Dr for High Blood Pressure: Normal Readings and When to Get Help

A dr for high blood pressure is usually your GP, who can check your readings, work out your risk of heart attack and stroke, and manage treatment over time. Much of that care, from reviewing home readings to requesting blood tests, can be done by telehealth.

Key takeaways

• High blood pressure rarely gives warning signs, so measuring it is the only way to know.
• A clinic reading of 140/90 or more, or a home average of 135/85 or more, is high.
• Healthy habits help everyone; medicines are added when readings or heart risk stay high.
• A GP, including by telehealth, can confirm the diagnosis, arrange tests and manage treatment.

What High Blood Pressure Means for Your Body

High blood pressure, or hypertension, means blood pushes too hard against your artery walls, straining your heart and blood vessels over time. Knowing how to read blood pressure is simple: the top number (systolic) is the pressure as your heart beats, and the bottom number (diastolic) as it rests between beats.

A dr for high blood pressure reads these bands as a guide, because one high reading isn't a diagnosis. At home, 135/85 or more is high, and if your two numbers fall in different rows, the higher row applies.

Diagnosing High Blood Pressure When There Are No Symptoms

High blood pressure rarely causes symptoms, so most people only find out when it's measured. Common symptoms people expect, such as headaches or nosebleeds, usually appear only when it's very high. Low blood pressure, below about 90/60, only needs a check if it makes you dizzy or faint.

A diagnosis rests on several readings, such as two each morning and evening for a week at home, or a monitor worn for 24 hours.

Online treatment for high blood pressure is practical once those readings are in. A dr for high blood pressure on a telehealth consult can't take your blood pressure over the phone, so you take a reading at home on a validated monitor or have one taken at a pharmacy, and the doctor can request blood tests for your kidneys, cholesterol and blood sugar. If you take herbal or traditional remedies, including traditional Chinese medicines, for high blood pressure, mention them, as a few interact with prescribed medicines. Together you'll plan how to maintain a healthy blood pressure.

Common Causes of Raised Blood Pressure

Most raised blood pressure builds slowly over years from a mix of age, family history and lifestyle. Too much salt, extra weight, alcohol, smoking, too little activity, ongoing stress and poor sleep all push blood pressure levels up, as can some products, including anti-inflammatory pain relievers, decongestants and liquorice.

Doctors for hypertension look for a medical cause when blood pressure rises suddenly, starts young or resists treatment.

The Main Types of Hypertension

Hypertension comes in two main types, primary and secondary. Primary hypertension accounts for about nine in ten adults with high blood pressure and has no single cause. Secondary hypertension is driven by another condition, such as kidney disease, a hormone problem, sleep apnoea or a medicine, and can ease once that is treated.

Doctors for hypertension also use home or 24 hour readings to spot masked hypertension, where readings are high only at home, and the white coat effect, where they're high only at the clinic.

How a Dr for High Blood Pressure Treats It

Treatment starts with lifestyle changes for almost everyone, with medicine added when readings or heart risk stay high. Cutting salt, moving most days, losing a little weight and drinking less can each lower blood pressure levels by a few points.

If medication is needed, your doctor usually starts with a low dose and adjusts it over a few weeks, checking your kidney function with blood tests. The usual target is below 140/90, lower if your heart risk is high, while a normal blood pressure reading in Australia sits under 130/85. Regular reviews and repeat scripts keep treatment on track.

How Regular Checks Catch Raised Blood Pressure Early

Regular checks catch raised blood pressure years before it does harm. Adults should have a check at least every two years from age 18, and more often with diabetes, smoking or a family history of heart disease; a GP, a pharmacist or a home monitor can do it.

Learning how to read blood pressure at home makes those checks more useful: sit quietly for five minutes, back supported and arm at heart height, then take two readings a minute apart. Compare yours with a normal blood pressure reading in the table above, remembering that a home blood pressure reading in Australia counts as high from 135/85.

Heart and Stroke Risks of Untreated Hypertension

Untreated hypertension slowly damages your artery walls, raising the risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and harm to your kidneys and eyes. It is one of the biggest risk factors for stroke.

People often ask what is the average BP for their age. Blood pressure tends to rise with age, but risk from hypertension climbs with every step up, so the useful question is whether yours sits under 140/90 at the clinic and 135/85 at home. Lowering it cuts these risks at any age.

Signs It Is Time to See a Dr for High Blood Pressure

It's time to see a GP about your blood pressure when your home average reaches 135/85, a clinic reading is 140/90 or higher, or it hasn't been checked in two years. Go sooner if you have diabetes, kidney disease or a strong family history of heart disease, or if lifestyle changes haven't helped. If you're pregnant, call your midwife or maternity unit straight away about a high reading.

The best time to take blood pressure readings is in the morning before breakfast or medicines, and again in the evening. Your doctor will want to know what is the average BP across a week, so bring the whole log to your telehealth appointment.

Call 000 if a reading is 180/110 or higher with chest pain, a severe headache, breathlessness, confusion, weakness or trouble speaking. A very high reading without those signs still needs a doctor the same day.

Summary

High blood pressure rarely causes symptoms, so regular checks and a week of home readings are the surest way to know your numbers, and lifestyle changes, with medicine where it's needed, bring them down. A Medio GP can be your dr for high blood pressure by phone: they can go through your home or pharmacy readings, give advice, request blood tests, and send an eScript or a referral if they think it's right for you. Seeing a dr for high blood pressure early, before damage builds, protects your heart, brain and kidneys.

Frequently asked questions

What is the recommended diet for people with high blood pressure?

The recommended diet for people with high blood pressure is built on vegetables, fruit, wholegrains, legumes, nuts, reduced-fat dairy and fish, with less salt and processed food, ideally under 5 g of salt a day.

How to take a dog's blood pressure?

A dog's blood pressure is taken by a vet, with a small cuff on a leg or the tail once the dog has settled. Medio's doctors treat people, not pets, so see your vet.

Can a doctor help with dr for high blood pressure?

Yes. Your GP can be your dr for high blood pressure, confirming whether your blood pressure is high, looking for a cause and managing treatment. By phone the doctor works from your home or pharmacy readings and says if you need to be seen in person.

What causes high blood pressure in children?

High blood pressure in children is uncommon and more often caused by another condition, such as a problem with the kidneys, heart or hormones, though extra weight is a growing cause. Children need an in-person check with their own GP or a paediatrician; Medio sees adults only.

What are the top 5 best blood pressure medications?

There is no top five list, because the best blood pressure medications are the ones that suit you, chosen by your doctor from several groups. Most people take blood pressure medication once a day, and all are prescription only in Australia.

What is the safest high blood pressure pill?

No single pill is the safest for everyone. Each group of blood pressure medicines has its own side effects, and there are no worst blood pressure medications either, only ones that don't suit a particular person.