Hi..getting used to using my monitor. Nurse has shown me how to use it. All Ok but the only problem is I have great trouble getting enough blood to transfer to the strip, in spite of squeezing the area I just cant get the tiny pinprick to produce a blob large enough. What to do?
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Finger prick..
- Thread starter parischic
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There is definitely a technique to getting blood out of a stone ... I mean fingers ... that we learn over time.
The key things for me are
- Make sure my hands are warm. I often have cold hands so will have a warm cup of tea on hand to cuddle before pricking.
- Make sure the pricker is adjusted to the right depth to get blood but not feel as if it is coming out the other side of my finger. There is usually a dial or very fine lever on the pricker which can be tweaked to give the right amount of prick.
- Prick the right part of the finger. Different areas will be more generous with blood. Some say avoid the big fleshy area because you can feel it when typing. Typically, we aim for just off to the side of this area.
- Don't squeeze. Yes, I know "milking" your finger can get more blood out but it can also cause bruising if you do it too hard so better to avoid this as much as possible.
- Remember the strip uses capillary action to suck the blood. So put it at the end of the strip rather than blobbing it on the top.
The key things for me are
- Make sure my hands are warm. I often have cold hands so will have a warm cup of tea on hand to cuddle before pricking.
- Make sure the pricker is adjusted to the right depth to get blood but not feel as if it is coming out the other side of my finger. There is usually a dial or very fine lever on the pricker which can be tweaked to give the right amount of prick.
- Prick the right part of the finger. Different areas will be more generous with blood. Some say avoid the big fleshy area because you can feel it when typing. Typically, we aim for just off to the side of this area.
- Don't squeeze. Yes, I know "milking" your finger can get more blood out but it can also cause bruising if you do it too hard so better to avoid this as much as possible.
- Remember the strip uses capillary action to suck the blood. So put it at the end of the strip rather than blobbing it on the top.
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What's the finger pricker device like? Does it have an adjustable depth setting? It may be that an upgrade might be worthwhile - many members here find the Accu-Chek finger pricking devices are the best on the market, currently the 'fastclix'
Leadinglights
Well-Known Member
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- Type 2
Most monitors only require a drop the size of a pin head not the proverbial armful.
Put the strip once in the monitor to the drop and it will be sucked in.
There are some YouTube videos about technique.
Put the strip once in the monitor to the drop and it will be sucked in.
There are some YouTube videos about technique.
UnexpectedDiagnosis
Well-Known Member
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- Type 1.5 LADA
Warming my hands up is 100% the one that makes a difference for me, also making sure my hands are completely dry or the blood doesn't come out right. I am very new to finger prick testing too, make sure the depth is set correctly on your pen.
I'm going to look into the 'fastclix', will a gp swap the lancets over on my prescription or do they get funny about it?
I'm going to look into the 'fastclix', will a gp swap the lancets over on my prescription or do they get funny about it?
My monitor is One Touch. Only diagnosed a week ago so early stages. Will definitely think about upgrading,, meanwhile just living day to day at the moment. Thanks
Thanks. The setting is set to the maximum.
Unfortunately, the answer to your question is "maybe".
I purchase the FastClix stabber myself from Boots. It uses different lancets (a drum of six) so I had to request a change to my prescription and the GP was fine with that. However, some GPs are more penny-pinching and controlling.
And just to clarify, you can use any lancing device with any meter - their purpose is just to extract blood for the meter. The suggestion is only to replace the lancer, not the meter which would be more troublesome for the GP as they take different strips which have a wide range of prices.
UnexpectedDiagnosis
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- Type 1.5 LADA
I won't lie I did laugh at the "windmill arms"Hydration and windmill arms works for me
I might have to try that one!
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I use so few lancets (shhhh! don’t tell on me) that up until about 2 years ago I had only ever used the ones (3 or 4 cassettes of 6) that come with the various softclix and multiclix I’ve had over the years.
I bought a box for my fastclix which has so many lancets I suspect I won’t live long enough to need any more!
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