Blood Pressure Checker
Enter your systolic and diastolic values to see your AHA blood pressure category.
Blood Pressure Checker
Blood Pressure Checker places a systolic and diastolic reading against the American Heart Association categories, so you can see which range a measurement falls into.
How to use it
- Enter your systolic (top) number.
- Enter your diastolic (bottom) number.
- Read the category the reading falls into.
The AHA categories
Normal is below 120 systolic and below 80 diastolic. Elevated is 120 to 129 systolic with diastolic still below 80. Stage 1 hypertension is 130 to 139 systolic or 80 to 89 diastolic. Stage 2 is 140 or above, or 90 or above.
A reading above 180 systolic or above 120 diastolic is a hypertensive crisis and needs immediate medical attention, not a calculator. Note that the categories use or, not and, so a single high number is enough to place a reading in a category.
Worked example
The default reading:
- Systolic118
- Diastolic76
Result: Both below the thresholds, so the reading falls in the normal range.
When it helps
- Understanding where a home reading sits.
- Tracking readings over time to see a trend.
- Making sense of a category a clinician has mentioned.
- Checking whether a reading warrants a call to a doctor.
Common mistakes
- Judging by a single reading. Blood pressure varies hour to hour, and diagnosis is based on repeated measurements taken properly.
- Measuring straight after coffee, exercise or stress, all of which raise it temporarily.
- Using the wrong cuff size, which is one of the most common causes of inaccurate home readings.
What this tool handles
- Not medical advice and not a diagnosis. If a reading exceeds 180/120, seek immediate medical attention. Discuss any concerning readings with a doctor.
