anyone else with a bp machine can do this experiment and post your results before i really start to freak out!!!!

i did a bit of googling but thought better not to go there just YET.

just to clarify BOTH reading are taken on the ankle, one sitting or laying down and one standing.

If my results are completely normal i apologize in advance!

[firewatcher]

I'm finding a lot of info on taking BP in the leg, but it is the thigh and supine. I know they do this with TTT in some labs, but I think that the ankle pressure would have to be this high to get the blood back up to the heart.

Erica Brownfield, MD:

Blood pressure measurement in the legs is achieved with an appropriate-sized cuff, applied at the midthigh, and by listening over the popliteal artery. If possible, the patient should be in a prone position. The bladder of the cuff should be about 40% of the circumference of the thigh, and the length should be about 75% to 80% of this circumference.

Normally, the systolic blood pressure in the legs is usually 10% to 20% higher than the brachial artery pressure. Blood pressure readings that are lower in the legs as compared with the upper arms are considered abnormal and should prompt a work-up for peripheral vascular disease. All hypertensive patients should have comparisons of arm and leg blood pressures as well as volume and timing of the radial and femoral pulses at least once to rule out coarctation of the aorta.

VascularWeb:

What is an ankle-brachial index?

The ankle-brachial index (ABI) is a measurement that is useful to your physician in evaluating the adequacy of the circulation in your legs. It can also be used to follow the improvement or worsening of leg circulation over time. To obtain the ABI, your physician measures your blood pressure in your ankle and in your arm. Your physician will compare the two numbers by forming a ratio to determine your ABI.

Normally, the blood pressures in your ankle and arm should be about equal. But if your ankle pressures are lower than your arm pressures, your leg arteries are probably narrowed.

To perform the ABI, your physician may use an ordinary blood pressure cuff and an ultrasound device. The ABI helps your physician diagnose arterial disease in the legs, but it is a general test and it does not specifically identify which arteries are blocked.

Blood Pressure Changes in the Leg on Standing

Arun Malhotra, MD; Debbie Cohen, MD; Charles Syms, MD; Raymond R. Townsend, MD

From the Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Correspondence to Raymond R. Townsend, MD, University of Pennsylvania, Renal, Electrolyte and Hypertension Division, 210 White Building, 3600 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA

Copyright 2002 Le Jacq Communications, Inc.

(J Clin Hypertens. 2002;4:350?354)

ABSTRACT

Normotensive and hypertensive patients develop peripheral arterial disease. The authors hypothesized that significant changes in lower extremity blood pressures occur upon standing, which could play a role in the pathogenesis of peripheral arterial disease. Forty-one subjects had blood pressure measurements performed in the arm and ankle in the supine and standing positions. The data show a marked increase in leg blood pressure on assuming the standing position, with mean increases of 65 mm Hg in systolic and 62 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure in the lower extremities, compared with the arm on standing. In addition, the changes in diastolic pressure in the leg on standing were significantly correlated to height (r=0.47; p<0.002). These data reveal a previously unappreciated aspect of blood pressure, namely a large increase in lower extremity blood pressure values on standing, which may predispose to peripheral arterial disease

Manuscript received April 2, 2001; accepted September 5, 2001

Edited January 1, 2010 by firewatcher

[ana_22]

so its normal! thank goodness....

[flop]

Yep it is normal.

For BP readings to be indicative of your actual BP the level of the cuff should be at the same level as the heart. So while sitting / standing or lying the upper arm is usually level with the heart.

If you put a cuff on your arm but hold your arm right up in the air you will get a false low reading. If you have the cuff on your arm but bend over double you will get a false high reading.

With the cuff on your ankle when you are lying down you will probably get a similar reading to what you would get in your arm. However when you stand up gravity pulls blood downwards so the pressure near your feet may be higher than in your arm.

When I went to the vascular clinic to be measured for my compression stockings they measured the pressure in my arm and at my ankle. They used a manual BP cuff and a small doppler machine (like what is used to listen to the heartbeat of an unborn baby) to measure just the systolic pressures. In my arm the pressure was 110mmHg at my ankle the nurse put the cuff up to 240mmHg (the highest it would go) and she could still hear the blood wooshing into my feet. She had never seen anything like it before but my cardiologist said it was to be expected in someone like me who kept all their blood in their feet!

Flop

[juliegee]

Crazy. I did it lying down and my BP was 106/64 with a 53 pulse. I did it after standing for 5 seconds. My BP was 185/149 (WOAH!) with a pulse of 83. With THAT much pressure, my blood should be getting to my head

[ana_22]

hehehe...i know thats what i thought!

i want to ask my cardio about it next time i see her....but i know she will think im crazy and say what were you doing measuring your ankle BP in the first place!!!!

i have an urge to measure it around my neck see hoe much blood is getting up to the brain!!! but of course it would strangle me or choke me in the processs!!!! hehehehe

[juliegee]

DON'T DO IT!!!!

[ana_22]

lol of course i wont!!!!!

i may be crazy enough to try the ankle bp and really freak myself out.....but not crazy enough to DO THAT!!! hehehehe