Blood pressure readings differ in left and right arm.

Question

Yesterday I had a nurse check my blood pressure and my right arm reads 112/72 and my left arm read 127/93.  When I take my pressure at home, sometimes I cannot even get a reading on my left arm...it gives me an error reading.  When I do get a reading on my left arm, the bottom reading is usually about 10 to 20 pts. above my right arm.

tom_h · Answer

My cardiologist always takes readings in both arms, they're always different, and the response is always, "Hmmh!".  I hate when he does that! 8-)

curmudgen · Answer

If you search the internet for "different blood pressure right and left arm" you will find that the greater the difference is an indication of increased risk for vascular disease. Another diagnostic tool the doctors use.

Mom2four85 · Answer

mine is never the same in both arms; but dr's know and think it's from my heart problems & ans issues

CFS56 · Answer

Don't want to alarm anybody but my husband had higher readings in one arm.  He had 2 aneurysms one in the aorta and other in the iliac artery.  Since the repair they have both been the same.

is_something_wrong · Answer

Funny you wrote that post, I wondered about the same yesterday as my pulse felt different in the arms. It wasn't correct, though, they were equal.

Seems like there are some error in the readings. There are conditions that causes different BP in the arms, some of them are serious (narrowed aorta arch, but this would give higher right than left, or atherosclerosis in the left arm artery, or "subclavian steal syndrome" which causes dizziness).

Though it seems really strange that diastolic is 21 pts higher and systolic is only 15 pts. A narrowed artery would probably give the opposite effect. Could it be that you are aware of this and anxious when you measure the left arm? 

Get a doctor to check the both simultanously with 2 monitors. Other causes may be misreadings because your left arm is thicker (false higher readings), blood vessels are differently positioned, or so.

Good luck! Please keep us updated on the findings.