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Key Takeaways
- Automatic upper arm blood pressure cuff monitors are more reliable than wrist or finger monitors, according to the American Heart Association.
- Regularly check the accuracy of your home monitor by taking it with you to your medical appointments and comparing its results to those taken by your doctor's cuff.
- Ask your doctor which monitor is best for you if you have atrial fibrillation or other heart arrhythmias because not all home monitors are accurate with these conditions.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, happens when your blood pushes with too much force against your blood vessels. About half of all adults in the United States have high blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association. Many people don’t even know they have high blood pressure because they don’t feel any symptoms. A routine checkup with your health care provider can help detect whether you have it or not.
If you’re diagnosed with high blood pressure, it’s a good idea to regularly check your blood pressure at home. Checking your blood pressure helps your doctor know if lifestyle changes or medications are working. Besides measuring your blood pressure at home, your doctor will check it each time you have an office visit. The American Heart Association also recommends that you bring your blood pressure monitor to your doctor appointments, so your physician can check its accuracy.
Blood pressure monitors work by inflating and then squeezing your arm. This stops the flow of blood for a few seconds. Once the cuff deflates, blood starts flowing through your arm again. The monitor automatically records the upper and lower numbers of your blood pressure. The top number is known as the systolic pressure, and the bottom number is the diastolic pressure.
READ:
Foods for Hypertension
Tips for Using a Blood Pressure Monitor
When taking your blood pressure at home, you should follow these tips to get the most accurate readings:
- Check your blood pressure at the same time each day. Take two readings one minute apart.
- Avoid smoking, caffeine or exercise 30 minutes before taking your blood pressure.
- Empty your bladder before taking a blood pressure reading.
- Sit quietly in a chair that supports your back and allows you to sit upright. Keep your feet flat on the floor and your arm supported on a table or other flat surface.
Read:
Exercises for People With Hypertension
When choosing an at-home blood pressure monitor, you want to consider what features are important to you as well as the cost of the monitor.
First, consider asking your doctor or pharmacist what device they recommend. You can also check to see if the American Medical Association has validated the device. This can help ensure you get a more accurate result.
The AMA recommends choosing a monitor with an upper arm cuff rather than a wrist device that has a higher chance of errors due to wrong positioning. If your arm is larger or smaller than average, choose a model with alternate size cuffs. In some cases, cuffs that don’t fit correctly may give inaccurate readings.
Monitors that link with an app on your smartphone allow you to share your results digitally with your family members or doctors. If you want to share your monitor with another family member, make sure to purchase one that stores two profiles. For those concerned about portability, you may want to purchase a wrist model to take with you when traveling. Just remember, these may not be as accurate as an arm cuff.
See:
Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure.
Because hypertension does not cause symptoms, you’ll need to check your blood pressure on a regular basis. If you’ve just been diagnosed, your doctor may recommend that you check your blood pressure twice a day (two readings in the morning and two readings in the evening) for a week or so.
Share these readings with your doctor, and they will let you know if you can adjust the time or number of checks each day. Ask your doctor what your target blood pressure number is, and what to do if your readings at home are higher than this number.
While you won’t feel symptoms, certain factors may increase your risk of high blood pressure, including:
- Age. Blood pressure tends to increase with age. Blood vessel walls get stiff and thicken over time, which increases the risk of high blood pressure.
- Family history. Certain genes may increase your risk of high blood pressure.
- Race. Black people may have higher blood pressure and get it earlier in life than Hispanic, Asian or White people.
- Gender. In middle-aged people, men are more likely than women to develop high blood pressure. But in older adults, women are more likely to get it than men. Women who have high blood pressure during pregnancy may be more likely to develop it again later in life.
- Lifestyle. Drinking too much caffeine or alcohol or eating unhealthy foods may increase your risk for high blood pressure. Lack of sleep or physical activity, as well as too much stress can also increase your risk.
- Medications. Taking stimulants like methamphetamine, hormonal birth control pills or anti-inflammatory drugs can increase your blood pressure.
- Certain health conditions. People with diabetes, chronic kidney disease or metabolic syndrome have an increased risk of experiencing high blood pressure.
Talk with your doctor if you believe any of these factors may impact your blood pressure.
