Do you alcohol swab before and/or after testing your fingers? I never have since right after my diagnosis 3 years ago. But recently, a wart popped up on one of the fingers that I regularly test and then another one popped up on a different finger (Right where I test!).
I'm pretty mad about it and I'm now wishing I always alcohol swabbed. I know they aren't a huge deal and they are easy to remove, but I wonder what other bacteria or viruses we're picking up from our fingers when we have these little holes in them all the time.
Hmm, I don't usually use alchohol swabs. In fact, I don't think I ever have. I know my grandma did at one point, but I save mine for my injections. I just makes sure to wash my hands well. Sometimes I'll use a dry alchohol swab to wipe the blood after if I don't have a tissue, but that's about it.
i dont remember ever using them for finger pokes..but i did for a while use for them injections..i think...it's been so long i'm not 100% sure on that. i've never had a wart show up though..and i usually stick my finger in my mouth if it starts bleeding(assuming im not someplace where my hands would get really gross lol)! i'll wash my hands before doing it if i've been someplace gross though and i have access to at least a sink. i rarely change my lancets too...not cuz i dont have any..just from forgetting i should change them..
maybe you're just pre-deposed(is that the word i'm looking for?) to little warts? i get those gross puss skin infections pretty often(or at least i used to) and my mom blames my dad's side of the family cuz he used to get them a lot as well.
maybe try hand sanitizer after? pretty much the same thing, just easier i find than swabs(why do they make them so hard to open?!) i usually do that at work so i'm not always getting up from my desk to wash off my salvia from sucking on the blood haha
I've never heard of that happening before - I used to get warts on my hands all the time but I worked at a greenhouse for two years and my poor hands were confined to gardening gloves multiple hours a day.
As to the alcohol swab question, I rarely swab and I'm a blood-licker. I change my lancets often which I figure creates some semblance of sanitation. But I've never had a problem.
i usually stick my finger in my mouth if it starts bleeding.
maybe you're just pre-deposed(is that the word i'm looking for?) to little warts?
maybe try hand sanitizer after?
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Hahaha. Good advice here, Batts. Thank you.
I am also a finger sucker. It's gross, but ehhhh what do you do?
Thinking back, I think I did have a wart or two when I was younger. I always thought that it was just a kid thing and it would never come back.
The hand sanitizer idea is great. I'm definitely going to pick some up later today. Maybe all the alcohol in there will slowly kill the little guy, too.
i only use a swab if i've been out someplace kinda icky and can't wash my hands. like, running about in the city or something i'll use a swab (and a tissue for after) but usualy i just pop my finger into my mouth for a sec and that's it. i'll change the lacet when it occurs to me that it might be dull, like after the 3rd or 4th attempt to draw blood and nothing happens =)
I am also a finger sucker. It's gross, but ehhhh what do you do?
Thinking back, I think I did have a wart or two when I was younger. I always thought that it was just a kid thing and it would never come back.
The hand sanitizer idea is great. I'm definitely going to pick some up later today. Maybe all the alcohol in there will slowly kill the little guy, too.
Thanks everyone. :)
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haha well as long as you are sucking your own blood from your own finger..meh! it's not gonna kill ya..i mean it came FROM you! haha
If the hand sanitizer doesnt work, or you start getting more, might be worth asking a doc..but if it's one or two, it's probably nothing serious..as long as they don't hurt, bleed, etc! (Oh! and i suggest getting one of those travel size bottles..I bought one about...gosh must have been around November and I'm only just half-way through it! they are easier to carry around, though I just leave mine in my cupboard at work.)
I don't normally use alcohol swabs. I did for about a week and then realized how many I was going through at one time. But I found these hand sanitizer sprays that look like little pens that are really handy and easy to carry around so if I am ever anywhere where my hands are gross and there is no bathroom I usualy use that.
I use to swab my fingers years ago but stopped. As long as I wash my hands with soap or sanitizer and use a fresh lance I feel pretty good about keeping the infections away.
i never use it for testing.. i just wash before. its a common saying for me and my brother.. ''wash and test!''. and i never swabbed before injections.. but now i do before i put my pump site in.
I guess so far I'm the only one but I always use alcohol swabs..every time for every blood test and every shot. I guess it's cause my mom used to work in a hospital and was able to bring home boxes of alcohol swabs whenever I needed them so they were easy to get. It's become a habit so I still do it all the time. To cut back on how many I use I usually use the same one for my blood test and shot, n if it's still wet after I'll wrap it back up and use it next time. I'll only do that if I'm home and have the time otherwise I just throw it out or use it to clean off my hands a little if I'm not by a bathroom to wash them.
I don't use alcohol swabs anymore. About 10 years ago my endocrinology team told me all the swabs do is make the area more sensitive to the injection you are about to recieve. It would be interesting to study whether repetitive fingersticking or injecting the same site increases the risk for infections/cancers. I do know using the same sites over and over puts you at risk for hurting the skin in that area.
I do not use alcohol swabs for any of it, but try to wash beforehand if possible. With all you people licking your fingers - gross! Ewwww, my ewwww-face is on. Take one kleenex, stick it in your meter case, hold finger there for 1 sec after testing! Ewwww - a dog's mouth is cleaner than a person's! Hahaha - not my dog's though, cause they like to eat poop.
I do not use alcohol swabs for any of it, but try to wash beforehand if possible. With all you people licking your fingers - gross! Ewwww, my ewwww-face is on. Take one kleenex, stick it in your meter case, hold finger there for 1 sec after testing! Ewwww - a dog's mouth is cleaner than a person's! Hahaha - not my dog's though, cause they like to eat poop.
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what's ew about it? as long as you have washed your hands since going to the bathroom or being somewhere outside your house..it's just blood. and it's your blood at that! I've been doing it since I was 6 and the nurses at the hospital have never cared or my doctors or my friends or my family. it's like a pindrop of blood..we're not drinking a glass of blood or anything gross like that.
and they may say a dog's mouth is clean..but i don't lick my bum, my balls(if i had them haha)/my vagina with my tongue all day, so i vote for my mouth being a better place for my bleeding finger to go than a friggin' dogs. there's a reason you don't want dogs to lick your face besides the fact it's a sign of them trying to dominate.
I definitly agree. I've always just licked off the blood after my finger pokes, I don't think it's a big deal at all and I've never had anyone say anything to me about it. And I don't use alcohol swabs before my finger pokes either but I do use them before my insulin injections. But really, who doesn't lick their blood? it pretty much goes hand in hand haha.
i also have a small wart on a finger that i used to test on. i thought it was a callus, but turned into a wart.
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Yeah, same with me. I thought it was just turning into scar tissue or something, but then I realized it wasn't going away and started to look more like a wart.