WHITE COAT SYNDROME | How to lower Blood Pressure at Doctors office
WHITE COAT SYNDROME | How to lower Blood Pressure at Doctors office
If you have white coat syndrome, having your blood pressure taken at the doctor’s office can give unreliably high results. This video will discuss how to lower blood pressure before your doctor appointment.
What is white coat syndrome? Being in a clinical setting causes someone with white coat syndrome such anxiety it makes their blood pressure go up substantially before having their blood pressure taken. But at home or in their normal surroundings they have normal blood pressure.
This phenomenon is not just restricted to seeing a doctor in a white coat, but being in a clinical setting in general is enough to raise your blood pressure. Other things can make your blood pressure get unusually high at the doctors such as fear of needles, a social anxiety and even exercising before the appointment.
In this video I (Clare from Generation Calm) talk about white coat syndrome, how to overcome white coat syndrome and some simple tips on how to lower blood pressure at the doctor’s.
Learn how to relax when having blood pressure taken. Something as simple as breathing exercises for anxiety can help you to reduce your blood pressure naturally and calm your anxiety enough to get a normal blood pressure reading.
I have another follow-up video for White Coat Syndrome here: • White coat syndrome - The psychologic…
Disclaimer: This information should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health condition or disease and is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or healthcare provider.
Generation Calm is where you can become a master at reducing your stress and anxiety naturally in your own time, so you can keep your body and mind feeling great. Remember to hit the LIKE button and SUBSCRIBE for a new video every week @ / @generationcalm
Music “Easy Lemon (30 second)” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b…
Content
0.03 -> This video will help you to relax when
having your blood pressure taken at the
4.02 -> doctor's and it's especially helpful if
you have white coat syndrome, if you have
9.66 -> a fear of going to the doctors or if you
have a social anxiety. Hello my name is
14.7 -> Clare and welcome to Generation Calm
where you can learn to reduce your
18.75 -> stress and anxiety naturally in your own
time so that your mind and body feel
23.1 -> great. So we're going to be talking
briefly about what is white coat
28.439 -> syndrome but keep watching until the end
because I'm going to give you three tips
32.52 -> that you can use to relax when you next
have your blood pressure taken at the
36.87 -> doctor's. So I recently wrote a blog post
about white coat syndrome and it's when
42.21 -> your blood pressure is
uncharacteristically high when you go to
47.46 -> a clinical setting to go and get your
blood pressure checked even when in a
52.77 -> normal setting your blood pressure is
absolutely normal and that's because the
58.41 -> stress and anxiety that you feel when
going to the doctor's it makes sure your
64.71 -> blood pressure spike, it also makes
other things you know like your heart
67.89 -> rate spike too but when it comes to
blood pressure the numbers are
73.35 -> everything. High blood pressure has no
symptoms so the doctor can only go by
80.909 -> what numbers he's seeing and if every
time you come into the doctor's surgery
84.77 -> you have high blood pressure they're
going to start thinking that you have
89.64 -> high blood pressure or hypertension. So
it's named white coat hypertension or
95.7 -> white coat syndrome because normally a
lot of doctors will wear a white coat.
101.45 -> But it doesn't necessarily mean that
it's the white coats that make you
106.14 -> anxious it is the clinical setting
itself. Now some people might have high
110.85 -> blood pressure readings at a doctor's
compared to at home for other reasons. It
116.34 -> may be that they have a social anxiety
and that means that they get anxious
121.2 -> about talking to the doctors or being
around other people. It might be that
125.549 -> someone has a health anxiety and so
they're worried they're going to get bad
129.27 -> news when they go to the clinic. It might
be something completely random
133.87 -> like you've ridden your bike to the doctor's
and so your heart rate is up and your
138.099 -> blood pressure's up. So if you suspect
that you have white coat syndrome and
142.629 -> that means that your blood pressure only
gets super-high when you're in a
147.04 -> clinical setting whereas it's normal at
home then I encourage you to talk to
151.48 -> your doctor about having a 24-hour
monitor. If that's not possible
156.43 -> try and get yourself an at home blood
pressure monitor and if that's still not
161.2 -> possible then try an in-store Public
blood pressure monitor. The only trouble
167.23 -> with those is that maybe the cuff's gonna
be too big and if you get anxious going
171.4 -> to the doctors you might get anxious
being inside a store public publicly
176.23 -> having your blood pressure taken. This
gives a more accurate reading of what
180.849 -> your blood pressure is normally and not
just what it's like when you're
184.78 -> interacting with nursing staff. And
thirdly if you do have to rely on a
190 -> clinic to have your blood pressure taken
then I recommend that you use the
194.349 -> guidelines that are put out there by the
American Heart Association. So they
199.81 -> recommend that you make sure you've hadnno caffeine and you haven't smoked for
206.26 -> at least 30 minutes prior to your
appointment make sure to keep your
211.269 -> cuffed arm rested on a table and keep it
about heart level. Keep your feet flat
220.12 -> and planted on the ground keep your back
straight and make sure that you don't
225.489 -> talk to the physician. Now I encourage
you to ask them to retake it in a
232.87 -> minutes time and even if possible maybe
towards the end of the appointment so
239.44 -> that you get a comparison reading of
before and after. And there are other
243.579 -> things you can do to help yourself when
you are having a blood pressure taken at
248.47 -> the doctors and one of those is taking a
book with you or listening to some music,
253.62 -> making sure you get there early so that
you're not feeling rushed and you have
258.28 -> time for your for your blood pressure to
come down naturally. And that also gives
262.719 -> you the opportunity to try out some
relaxation techniques and I've
266.55 -> got three that you should try for your
next visit to the doctor's. The first one
270.99 -> is the mindfulness technique called the
5 4 3 2 1.
275.009 -> When you look for five things in
environment that you can look at. And
279.05 -> then notice 4 things that you can
hear. Three things that you can feel 2
286.229 -> things that you can smell and one thing
that you can taste. Now this is designed
293.37 -> to keep you focused on the present
moment what's going on around you what's
300.18 -> going on inside of you and to take you
away from those intrusive thoughts that
306.569 -> can happen when you go to the clinical
settings. So the second technique that
311.46 -> you can try while in a doctor's surgery
to bring down your blood pressure is a
315.99 -> breathing technique. You breathe in for 4
counts, you hold it for one and then
322.199 -> breathe out for six counts. If you can't
remember the numbers don't worry about
327.15 -> it always breathe out for longer then
you breathe in. This really helps you to
334.039 -> put yourself back in control and create
that calm for yourself and it's amazing
340.919 -> how quickly a breathing technique can
bring down your blood pressure. And
345.12 -> finally repeat a positive word or phrase
- some people call that a mantra. Something
353.25 -> like 'I am at peace' or 'I am safe', 'I am
healthy strong and full of vitality'.
364.37 -> Repeat this to yourself silently in your
head as your blood pressure is being
369.539 -> taken. And join me next week as I upload
5 5-minute meditations for 5 days next
377.94 -> week and they're all designed to help
reduce your blood blood pressure and put
383.789 -> you in control of starting your stress
management program. Thanks for watching.
