What is 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring?
Twenty-four-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a way of measuring and managing high blood pressure (Hypertension). 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is a method to measure blood pressure on a continuous basis. Your BP is measured even as you sleep. The ongoing data helps Dr. Kartik Bhosale to get a more accurate picture of your blood pressure numbers.

What happens during 24-hour blood pressure monitoring?
A digital machine takes your blood pressure by inflating a cuff around your upper arm and then slowly releasing the pressure. The machine is small enough to be worn on a belt on your waist while the cuff stays on your upper arm for the full 24 hours.

The machine then takes blood pressure readings at regular intervals throughout the day: usually, every 15-30 minutes during the daytime and 30-60 minutes at night. You will need to keep the monitor on through the night – you could put the machine under the pillow or on the bed while you sleep.
Because the test is being carried out to find out what your normal daily blood pressure is, it is important to carry on with your normal routine and do all the things you would normally do. The only things you should avoid doing for the day are swimming and having a bath or shower.
At the end of the 24 hours, you can remove the machine and cuff and give it back to the hospital. The machine will have stored all your readings and these will then be analyzed.
What are the benefits associated with 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure monitoring?
Ambulatory monitoring can rule out white coat hypertension so that people aren’t given unnecessary prescriptions for BP-lowering drugs. It can also detect masked hypertension so that people receive the medications needed for high blood pressure. The incidence of stroke, heart disease, and organ damage due to hypertension can be reduced among those patients. Ambulatory monitoring may also be useful in evaluating a patient’s response to long-acting antihypertensive medications