Wrist Blood Pressure vs. Upper Arm + Santamedical Wrist Digital Blood Pressure Monitor Review

Back in October my grandfather all of sudden started having sudden blood pressure spikes and extreme dips. Like scary crazy. After a few ER visits and a hospital stay we learned the culprit ended up being a new medication. This medication depleted his sodium levels which had a great effect on his blood pressure.

After his hospital stint we were routinely taking his blood pressure just to make sure nothing crazy was going on again. At home we would compare two different digital upper arm monitors but I often wondered if we should have a digital wrist monitor to compare too.

You may be wondering wrist blood pressure vs. upper arm, which is best? While most doctors are still avid users and big fans of upper arm monitors I've learned wrist monitors have their perks too. The reason most doctors recommend using an upper arm monitor is because they are more accurate. Wrist monitor readings can vary a lot depending on your positioning and lack accuracy due to narrower wrist arteries that are closer to the surface. However, this doesn't mean they aren't useful.

I've been testing out Santamedical Wrist Digital Blood pressure Monitor and my grandfather and I love it. While most upper arm monitors are big and bulky for an almost 89 year to be carrying around this wrist monitor is small and light.

He loves that the monitor is so little and if he does need to carry it to another room he has no trouble doing so. He can even attach it to his wrist and carry it that way if he chooses. When he was released from the hospital he was very weak and his regular monitors were just too much for him. Now if we are ever in that situation again he has the perfect little monitor he can move himself.

The Santamedical Wrist Digital Blood Pressure Monitor is also very easy to use. Just attach it to your wrist (palm facing up), make sure your wrist is level with your heart, and press the power button. It reads your blood pressure and pulse in less than a minute which is much faster than the upper arm monitor we have. Also, the screen is nice and large making it easy to read and it can store up to 60 of your last readings.

We tested this monitor for accuracy comparing it to one of our upper arm monitors. The big plus is that both monitors agreed my grandfathers pressure was low today it was just a matter of how low. The wrist monitor's reading was  much lower than the upper arm monitor. Same for me. The diastolic and pulse were similar on both monitors but the systolic was much lower on the wrist monitor. I'm sure this has a  lot to do with positioning and how good you are at determining heart level. It's hard to eye!

I would recommend Santamedical Wrist Digital Blood Pressure Monitor. It would be great for those on the go or those that have trouble carrying heavy things. It's easy to use, light, a good price, portable (could easily go in a purse), comes with a nice hard case, and best of all gives you a good idea of where your blood pressure is at. I would just have an upper arm monitor on hand too if you happen to think the wrist monitor is too far off just to be sure. Also it's perfect for those that might not fit an upper arm monitor or those that get extreme upper arm pain from the squeezing. Very nice gadget to have!

Have you ever used a wrist blood pressure monitor?

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