I have been having a lot of trouble with getting blood samples when I test. I play the violin and so I do not use the fingers on my left hand, only my thumb. I use all 5 on my right hand. I don't have scar tissue in my fingertips but they have become sort of callused. I use the Accu-chek aviva meter with the Multiclix lancets. I have the lancet device set at the deepest level. Sometimes it takes 12 sticks to get enough blood to register.
I tried testing in my forearm and palm a few times but I couldn't get the blood to squeeze out! My cde is against me using these sites because there is a 15-minute lag between testing in your arm and testing in your fingertip.
I'm afraid if I use the 6 fingertips (5 on right hand, 1 on left) much longer they will get so callused I won't ever be able to use them.
I've heard about using toes. Anyone tried this method?
Any suggestions of alternate sites or anything that you can think of would be great!
Not sure if this will help since you are on the deepest level for your lancet device... but
Make sure your fingers are warm. I usually try to masage the finger somewhat before testing. then before I squeeze to get the blood out i hold my fingers toward the ground... this lets the blood flow toward the tip of the finger. I wait about 5 seconds then squeeze and I usually am able to get enough blood.
I've been having the same problem lately and one of my friends told me to use warm water and stick my finger in there to soften up the skin. Been working so far try working a different part of those fingers too move down or to the side more of if you overused those try using the middle part.
I haven't tried toe testing, let us know how it goes if you do. You didn't mention if you use a new lancet every time you test, that could help. I used to file my calluses down in order to make testing easier.
Get a freestyle meter and do arm testing instead. Freestyle also requires less blood than some of the others. (I have no affiliation with Freestyle whatsoever except as a customer.) It really is painless. I've been doing it for probably 7 or 8 years and will never go back to finger testing.
My daughter plays violin too. Cool axe. Way cooler than I thought before she started playing.
We were at my daughter's endo appointment last week and they gave us a new electronic lancing device that is new on the market. It's called Pelikansun. It's somewhat large to haul around in my opinion but it is a different way of getting blood from your finger tips. It is supposed to not leave scar tissue.
Here is some info from their website...
The Pelikan Sun lances with electronic control, smoothness and precision, resulting in:
significant reduction of pain during lancing
bleeding that stops almost immediately
minimal residual bruising and sensitivity
quick healing of the lanced site
damaged fingers recover and heal over time
The Pelikan Sun's patented 50-lancet disk ensures a sharp, sterile
lancet every time you test. When it's time, just pop in a new disk and
you're ready to go. Never see or handle lancets again.
Take a look and see if it sounds like what you might need, talk to your doctor about it.
I use a One Touch ultra and will use it on my arm and palm at times to give the fingers a brake. There is a different tip to the lancet device for the arm or palm which makes it easier to get blood. I also use Neoteric Diabetic Oxygenated Adv. Healing cream. It helps to keep the fingers (and feet for that matter) soft and it seems to keep the calluses away or at least to a minimum. It's supposed to help with cirulation too but I don't know for sure. There was another I used to use called Diabetic Fingers but I can't find it anymore - that was the best. Good luck.
my dad did toe testing on me when i was little when he would test me in the middle of the night to make sure i wasnt low or anything. it worked perfectly fine and didnt faze me a bit when he would test me on my toes. as far as accurecy goes on toe testing im sure that it is pretty accurate or my dad would not have done it since he is an EMT(Emergency Medical Technition)/reserve firemen and knows all sorts of medical stuff like that. you could try toe testing to give your fingers a little break. hope that helps!
Ok. Well, I do try to warm up my hands before I test (I always wash them) and I've found that swinging them around and stuff makes the blood come easier. I also have the lancet on the deepest depth.
I thought of something after reading some of your replies: You know how your finger has three parts, separated by your knuckles? Can you test on any of the three parts? I've only done my fingertip but I was wondering if you couold do the middle or bottom parts? Or am I crazy for asking this lol? I'm not sure if this was what Gina was saying...?
I'm going to start filing down the skin on my fingertips, thanks, Eric, for that suggestion.
I'm also going to get a Freestyle and try that...I looked it up and my meter takes .6 ul while the freestyle takes half that. It looks like those who have tried the freestyle with alternate sites have had success. Thanks for mentioning, DDrumminMan and Pat.
Also a question for those who do arm testing: when you stick your arm, does the blood just come right to the surface? How do you get it to come up?
The Pelikan Sun lancing device sounds really neat! I had not heard of it until Katie mentioned that, thanks Katie! I showed the site to my parents and my cde and my parents are going to look into insurance (unfortunately I can't get my hands on a trial one :-[) Katie-- have you been using this lancing device for your daughter for the last few weeks now? How do you like it?
Will order the cream-- it can't hurt! Thank you Doug for the links.
Great to hear from someone who used toes! I think I will try that when the weather is warm and I'm wearing flipflops all the time. Thanks, Mary!
All you guys are great for responding, and so fast! So many suggestions to think about :-)
I thought of something after reading some of your replies: You know how your finger has three parts, separated by your knuckles? Can you test on any of the three parts? I've only done my fingertip but I was wondering if you couold do the middle or bottom parts? Or am I crazy for asking this lol? I'm not sure if this was what Gina was saying...?
