other places for lancing...

[Blakez0rz]

are there any other places to test my BG besides the fingers with no reading change? My fingers are bruising up and im getting caluses.:T

[Gordonm]

I have used my toes with good results.

[shabbie6247]

I have used my toes with good results.

that sounds like OUCH!!!

[Olidus]

are there any other places to test my BG besides the fingers with no reading change? My fingers are bruising up and im getting caluses.:T

Where exactly are you lancing? When I 1st started I was making the mistake to do the tips of my fingers. I was then properly taught to do the inside and outsides (sides) being the keyword here. When you do this you will get less bruising and such, rotare fingers as much as you can to allow other spots to heal, inside and out.

I thought I was going to die at 1st as I was doing the tips, and I am a computer guy - the keyboard is my life. The bruising was a big time scare for me.

If you are already using the sides and are not happy with that, I have been told that some people use certain parts of the palm of the hand.
Also - they and adjust your lancet to not penetrate as deep.

[valc3]

Depending on your meter, you can test on your palms and forearms. I use an One Touch and there is another tip that you can put on for forearm testing. I alternate between my fingertips and the outer lower portion of my palms. If you suspect a low, always test on your fingertips.

[LancetChick]

Alternate areas are not quite as up-to-the-minute as fingertips (a little behind), so it's more accurate to test your fingertips when you think you are going up or going down. I can't stand fingertip testing, and use a Freestyle Flash to test my forearms. To use alternate sites, you need a meter that will operate with a very small blood sample, since you rarely get as much blood from these areas, and also a lancing device with a clear tip that has a wide hole so that you can use it to push the area around the puncture to get more blood, much like you would squeeze a fingertip. You can use alternate sites with all the Freestyle meters, and I'll have to defer to others on which other brands you can use.

[tanyatype1]

I NEVER test on my fingers!

[rzrbks]

Other place for me are:

Kitchen, when b not cooking or doing dishes

Dining Room, keep kleenex in that room

Car, while traveling

restaurant, when eating out with my Best Gal

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actually, I'd check and

1. make sure you're using the smallest lancets you can find

2. if it's that painful, change lancets every time (again using as small as you can get)

3. alternate fingers, set up a pattern and, for example, start on left thumb, move to left index finger for next test, move to left "Signalling" finger third test, and so on as you change fingers with each test.

4. change where on your finger you are jabbing, some parts of the finger are Much More sensitive than others

5. I tend to poke 1/2 way between the top of the finger print swirl and the fingernail and almost never have pain or trouble getting blood

[georgepds]

FWIIW, Bernstein has a picture in his book of all the places you can poke. The odd site to me was the 'back" of the finger,opposite the pad, between the nail and the last finger joint

--G

[deb wardle]

Hi

I,ve noticd that each time I have been in hospital they have lanced the sides rather than the tips or pads and it dosn't hurt at all.

Deb

[xMenace]

I must be a freak of nature. I have absolutely no tender spots and I can only see one very tiny mark. I use the sides of my fingers. I've tested 46 times since time last week, a slow week.

[Blakez0rz]

cool, ill try those ideas. thanks guys.:D

[VinceF]

When I was much younger I went to a Joslin summer camp. They always used our ear lobes. I still remember seeing everyoone lining up for tests and hoping their ear would bleed again so we would not have to get stuck again. All of us standing there with bloody bandaids on our ears. I don't know if you could still use your ear or not.

[Injecto]

I thought I was going to die at 1st as I was doing the tips, and I am a computer guy - the keyboard is my life. The bruising was a big time scare for me.



Keyboards? I'm a guitar player, that just about killed it for me. I've even had blood spout out of my finger holes while playing with bruised tips...Actually, if I was a rock star that would be totally cool to see in concert....kind of like Gene Simmons, but from my fingers...BLAH!!!!!!:thrasher:

[octoberlily]

You are advised to use side of fingers instead of tips because theres a lot of nerve endings in tips of fingers that can be damaged. I have a new machine given to me by my Diabetes nurse called Freestyle mini so i can now test from my thighs, calfs, arms, hand. You only need a pinhead of blood with this machine also.

Julie

[amyjo29]

I find my fingers get a little sore, too. You just have to muddle through because the finger test is the most accurate reading you will get.