Blood pressure cuffs in the hospital

11 years ago

I was in the ER a couple of times for pain in my knee, then for meniscus repair. When I got home I got a call for a vocal survey. I answered Excellent on 95% of the questions. Later she asked for any other comments. I told her I will never let the hospital take my blood pressure again if something doesn't change. She asked for an explanation and I told it was very, very, painful and when I got home I had bruises in the back and in the front on my arm. I also told her just before surgery the anesthesiologist came to take my blood pressure because it was way to high. She checked me again and said "now relax". I said, "how the hell can I relax with the pain of that cuff". She paid no attention to what I said.

I have talked to others who have had the same complaint. Have any of you experiences painful cuffs.

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User

11 years ago

Sounds like they used an electric cuff?

I never pump as high as those damn things when taking pressure. If I haven't pumped high enough, I'll go higher a second time.

I'd tell whomever that you want a manual cuff, and tell them what your normal pressure is so they don't pump you to bruises.

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Comments (6)

sunnyca_gw
11 years ago
Sounds like she was using a bulb type & keeps getting it too tight. Never heard of anyone having that problem before but I know some do use the bulb type & they can just keep pumping. I've spent a lot of time in hospitals with friends & parents last 10 yrs & that hasn't happened to anyone. They do however jab & miss veins often & lots of bruises from that, some but the IV line in so they couldn't bend the arm without a lot of pain. Very irritating & they act like patient is the problem. Mom had both arms & both wrists messed up often & took awhile to heal at home. Lucky they didn't get infected. The rubber thing they use when drawing blood is sometimes too tight too. Mom told them not to let one technician come in again & the other 1 did beautiful job & got the vein every time. Some people need a refresher course & perhaps practicing on themselves so they can "feel the pain" they put the patients through.
sunnyca_gw
11 years ago
Talked to friend & asked if she had a problem with the automatic ones that go on even hour or whatever(the cuff stays on your arm) she said yes she got 1 that left both arms sore & hardly able to move even after leaving the hospital, they had switched to other arm when she complained so don't know if they can be adjusted some to size of patients arm or not. I know they didn't bother my folks but they would both have complained & gotten it fixed. So hope this helps.
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lizbeth-gardener
11 years ago
Try asking for a larger size cuff. If the cuff is too small, the reading can be inaccurate and also cause pain.
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mdln
11 years ago
Unfortunately, the higher your blood pressure (BP) the tighter we need to inflate the cuff. Perhaps you have high BP, that may need treatment.

Bruises from BP measurements would make me suspect a patient may be on an anticoagulant or have a bleeding disorder.

You can always "refuse" to have your BP measured. There are times it is taken just as a matter of routine and times it is critical (e.g., to assess for shock from bleeding or a medication side effect).

@lizbeth, Cuff size should be based on the size of the arm. If too large of a cuff is used, it will give a false low reading.
Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b
11 years ago
Shudder. I have surgery scheduled this week and I remember the last time that automatic thing goes on every hour. VERY painful! I'll ask if they can measure less or in a kinder way. Thanks for reminding me. A also hate they can NEVER get the IV in and that hurts too! Not looking forward to Friday. LOL I have my pre-addmittance appt today and I drank two bottles of wine last night hoping I fail those tests so they can't do surgery.........

Blood pressure cuffs in the hospital

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sunnyca_gw

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Suzi AKA DesertDance So CA Zone 9b

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