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When you go for your annual health check the nurse or doctor may want to take your blood pressure.
They will take your blood pressure using a blood pressure monitor.
Blood pressure machines do not all look the same.
- You can get one with a button.
- You can get one which the nurse or doctor needs to pump by hand.
Your blood pressure helps your doctor or nurse to know whether your heart is working well.
Your heart does a very important job, it pushes blood the through your body.
Your heart pumps blood to every part of your body in tubes called arteries. The blood presses on the side of the arteries, this is called blood pressure.
When you are having your blood pressure taken, the doctor or nurse will put a cuff around the top of your arm.
The doctor or nurse may ask you to relax your arm on something like a cushion. You will need to keep your arm still.
Once the nurse or doctor has taken your blood pressure reading, the cuff will get loose again.
Your doctor or nurse will tell you about your blood pressure reading.