Do You Suffer from White Coat Hypertension?
White Coat Hypertension Explained
White coat hypertension is a condition that not all medical professionals can agree on. Some physicians feel that white coat hypertension is a real and legitimate concern while others feel that you should try to monitor blood pressure in circumstances that mimic everyday life. Below you’ll learn more about white coat hypertension and what you can do about it.
What is White Coat Hypertension?
White coat hypertension explains the experience that some patients have when getting their blood pressure tested: high blood pressure at the doctor’s office (the place where doctors wear “white coats”) and normal blood pressure readings at home. It’s important to rule out the possibility of white coat hypertension before aggressively treating high blood pressure.
Some physicians firmly believe that getting blood pressure tested in the doctor’s office is an accurate indicator of blood pressure. However, other physicians disagree. If you are usually in a hurry to get to your doctor’s office or you tend to get nervous and uneasy at the doctor’s office, you are a likely candidate for white coat hypertension.
Digging Deeper
If you always have a high blood pressure reading at the doctor’s office but aren’t totally convinced you suffer from high blood pressure, then you might want to investigate the matter further.
You can purchase a home blood pressure monitor and take readings yourself. You can also request a blood pressure monitor that you would wear for a period of time that would automatically record your blood pressure at predetermined intervals throughout the day. The results can give you a better indication of whether or not you suffer from white coat hypertension.
Why Does It Matter?
If you really don’t have high blood pressure and just have white coat hypertension, you might start taking medicine that does more harm than good. Taking medication unnecessarily is never wise.
With certain high blood pressure readings, medication might be necessary and there won’t be time to record blood pressure readings over multiple days. It really depends on how high your blood pressure is.