A structured at-home stand test used to screen for orthostatic intolerance, including POTS. This guide times each phase, collects your minute-by-minute heart rate, and gives you a summary you can print for your doctor.
Do this test with another person present, and stop immediately — sit or lie down — if you feel faint. Skip it entirely if standing quickly is unsafe for you. You'll need a way to read your heart rate (Apple Watch, fitness tracker, or pulse oximeter), about 25 minutes, and a wall to lean against.
The 10-minute lean test was originally developed by NASA to assess astronauts' circulation after spaceflight. Clinicians now use it as a practical alternative to a tilt-table test: after resting supine, you stand leaning against a wall while heart rate (and, in clinics, blood pressure) is recorded each minute. A sustained rise of 30+ bpm — 40+ bpm for ages 12–19 — within 10 minutes, without a significant blood-pressure drop, is one criterion used for POTS.
Test at a consistent time of day, ideally in the morning before caffeine or strenuous activity, and repeat it on a few different days — a single test in either direction is weak evidence. If you have a blood-pressure cuff and a helper, recording blood pressure each minute alongside heart rate makes the result far more useful to your clinician. Prefer automatic, all-day detection instead? That's what the Cardiogram app does from the heart-rate data your Apple Watch already records.
Safety first: do this test with another person present and stop immediately if you feel faint. This tool is for information only and is not medical advice or a diagnosis. Cardiogram is not a medical device.
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