The easy answer first. It's a little like baldness vs. alopecia. Now to your blood pressure readings. It's good to hear that you're monitoring your own blood pressure. Readings you take yourself could pick up subtle changes earlier than if you waited for a periodic exam.
Hypertension is the prime reason for monitoring blood pressure.
This causes a sound to begin and marks the level of the systolic pressure. And as the pressure in the cuff gets less and less, the artery will fully open and the sound will stop. This marks the level of the diastolic pressure. At least, that's how it's supposed to work. Blood pressure readings are notoriously variable for the same person, depending on time of day, location, degree of excitation, type of instrument, experience of the reader, etc.