Also a question for those who do arm testing: when you stick your arm, does the blood just come right to the surface? How do you get it to come up?
[/quote]
First off, you're welcome :)
Secondly, to answer your question about arm testing, the blood usually comes up right away depending on the "pricker" thing's depth. If it gets a weak output originally you just have to push down with the pricker and it'll come right out.
The whole reason I like the arm testing over finger testing is that your fingers contain a lot of nerve endings which is why it's uncomfortable for many people to test there. The forearm provides enough skin/muscle whatever you've got overtop so that you barely feel anything. It sucks when you get sunburned though!
[quote user="Amanda"]Also a question for those who do arm testing: when you stick your arm, does the blood just come right to the surface? How do you get it to come up?[/quote]
Yes, drop of blood just appears. Freestyle does have a different looking lancing device which I think help this. Like Pat said, if you don't get enough you can put the lancing device back over the prick and push down for a few secs and more blood comes out.
I can't say this enough: IT IS TOTALLY PAINLESS. The FreeStyle also has some other cool features like a a light that come on when you turn it on. When you put the strip in, a light come on under the strip. Lights up the area you're trying to get blood from. Great for in a place that's a little dark. It also deosn't start until it gets enough blood. I have OneTouch I'm using for a study now and it irks me how many strips I gotta throw away because it doesn't have enough blood. And, it requries a lot more. You will be amazed at how little the FreeStyle can work with. Once my study is over I'm dumping the OneTouch and going back to FreeStyle.
My recommendation is to consider a different guage of lancet. I use a 23 guage lancet (I get them at Duane Reade drugstores here in NYC, although most pharmacy chains can special order for them even if they don't have them in stock), although I believe some places still sell even bigger lancet tips at 21 guage (21G), but they're much harder to find. (If you haven't figured it out yet, the smaller the number, the larger the lancet size, therefore 28G which is common today has the smallest piercing tip, while 23G has one of the larger tips). The smaller lancet size ISN'T always better when it comes to getting a sufficient blood sample, especially on callused fingertips!! Although it sounds obvious, but also try changing the lancet more often than you might otherwise (some of us never change our lancets, but occasionally a new one can resolve the callus issue). Hope this helps!
Secondly, to answer your question about arm testing, the blood usually comes up right away depending on the "pricker" thing's depth. If it gets a weak output originally you just have to push down with the pricker and it'll come right out.
The whole reason I like the arm testing over finger testing is that your fingers contain a lot of nerve endings which is why it's uncomfortable for many people to test there. The forearm provides enough skin/muscle whatever you've got overtop so that you barely feel anything. It sucks when you get sunburned though!
Hope that helps!
-Pat
[/quote]
Ok I actually just stumbled upon a video that explained how to press down longer to make the blood appear. THanks for explaining, and I'll try to avoid sunburn!!
[quote user="Amanda"]Also a question for those who do arm testing: when you stick your arm, does the blood just come right to the surface? How do you get it to come up?[/quote]
Yes, drop of blood just appears. Freestyle does have a different looking lancing device which I think help this. Like Pat said, if you don't get enough you can put the lancing device back over the *** and push down for a few secs and more blood comes out.
I can't say this enough: IT IS TOTALLY PAINLESS. The FreeStyle also has some other cool features like a a light that come on when you turn it on. When you put the strip in, a light come on under the strip. Lights up the area you're trying to get blood from. Great for in a place that's a little dark. It also deosn't start until it gets enough blood. I have OneTouch I'm using for a study now and it irks me how many strips I gotta throw away because it doesn't have enough blood. And, it requries a lot more. You will be amazed at how little the FreeStyle can work with. Once my study is over I'm dumping the OneTouch and going back to FreeStyle.
[/quote]
Neat! As I mentioned to Pat I watched a video in which they explained how to push down with the lancing device to make the blood appear.
I tried the OneTouch and that drove me crazy! My Accuchek does allow me to add more blood without losing the test strip. Good feature to have.
For those of you who use FreeStyle meters, which kind do you use? (Flash, Freedom Lite...) I looked at Google image photos and it seems like the lancet devices are the same for all Freestyle meters...correct me if I'm wrong but that's what it looked like.
My recommendation is to consider a different guage of lancet. I use a 23 guage lancet (I get them at Duane Reade drugstores here in NYC, although most pharmacy chains can special order for them even if they don't have them in stock), although I believe some places still sell even bigger lancet tips at 21 guage (21G), but they're much harder to find. (If you haven't figured it out yet, the smaller the number, the larger the lancet size, therefore 28G which is common today has the smallest piercing tip, while 23G has one of the larger tips). The smaller lancet size ISN'T always better when it comes to getting a sufficient blood sample, especially on callused fingertips!! Although it sounds obvious, but also try changing the lancet more often than you might otherwise (some of us never change our lancets, but occasionally a new one can resolve the callus issue). Hope this helps!
[/quote]
Hmmm. I have never heard of this before. I'll check at the drugstores around here and see if they have the larger ones. I do change the lancet after each use though, I'm sure that helps.
I just tested my bloodsugar from BOTH my toe and my finger. They both showed up with close results (finger: 129, toe: 135), so i figure its accurate and its as painless as testing your finger.
Also, heres a figure from Dr. Bernsteins Diabetes Solutions (the shaded parts are good places to test)
