Kickdrum Heart

I was at my PCP recently and taking my blood pressure is always a challenge.  My upper arm is short so the blood pressure cuff is too long for it, and my upper arm is too big for a child sized cuff.  Typically it is best using a manual cuff instead of automatic but many places don't use them anymore.  So my PCP and I were thinking through options and he suggested I purchase a wrist cuff that I can take with me to various providers and to also measure my blood pressure on my own if the wrist cuff reads differently than a standard cuff I'll have at least established a baseline to see when it is low or high.

My PCP worked in a military hospital and shared about measuring blood pressure on individuals with prosthetic limbs, and in some cases needing to measure on a thigh or ankle if an arm wasn't available.  So I asked how you measure blood pressure on an individual missing all four limbs and he said "you don't" which surprised and saddened me.  I would have thought it could be measured on your torso.  Thinking about it more the whole process seems so antiquated to me, filling a cuff wrapped around your arm with air and then counting the sounds you hear with a stethoscope as the air is released from the cuff.  With all of the advances in medical technology it is strange to me that another way to measure blood pressure hasn't been developed.  

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