Regarding white coat hypertension, the shot isn’t always necessary. Some people’s blood pressure just goes up from the stress of the clinical setting.
I had a doc appointment a couple of weeks ago. My wife was driving and we were running late, so I was getting stressed about missing the appointment on top of being stressed about going to see the doctor. There was a lot of traffic so I decided to get out at a red light and run to my appointment while my wife parked the car. I only barely made it and the first thing they did was take my pressure. They took it twice, because at the first they were like, this can't be right. When I explained, they asked if I had a blood pressure monitor at home so I could take my own pressure at a more quiet moment.
The guidelines for taking blood pressure state you should be sitting quietly for 5 minutes beforehand, something that almost never happens at the doctor's.
Mine constantly asks me questions during my measurements. I thought one wasn't supposed to be talking during the readings either?
A PA explained to me once: they’re taught you have to sneak quietly into a room where the patient has been sitting in the dark listening to soothing music for 15 minutes and take their BP measurement without them noticing. Goals.
Hard not to notice the squeeze from a pressure cuff.