High blood pressure, or hypertension, increases your risk for health problems including stroke, cardiovascular disease, and myocardial infarction (heart attack). Many people monitor their blood pressure to make sure that it’s not too high, but is it possible for your blood pressure to be too low?
Low blood pressure can be a good thing, but this isn't always the case. Talk to your doctor if your normal blood pressure is less than 90/60. Click To TweetWhat is hypotension?
Low blood pressure is often viewed as a positive thing. People who exercise regularly usually have lower blood pressure readings than those who live a sedentary lifestyle, for example. People understand that high blood pressure comes with a number of health risks, so the assumption is that the opposite — low blood pressure — must be good. While it’s possible to have a low blood pressure reading without any negative symptoms, low blood pressure can cause problems for some people.
Hypotension is basically the opposite of hypertension. Where hypertension is an abnormally high blood pressure, hypotension is an abnormally low blood pressure.
A systolic pressure reading under 90 mmHg and a diastolic pressure reading below 60 mmHg (90/60 immHg) is considered hypotension.
What happens if your blood pressure is too low?
There are several reasons why you might have low blood pressure. Blood pressure changes throughout the day. Various factors including stress, sleep, temperature, physical activity levels, and time of day can influence your blood pressure.
Dehydration, medications, bed rest, pregnancy, heart problems, allergic reactions, infections, nutritional deficiencies, and shock can result in low blood pressure.
Generally speaking, low blood pressure is only a problem if it causes symptoms.
Look for symptoms that can accompany low blood pressure:
- nausea
- fatigue
- dizziness
- light-headedness
- weakness
- blurred vision
- fainting or syncope
- confusion
- rapid, shallow breathing
Know when to talk to your doctor.
Low blood pressure isn’t usually something that you need to worry about. A single blood pressure reading below the normal range, without any accompanying symptoms, should not cause panic.
If your blood pressure is consistently less than 90/60 mmHg, talk to your doctor to make sure that he or she is aware of it. Also talk to your doctor if you experience symptoms with low blood pressure. MANA has some of the best doctors in Northwest Arkansas. Schedule an appointment with a healthcare provider in the MANA network today.