Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

High blood pressure is often called the "silent killer". However, if you listen carefully you may be able to "hear" some of its symptoms.

High blood pressure is often called the “silent killer” because it has no obvious symptoms…

As a result, people sometimes have no idea of their hypertension until they keel over dead from a heart attack or stroke.

But, in reality, blood pressure elevated high enough to cause serious damage usually displays a number of tell-tale signs that can alert anyone prepared to listen and pay attention to their body.

Any of these symptoms can be evidence of extreme levels of hypertension and they cry the alarm: “Lower your blood pressure now!”

How to “spot” high blood pressure with the eyes…

The silent killer is often revealed by the eyes and vision. It’s not surprising; the eyes are full of a viscous solution which supports a network of fine blood vessels. Highly elevated blood pressure can actually swell and distort the shape of the eyeball resulting in disturbed vision.

This high internal pressure can also make the eye tender to the touch. Even more worryingly, high pressure can cause capillaries in the eyes to burst, resulting in bright red spots or bloodshot eyes. Any of these unmistakeable symptoms - disturbed vision, tender eyes and blood spots - are tell-tale signs of dangerously high blood pressure. Your eyes are literally crying out for lower blood pressure.

Hypertension is all in your head…

Your head is another container holding not only fluid but mostly brain. Of course your head and brain require a network of blood vessels far greater than that of the eyes and like any enclosed system it must be maintained at the right pressure to work properly and avoid injury. We know that one of the most severe consequences of high blood pressure is stroke, a burst blood vessel or clot that affects the blood supply to the brain.

High blood pressure can increase intercranial pressure, a dangerous condition. Because most of us are unable to grow bigger heads we need to lower blood pressure instead.

But before such a dramatic event occurs there is most often a series of micro-events affecting the brain in less obvious ways. That mysterious headache that comes and goes could be a sign of hypertension, especially if it tends to go on for hours or even days.

Other symptoms of high blood pressure affecting the head or brain include dizziness, a flushed face, tinnitus and nosebleeds.

Hardening of the arteries…

Many people may know that chronic hypertension causes atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Constant high pressure on the walls of blood vessels toughens them, making them hard and less flexible. A similar thing happens to the heart; like any overworked muscle, a heart working under high pressure becomes tough and grows in size. An enlarged heart, although extremely dangerous, responds well to lower blood pressure and is able to recover.

While it may be true that hardening of the arteries is hard to detect by an individual until the damage becomes advanced, there is one thing that’s nearly always a certain tip-off of the condition (most often as a consequence of hypertension). Ironically, this tell-tale sign is a softening (a most unwanted softening) of a different body part. Yes, you guessed it…

Erectile dysfunction is often a sign of atherosclerosis and high blood pressure…

Ancient physicians had a good understanding of at least one aspect of the human body when they declared that “circulation is the foundation of all health”. This clearly applies to sexual health as well for, like the brain, the sex organs depend on blood flow. In fact, the male organ won’t even function as designed without a strong and steady supply of blood.

Erectile dysfunction is often a sign of high blood pressure. Lower blood pressure is almost a sure way to turn it "on" again.

This is exactly how viagra and similar drugs work; they use various means to increase blood flow. In fact, they so it so well that some of these drugs are being used to reduce blood pressure, which further demonstrates the connection between blood pressure and erectile dysfunction.

It’s easy to imagine that high blood pressure would increase the ability to have an erection; just think of those long, tubular balloons and you’ll get the idea.

But this is a false analogy. What actually happens is that blood flow becomes restricted by tough, inflexible blood vessels caused by chronic high blood pressure. The only place where pressure is able to build is at the source – the heart.

Despite a popular belief among some women that a man’s blood flows to only one place (and it’s not the brain), high blood pressure and hardened arteries starve all organs of blood and nutrients (and it happens equally in women… but without such an obvious indicator).

Avoid high blood pressure: monitor your blood pressure regularly…

Of course, the most obvious and usually the most dependable sign of hypertension are the numbers on a blood pressure monitor. These days when  inexpensive and fairly accurate blood pressure monitors are available for the home and when you can get your blood pressure checked at many pharmacies there is no good excuse for walking around in ignorance of high blood pressure.

There’s no good reason to suffer a surprise heart attack, stroke or other dramatic consequence of chronic hypertension.

The visible signs of high blood pressure described here are intended more as a caution of the possible consequences of failing to monitor your blood pressure. All of the symptoms and conditions above are the result of chronic and seriously elevated blood pressure. You are very unlikely to experience tender eyes or ED as a result of temporary or moderate hypertension.

Having said this, it’s still a very good idea to know how to hear these tell-tales of the “silent killer”. Blood pressure monitors for the home can be faulty or inaccurate. Incorrect use of a monitor can cause serious deviations in readings. Even doctors and nurses who should know better often make serious errors measuring blood pressure. See my article “So You Think You Know Your Blood Pressure” for more details on this important topic.

And if you rely solely on medical checkups to track your blood pressure you should be aware that these are only infrequent moments in time. Blood pressure fluctuates throughout the day and in response to circumstances and a single reading every six months can be nearly meaningless.

So, even following good practice, it’s still possible to be caught out by the “silent killer”. If you’re ever baffled by sensitive or bloodshot eyes, blurred vision, unexplained headaches, tightness in the chest and flacidity where you don’t want it…

Play it safe; get to a doctor and start working on lower blood pressure now!