How to Confidently Lower Your Blood Pressure

Unfortunately, there is no quick way to lower blood pressure without medical intervention. The best way to lower blood pressure is with long-term behavioral changes—like reducing stress, getting better sleep, exercising, and eating a low-sodium diet—but this takes time. Certain medications can also help.

It's possible to get an artificially high blood pressure reading at home. Making sure you correctly measure your blood pressure is key and can lower your results immediately.

In this article, learn more about how to lower your blood pressure and take an accurate measurement.

How Can You Quickly Get Your Blood Pressure Down?

There is no real way to quickly get your blood pressure down at home. If you have high blood pressure, it's important to make long-term lifestyle and behavioral changes and even consider medication if a healthcare provider recommends it.

Take Your Blood Pressure Reading Correctly

If you're taking your blood pressure at home, it's important to ensure you take it correctly.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the following factors might cause an unusually high blood pressure reading:

• Anxiety or nervousness about having your blood pressure taken (also called white coat syndrome)
• Crossing your legs during the measurement
• Letting your arm droop down your side during the measurement
• Smoking before measurement
• Drinking alcohol or caffeine before measurement
• Exercising or physically exerting yourself in the 30 minutes before measurement

To take your blood pressure accurately, be sure to follow the guidance below:

• Avoid eating or drinking 30 minutes before the measurement.
• Empty your bladder before measurement.
• Sit and rest in a comfortable chair for at least five minutes before the measurement.
• Keep legs uncrossed and feet flat on the floor during the measurement.
• Rest your arm with the cuff on it at chest height on a table or other supportive surface.
• Do not talk during measurement.
• Avoid loud noises in the environment around you during measurement (i.e., turn off the TV and radio and ask others who are present to be quiet).
• Ensure the cuff is positioned correctly against bare skin.

If you get a high blood pressure reading at home, try the steps above again and retake your blood pressure before worrying or calling for medical help. You may find that your blood pressure is significantly lower by using the correct positioning.

Avoid Drinking Coffee Before Measuring

Unlike alcohol, which can raise your blood pressure long-term, caffeine increases your blood pressure temporarily. According to research, your blood pressure can be elevated for up to three hours after drinking coffee.

In order to get the most accurate blood pressure reading, avoid drinking coffee (or any caffeinated beverages) three hours before measurement. The good news is you don't have to cut out coffee entirely.

Stress Reduction Techniques 

A stressful situation can raise your blood pressure temporarily, and chronic stress can raise your blood pressure long term. This is why stress management is one of the best ways to naturally lower blood pressure. However, "stressing less" is easier said than done.

The following stress-reduction techniques may help you lower your blood pressure:

• Deep breathing techniques
• Mindfulness meditation and other mindfulness-based techniques
• Using a planner, calendar, or to-do list for better time management
• Therapy or counseling
• Journaling
• Yoga
• Crafting, walking, or another hobby or meaningful occupation
  

Take Medication 

If you have persistent high blood pressure, your healthcare provider may recommend a medication to lower your blood pressure.

The five types of medication used to lower blood pressure include:

• Thiazide diuretics
• Calcium channel blockers
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors
• Angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs)
• Beta-blockers

It is essential to follow your healthcare provider's instructions with any medication. Often, you have to take blood pressure medication at the same time each day for the best results.

Improve Sleep

Getting poor-quality sleep can increase your risk of high blood pressure. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends six to eight hours of sleep per night to avoid cardiovascular (heart) issues.

If you have trouble getting enough quality sleep, consider talking to your healthcare provider. They may recommend a sleep study to see if there are other underlying causes, like sleep apnea, or lifestyle changes to encourage better sleep habits.

Quit Smoking

Smoking increases your risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. Quitting smoking could make a big difference in your blood pressure.

Even switching to a less harmful alternative, like e-cigarettes, could benefit blood pressure. One study found that smokers that reduced or quit smoking by switching to e-cigarettes effectively lowered their blood pressure long-term.

Reduce Alcohol Consumption

Alcohol can raise your blood pressure. Try to reduce your alcohol consumption, especially if you're already at risk or have high blood pressure. The CDC recommends men drink no more than two alcoholic drinks daily, and women no more than one.

Exercise Regularly

There is strong evidence to support regular exercise and physical activity as a way to lower blood pressure.

The AHA recommends adults get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic physical activity weekly. Two days of muscle-strengthening exercises per week is also recommended.

Some ways to get this exercise in include:

• Water aerobics
• Walking or hiking
• Golf
• Barre, Pilates, or yoga classes
• Weight lifting
• Resistance band exercises
• Dancing
• Running
• Tennis
• Biking
• Swimming

Change Your Diet

People with high blood pressure are often told to eat less salt. Reducing the sodium in your diet can be difficult because many foods that you don't think of as salty actually contain a lot of sodium. You'll have to adjust your diet and monitor food labels; a dietitian can help with this.

According to one systematic review, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is the most effective dietary approach to lowering blood pressure. This diet was created and funded by the National Institute of Health’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and involves limiting sodium to 2,300 milligrams a day; limiting fried, sugary, fatty, and processed foods; and eating more foods that are rich in magnesium, calcium, and potassium.

Lose Weight

If you are overweight and have high blood pressure, losing weight could help normalize your blood pressure. According to the CDC, this is because, with less body fat, your heart will undergo less stress pumping blood throughout the body.

Can Drinking Water Lower Blood Pressure?

Drinking enough water provides us with the optimal amount of fluids for our heart to pump without stressing it. Too little water can cause your blood pressure to lower or rise.

Being dehydrated can cause low blood pressure or orthostatic hypotension (a drop in blood pressure when changing position) due to low blood volume. Chronic dehydration, on the other hand, can lead to high blood pressure because your body reacts by constricting vessels.

Drinking a glass of water likely isn't going to immediately affect your blood pressure. However, maintaining optimal hydration can help manage your blood pressure in the long term.

Taking a Blood Pressure Reading at Home 

If you have high blood pressure, your healthcare provider has probably asked you to monitor your blood pressure at home. Don't worry, you don't have to learn how to use a manual sphygmomanometer. Nowadays, there are plenty of automatic blood pressure monitors that you can use in the comfort of your own home that just require some positioning and the click of a button.

However, the downside is these devices can be less accurate than manual measurement. Be sure to follow the positioning and environmental instructions for accurate results.

You also want to be sure you take your blood pressure at the same time each day and that it is correctly positioned on your arm. Each device is different, so follow the instructions on yours, or ask your healthcare provider to show you how at your next office or home visit.

Normal Blood Pressure By Age 

Normal blood pressure is considered to be less than 120/80 mm Hg. The AHA's blood pressure guidelines do not specify any changes in normal blood pressure recommendations depending on age.

Summary

There are many ways to lower blood pressure, but none is quick. Changes in diet, weight loss, exercise, medication, stress reduction, quitting smoking and alcohol, and improving sleep quality can all lower your blood pressure long term.

In the short term, be sure you are measuring your blood pressure correctly. Incorrect positioning, a full bladder, or physical activity immediately before a measurement can give an artificially high reading.

A Word From Verywell 

Having a high blood pressure reading can be frightening, and it's only natural to look for a quick fix to bring that reading down. Apart from medical intervention in an emergency setting, there is no way to bring blood pressure down quickly. If you want to lower your blood pressure, it's worth putting in the work long term with lifestyle and behavioral changes and any recommended medication.