Why Do People Feel Nervous When Measuring Blood Pressure? How to Cope with It?

If anxiety is caused every time blood pressure is measured, it is a normal psychological reaction. Patients often feel numbness in their scalp and may also experience anxiety and stress when visiting a hospital. These are all normal psychological responses. Therefore, when visiting a hospital, it is important to maintain a calm and pleasant mood to facilitate better examination. Anxiety can trigger the excitement of the sympathetic nervous system and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, leading to an increased heart rate and blood pressure. When emotionally tense, the sympathetic nervous system becomes excited, increasing the secretion of catecholamines, which raises peripheral vascular resistance and blood pressure, resulting in inaccurate blood pressure measurements. There is a type of hypertension known as white coat hypertension, which occurs when patients become nervous when seeing doctors in white coats, causing an elevation in blood pressure. However, blood pressure readings taken at home or through ambulatory blood pressure monitoring are typically within normal ranges. Therefore, it is recommended to rest quietly for 5 minutes before measuring blood pressure. If anxiety is easily triggered, it is advisable to have a family member accompany you. Avoid drinking coffee or strong tea before measuring blood pressure. An alternative is to purchase an electronic blood pressure monitor to measure blood pressure at home. Many patients experience white coat hypertension when their blood pressure is measured in a hospital, especially in a clinic setting, often resulting in higher readings than those taken at home. In such cases, self-monitoring at home may be a better option. Another excellent method is to undergo ambulatory blood pressure monitoring at the hospital, which provides average blood pressure readings for the day, night, and the entire 24-hour period, excluding inaccuracies caused by anxiety.