Often the cause of poor health of even a healthy person is a sharp fluctuation in blood pressure, increased or decreased rates. You can detect this only by measuring its performance. Long gone are the days when only doctors could own a magical device that measures your pressure. Today, a tonometer is vital in every family. It is necessary to know which tonometer to choose in this or that case. Let us first consider the principle of the operation of the tonometer.
Principle of operation of the tonometer
The cuff of the tonometer, put on the arm, is pumped with air so as to squeeze the artery and stop the flow of blood. Then gradually the air descends and simultaneously the first and last beats of the pulse are fixed. The pressure in the cuff corresponding to the first stroke is called - "upper", the last - "lower".
Types of tonometers
There are two main types of tonometers: a mechanical or manual tonometer and electronic tonometers (there are automatic and semi-automatic ones).
- A classic example of a mechanical tonometer: a cuff that is applied over the shoulder is inflated manually by air using a rubber pear connected through the tube to the cuff. There, on the other tube, a dial is attached, along which the values are monitored. To determine the pulse, an additional phonendoscope is required. There is also a so-called mercury tonometer, where the readings are considered more accurate and are determined by a scale similar to a thermometer. The indicator of the data is a column of mercury. Due to the toxicity of mercury and the laboriousness of measurements, such tonometers have not become accustomed to everyday use. Today they are rare even in medical offices.
- Semi-automatic tonometers are now the most common because of the low price and good quality. For them, phonendoscope is not needed, you only need to manually inject air into the cuff, and the result can be seen on the electronic scoreboard.
- Automatic tonometers do everything themselves: air is pumped and data is given out. You just need to put the cuff on your wrist, finger or shoulder. Tonometers with a cuff on the shoulder are considered the most accurate. Automatic tonometers are compact, convenient and easy to use.
Choose wisely
In order to know how to choose a good tonometer, you need to determine the following criteria:
- Age of the person . For older people, automatic shoulder pressure tonometers are recommended - they are easy to use and show accurate data.
- Occupation . For athletes, to constantly and conveniently was to monitor their condition, invented automatic wrist tonometers.
- Presence of diseases of the cardiovascular system . In such people, the pulse may be uneven or hard to listen, which affects the accuracy of the data of automatic tonometers on the hand or on the finger. They are recommended to purchase a manual mechanical tonometer with a pear and phonendoscope and measure pressure on the shoulder, and the pulse on the elbow bend, or a more expensive version of automatic tonometers with the "arrhythmia" indicator.
- Your financial capabilities . Automatic and semi-automatic tonometers are much more expensive than traditional mechanical ones. But they are equipped with many useful functions (memory for the previous indicators, deducing the average for the period, taking into account physiological characteristics of women, "intellectual measurement", "indicator of arrhythmia" and others).
We hope that our tips on how to choose a tonometer were helped to understand the main points. So, for older people and patients with hypertension, it is best to purchase automatic tonometers with a cuff on hand. For middle-aged people and irregular pressure measurements suitable inexpensive semi-automatic devices, and athletes should pay attention to a convenient and functional automatic wrist tonometer.