Hypertension Blog

When your hypertensive patient begins an exercise program, teach him about the prescribed exercise. Monitor his exercise tolerance and continue to regularly measure his blood pressure.During your patient teaching, tell him to exercise at the same time every day. Instruct him to wear loose-fitting clothing and to wear shoes that properly support his feet. If his exercise consists of walking, tell him to walk at a comfortable pace on level ground. Also, urge him to carry identification and a list of the drugs he’s taking.

Hypertensive patients with other health problems may need special devices, such as braces or splints, to assist them in an exercise program. Assess your patient’s overall physical status and consult with a physical therapist or cardiac rehabilitation specialist for exercise suggestions.

To help your patient adapt his exercise program to his needs and tolerance level, advise him to measure his pulse rate before and immediately after he exercises. He can use his pulse as a guide to increasing or decreasing his activity. Also, tell him to assess himself after 5 minutes of exercise. He should feel warm, not hot and sweating.

Until the patient knows his exercise tolerance, he should exercise with someone else. Instruct him to stop exercising if he becomes extremely tired, short of breath, dizzy, or light-headed. If he develops chest pain, palpitations, or tingling, numbness, or pain in his arms or legs, he should stop exercising and contact his physician. Tell him to seek emergency care if any of these symptoms persists for more than 15 minutes after the exercise activity is stopped.

Review the key elements of the exercise program with your patient. Provide suggestions to help him comply with the plan and stress the importance of exercise for managing his hypertension. Encourage him to do exercises that he enjoys so that he’ll be more likely to do them regularly.

Advise your patient to set realistic goals and advance his exercise program at his own pace. To ensure compliance, suggest that he join a walking group such as one that walks in malls.

Monitor the success of your patient’s exercise program by checking his blood pressure and resting heart rate weekly. If his blood pressure decreases, emphasize the success of the exercise program to encourage continued compliance.