Not all home blood pressure monitors are the same. After purchasing a monitor, it’s a good idea to take it to your next doctor appointment. There, you can see how its reading compares to the one taken with the doctor’s cuff. Continue taking your monitor to a doctor appointment at least once a year to ensure the readings are accurate.
If you get a reading on your home blood pressure monitor that’s higher or lower than usual, don’t change your medication regimen. Instead, keep track of your readings and share them with your doctor regularly. Follow your doctor’s recommendation for any changes in your blood pressure medication dosage.
If you have atrial fibrillation or other heart arrhythmias, a home blood pressure monitor may not give accurate readings. Ask your doctor for the best way to monitor these conditions at home.
While high blood pressure is more common in adults, children and teens may also develop it. About one in seven children in the U.S. may have higher than normal blood pressure, according to the American Heart Association. High blood pressure in children may be more likely among boys than girls and children who are obese or overweight. Most blood pressure monitors are designed for adults, but some OTC blood pressure monitors come with cuffs that fit children. Ask your child's pediatrician what they recommend for home monitoring.
The following lifestyle tips may help reduce your blood pressure naturally:
- Eat a healthy diet. Experts recommend the DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) and Mediterranean diets for people with high blood pressure.
- Try to do moderate exercise, such as walking quickly, for a total of 150 minutes weekly.
- Watch how much alcohol you drink. Experts say women should not have more than one drink per day, and men should limit themselves to two drinks a day.
- Practice stress-reduction techniques such as meditation, journaling or yoga.
- Talk to your doctor about dietary supplements such as vitamin C, vitamin D, Coenzyme Q10 or garlic.
If you have a single reading that’s higher than your usual number, write it down. Then check your blood pressure a second time. Call your doctor if it’s still higher than expected. Your doctor will say whether you need to be seen for an appointment or make any adjustments to your treatment.
A situation known as hypertensive urgency may happen if your blood pressure rises to 180/120 mmHg without any symptoms. If this happens, wait five minutes and recheck your blood pressure. If it’s still high, contact your doctor right away.
If your blood pressure is 180/120 mmHg or higher and you have any of the symptoms below, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
- Shortness of breath.
- Chest or back pain.
- Change in your vision.
- Problems speaking.
- Numbness or weakness.
This could be a hypertensive emergency. Don’t wait for your blood pressure to come down before seeking help.
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Methodology
The Best OTC Medicine & Health Products are based on the reviews of nearly 500 independent pharmacists and dermatologists.
U.S. News partnered with The Harris Poll, a global market research and consulting firm with more than 65 years of experience conducting surveys. For the 2025 rankings, The Harris Poll randomly assigned 133 over-the-counter categories of health or personal care products to 357 pharmacists and 134 dermatologists who practice in the U.S. and asked them to rank their top three brands for each category based on what products they would most recommend to consumers.
Independence and transparency
Across the 133 categories that were evaluated, each category included between five and 10 products representing their respective brands that could be ranked. More than 1,100 products were included in the survey. The products included in each category were selected to represent their respective brands based on input by several independent pharmacists and dermatologists on our
Medical Review Board. The list of products were finalized by the health editorial team to ensure all products can be purchased without a prescription and are readily available at most pharmacies or pharmacy sections of grocery stores in the U.S.
We independently evaluate the products we recommend. Brands do not pay to be included or ranked in our survey. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. The dermatologists and pharmacists who participated in the survey were paid a small honorarium by The Harris Poll for their time.
OTC category winners
Pharmacists and dermatologists selected their top three brands from representative products in each OTC category assigned to them. At least 112 dermatologists evaluated each skincare-related category and at least 108 pharmacists evaluated each of the other categories. For each evaluation, the top-ranked brand received 5 points, the second-place brand was awarded 3 points and the third-place brand earned 1 point. All unranked brands were given 0 points. Points were averaged for each brand. The results were then rescaled so the winner in each category scored 100 points, and the scores for other brands were expressed as percentages of the top score. Brands were then ranked according to their rescaled scores. Scores were rounded to the nearest whole number.
Category winners and brands that scored within the margin of error of the category winner and achieved a score of 80 or higher were given a Gold Badge in that category. The results: 196 brands received a Gold Badge. In total, 849 products are displayed. Brands that received a score of less than 10 were not included in the final display list. See our full methodology here.
