Easy and Accurate Blood Pressure Readings at Home with Omron HEM-780

When I was about 30 weeks pregnant I was diagnosed with preeclampsia, a disease marked in part by increased blood pressure. After a couple of hospitalizations my doctor agreed to let me home on bed rest so long as I could monitor my blood pressure at home. So the Omron HEM-780 Blood Pressure Monitor became my companion.

The Basics
The Omron HEM-780 Blood Pressure Monitor is an automatic inflating blood pressure cup. It operates on either 4 AA batteries (included) or with an AC adapter (also included). The soft cuff fits on the upper left arm and is adjustable with Velcro for arms 9” - 17” in diameter. The large display is easy to read and includes systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well as displaying your pulse. The monitor holds the last 90 readings and are marked with the date and time. Everything fits easily inside the hard plastic case for easy storage. The Omron HEM-780 Blood Pressure Monitor comes with a 5 year warranty.

My Experience
I did absolutely no research on blood pressure monitors before this one was purchased. Heck, I didn’t even buy it. My mother went down to CVS for me, talked the to the pharmacist and selected this one.

I played with it a little and discovered it was very easy to use. The cuff is marked on the label with arrows pointing to your shoulder and elbow so it is easy to put on properly. A small area on the elbow edge of the cuff is marked in green. That area needs to go over your brachial artery, which is on the inside of the upper arm. Then all you need to do is turn it on and then press the start button. The blood pressure cuff automatically inflates and then deflates to display the blood pressure and pulse.

One minor problem I had was that sometimes the blood pressure monitor would not inflate enough to take a correct reading. The cuff needs to inflate sufficiently above your systolic pressure to give the correct reading. To override the automatic inflation instead of simply pressing the start button you can hold the start button to inflate to the pressure you need.

Once I was comfortable with use my new “toy” I took it with my to several doctor’s appointments to make sure I was getting accurate readings. My doctor was pleased with the results that my blood pressure monitor was getting. Of course the readings taken by the nurse and the ones from my monitor did vary slightly, but they difference was less 5% and my doctor was pleased with correlation.

I used this blood pressure monitor about 6 times a day for a month. I was confident that I was getting accurate readings. My blood pressure would be higher after my shower and fall dramatically when I would lie on my left side. The Omron HEM-780 Blood Pressure Monitor is incredibly easy to use. The memory feature is great for keeping track of how my pressures changed over the day or over the course of several days.

Final Thoughts
I had no idea how much my mother paid for this monitor until I went on-line today. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that CVS online was charging $110 for the Omron HEM-780 Blood Pressure Monitor, but it can be purchased from Omron for $75. Once I was over the sticker shock, I have to say it was worth every penny. Being able to keep accurate track of my blood pressure allowed me to spend more time at home and keep my doctor informed of any changes. If you need to keep track of your blood pressure at home the Omron HEM-780 Blood Pressure Monitor makes it easy and accurate.