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9 Tips To Make Testing
Pain Free Did you know there are 9 simple steps that you can take
to make testing your blood glucose a lot less painful?
At the moment
the only way to accurately check blood glucose
is to take a blood sample from
the finger (by pricking) and then check the resulting blood for glucose.
Pain is caused by the penetration of the lancet into the skin when pricking. The
deeper the lancet has to penetrate the skin, the more painful the testing is but
on the otherhand the deeper the lancet penetrates the skin the more blood is produced
for testing.
The tips below focus on ways to reduce the pain of testing
but still provide sufficient blood for measurement: 1) Wash your hands
with soap and warm water - this will help keep the testing site clean and
help dilate the blood vessels in the fingers to increase blood flow. 2)
Massage your finger downwards to the tip of your finger - this will help
push blood towards the tip of your finger so that when it is pricked there is
plenty of blood ready to come out. 3) Have your testing hand pointing
downwards below your waist - blood will flow more easily when following gravity
downwards. 4) Set your lancing device - lancing
devices have different settings to pierce the skin at different depths.
If you use the tips in this article you should find that you will be able to use
a lower setting but still have enough blood for testing. Try changing the settings
to find the right level. 5) Select the right meter - different blood
glucose meters require different amounts of blood to carry out a blood glucose
test. The less blood needed, the less painful testing will be. Choose a blood
glucose meter that requires only a small testing sample. The Accu-chek
Aviva needs 0.6 microliter of a blood sample, which is a small sample.
6) Alternate your fingers - don't use the same finger over and over
again. You have 8 fingers, distribute the testing evenly. You'll find your fingers
will recover much faster and blood flow will be better. 7) Moisturise
your fingers - harden skin through regular testing can reduce blood flow out
when pricked. Help your skin repair and your fingers recover. Regularly moisturise
your fingers. 8) Prick the tip of your fingers - better blood flow
at the tip of your finger so best place to test but make sure you use the skin
on the side of the finger next to the nail. This area has less nerves and so less
painful! 9) Use a new lancet each time! - a lancet is designed only
to be used once. Once used it becomes blunt and if re-used it can be very painful.
These tips should help make testing a lot less painful. If you know others
who could be helped by these tips then send them a link to this page. John
Ngijseh This article was written by John Ngijseh from the Glucosemeters4u.com
team. If you would like to receive similar articles straight to your mail box
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