Commonly used arm positions can overestimate blood pressure readings: study

I'm convinced most people take BP wrong.

Here's how:

Lie down on a bed on your back, and put the cuff on your arm and get the 'button' within reach of your finger to turn it on. Then completely relax (and DO NOT move) with soft music or whatever. Then without moving your body at all, after 10 minutes (at least) push the button to start the pressurization and reading.

This gives an accurate reading and is often DRAMATICALLY lower than if you don't do it this way. I was convinced I had super high potentially life-threatening BP until I learned this.

Now if you want to see I'm right, get up and walk around some and then sit back down and take another reading. It will be noticeably higher, because your heart starts pumping harder even from minimal movement.

I've heard that for some people it's exactly the opposite. Standard procedure, IIRC, is to have the arm resting in a position that puts the cuff right about even with your heart. But some people get really big jumps in BP when supine, and I've heard it suggested that doctors might want to start doing their BP tests in that position because those people may not get diagnosed correctly despite spending a third of every day with high blood pressure.