Where to Get Your Blood Pressure Checked in Davie and Plantation

You can have your blood pressure checked at a doctor’s office or other health care setting, at a pharmacy with a digital monitor, at home with a monitor of your own, at some fire stations — and at a walk-in clinic. Which one is right depends on why you are checking. This guide covers each place, how to get a reading worth trusting, how often adults should be checked, and when a high number means going in today.

UrgentMed checks blood pressure as a walk-in visit at its Davie and Plantation clinics, seven days a week — see the blood pressure check page for what the visit includes.

Where can I get my blood pressure checked?

• A doctor’s office or other health care setting. The place for a diagnosis and for any long-term treatment — high blood pressure is managed over months by a physician who knows you.
• A pharmacy with a digital monitor. Convenient for a quick number. The reading counts only when the cuff fits your upper arm and you sit the way you would for any reading (below).
• At home, with your own monitor. The American Heart Association recommends an automatic, cuff-style monitor that goes on the upper arm and has been validated — validatebp.org lists them. Wrist and finger monitors are not recommended; they give less reliable readings.
• Some fire stations. MedlinePlus notes that some fire stations will check it too.
• A walk-in clinic. Both UrgentMed clinics check blood pressure without an appointment, seven days a week. The reading is taken properly, repeated, and interpreted by a provider rather than handed over as a number.

How to get a blood pressure reading you can trust

Most alarming numbers are taken badly, and a single high reading is not hypertension. The CDC’s steps for an accurate reading, at home or anywhere else:

• For half an hour before, do not eat or drink, and avoid smoking, alcohol, caffeine and exercise — each can raise the reading.
• Empty your bladder first.
• Sit in a chair with your back supported, both feet flat on the floor and your legs uncrossed, and rest before the reading.
• Rest your arm on a table so the cuff is at chest height, with the cuff on your bare upper arm and fitting snugly.
• Do not talk while the reading is taken.
• Take at least two readings, a minute or two apart, write them down, and measure at the same time each day.

Decongestants, caffeine, nicotine and stimulants move the number more than most people expect. If you bought a home monitor, the American Heart Association suggests taking it to your next appointment so your health care professional can check that you are using it correctly.

How often should adults have their blood pressure checked?

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening every adult 18 or older for high blood pressure. It suggests a check every year for adults 40 or older and for anyone at increased risk, and every 3 to 5 years for adults 18 to 39 who are not at increased risk and have had a normal reading before. Before treatment starts, it recommends confirming the diagnosis with readings taken outside the clinic — which is why a week of home readings is worth more to your physician than any single measurement.

What your blood pressure numbers mean

• Normal — under 120/80.
• Elevated — 120 to 129 over under 80.
• Stage 1 hypertension — 130 to 139, or 80 to 89.
• Stage 2 hypertension — 140 or higher, or 90 or higher.
• Severe hypertension — higher than 180 and/or higher than 120.

Those are the American Heart Association categories. For a reading above 180/120, the Association’s advice is to take it again; if it is just as high and you have no symptoms, contact your health care professional — and it still needs to be seen the same day.

When a high reading means going in today

Symptoms decide it more than the number. A high reading with chest pain, shortness of breath, a severe headache, visual change, weakness or numbness on one side, difficulty speaking, or confusion is a medical emergency: call 911, do not drive yourself. A very high reading in someone who feels well is still worth having looked at today, and that is a visit a walk-in clinic is for.

Urgent care is for problems that need attention today but are not life-threatening. If you think you may be having an emergency, call 911 — do not drive yourself.

Having your blood pressure checked at UrgentMed

• Walk in at either clinic, seven days a week, no appointment — Davie at 5149 S University Drive (Renaissance Plaza, just south of Griffin Road) and Plantation at 10199 Cleary Boulevard, Suite 10. Hours, maps and parking, or hold your place online.
• The reading, repeated — taken in both arms where that is informative, and interpreted alongside your pulse, your history and what you have taken today.
• An examination, and an EKG on site when the picture calls for it, read during the visit.
• What to bring: your home readings if you have them, a list of your medications including anything over the counter, and your photo ID.
• A named next step. UrgentMed does not manage high blood pressure over time or adjust long-term medication; the visit ends with a clear answer — your own physician within a defined timeframe, a referral, or a recheck. If you have no physician, say so at the visit.
• Insurance or self-pay. Most major plans are accepted, with benefits verified at check-in; self-pay is welcome and the price is quoted at the front desk before you are seen.