Rochester, Minnesota - Using a blood pressure cuff that's too large or too small can give you inaccurate blood pressure readings. Your doctor's office should have several sizes of cuffs to ensure an accurate blood pressure reading.

Also, when you measure your blood pressure at home, it's important to use the proper size cuff. Having a properly fitting cuff is important because poorly fitting cuffs won't give accurate blood pressure measurements.

If you're concerned about the size of your cuff or your blood pressure readings, talk to your doctor. He or she may check your blood pressure several times with the same, appropriately sized, cuff in the same arm. Averaging multiple readings taken during the same visit should give your "true" blood pressure at that point in time.