High blood pressure is a condition which causes a person’s pressure inside their arteries to be higher than it should be and affects one in four adults in the UK. Left untreated, a person with the condition can become at increased risk of complications such as heart attack and stroke, so it’s important to find out if you have it.
It explains: “Facial flushing occurs when blood vessels in the face dilate. It can occur unpredictably or in response to certain triggers such as sun exposure, cold weather, spicy foods, wind, hot drinks and skin-care products.
“Facial flushing can also occur with emotional stress, exposure to heat or hot water, alcohol consumption and exercise — all of which can raise blood pressure temporarily.
“While facial flushing may occur while your blood pressure is higher than usual, high blood pressure is not the cause of facial flushing.”
The NHS lists one of the main symptoms of facial flushing for rosacea – a skin condition that affects the face.
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So what are the symptoms of high blood pressure?
Most people with the condition don’t have any symptoms, explains Bupa, and aren’t aware they have the condition.
The best way to find out if you have high blood pressure is to have your reading regularly checked, either by your GP, local pharmacist or using a blood pressure monitor at home.
Blood pressure is recorded with two number – the systolic pressure and the diastolic pressure.
The systolic pressure (higher number) is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body.
Healthy eating is one way to do this, advises Blood Pressure UK – reducing your salt intake, eating more fruit and vegetables ad keeping alcohol to alcohol limits will lower blood pressure.
Being more active and taking regular exercise can also help lower blood pressure by keeping the heart and arteries in good condition.
Finally being the right weight can lower blood pressure because then the heart doesn’t have to work so hard.
Whether medicine is recommended depends on a persons blood pressure reading and their risk of developing problems such as heart attacks or strokes.
