High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms but raises the risk of heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease, so regular checks matter. For adults with normal readings, screening every one to two years is reasonable, moving to yearly as you get older or if you carry extra risk.
If a reading is raised, your clinician may ask you to repeat it on separate occasions or monitor at home, because a single high reading does not confirm hypertension. Home monitors can help, provided they are validated and used correctly with the right cuff size.
People already diagnosed with high blood pressure, or with diabetes, kidney disease, or a family history, need closer monitoring set by their doctor. Seek urgent care for a very high reading combined with chest pain, severe headache, vision changes, breathlessness, or weakness, as these can signal an emergency.