Blood pressure is typically measured by using a stethoscope and a sphygmomanometer, which is a specialized inflatable cuff.

The cuff is normally placed around the upper left arm at roughly the same vertical height as the heart while the subject is in an upright position. The cuff is then inflated until the artery is completely occluded. Listening with a stethoscope to the brachial artery at the elbow, the examiner slowly releases the pressure in the cuff. As the pressure in the cuff falls, a "whooshing" or pounding sound is heard when bloodflow first starts again in the artery. The pressure at which this sound begins is noted and recorded as the systolic blood pressure. The cuff pressure is further released until the sound can no longer be heard and this is recorded as the diastolic blood pressure.