Most health problems have symptoms. You feel sick, tired, weak, uncomfortable or even in pain. But you can have high blood pressure and feel perfectly fine, even though it is damaging your body. A few people may have headaches, shortness of breath, chest pains, heart palpitations or dizziness because of high blood pressure. But these symptoms can occur unrelated to hypertension.
Most people experience no symptoms at all.
The only sure way to detect high blood pressure is to have it checked. Adults should have their blood pressure checked at least once a year. This can be done at hospitals, clinics, employee health departments and health fairs, as well as during routine physical examinations. Many people think hypertension results from anxiety or emotional tension and that it afflicts only people who are high-strung, have high pressure jobs or face many problems. But statistics do not support this idea.