Tiny fingers

[Tatermom]

Can anybody give a suggestion on how to take care of beat-up little fingers? Taylor tests 8-10x daily and her hands look just awful. She is getting callouses (sp) and I'm worried that we have run out of space. She really has an aversion to alternate site testing. What to do?

[camjen1]

I used my just my fingers up until a month or two ago and then I tried my arm. I was amazed at how pain free it actually was on my arm. Show her how easy it is and demonstrate on your arm. I do believe you have to have a special attachment for the top of the lancing device but I'm not sure.

[valc3]

I don't use my fingers(except if testing for a low). I use the outer portion of the palm of my hand. It doesn't hurt.

[claysmum]

Hi,

We are going through the same thing now with my son. We test minimum 8 times a day and his little fingers look rather "holy". When we go swimming, the holes really show up so we call him spongebob squarepants...he gets a kick out of that. It is really hard, because with Clayton he has not been able to recognize his lows so we always use the fingers because they say to if he may be low. We are in the same boat as you and it is really hard. You feel bad, but the nurses just tell us to really keep rotating the finger spots as much as possible. 2 on each side one up one down. Sorry I am not much help but I know how you feel...it is frustrating and sad...:(

[duck]

Egad. Why do you people insist on living in the Dark Ages? There are so many blood glucose monitors that allow you to test using your forearms, GET ONE. My life is soooooo much better because of my Freestyles.

If you insist on Medieval technology, you can use earlobes for blood--One of my college buddies did that.

[claysmum]

Ok...I know about the testing on forarms and toes etc but they highly recomend that you DO NOT test in other areas if you suspect a low...and when you are dealing with a youngster ( mine for example) does not always recognize his lows expecially lately..So then what do you do???? Is this not correct information??:mad:

[duck]

Ok...I know about the testing on forarms and toes etc but they highly recomend that you DO NOT test in other areas if you suspect a low...and when you are dealing with a youngster ( mine for example) does not always recognize his lows expecially lately..So then what do you do???? Is this not correct information??:mad:

True...Test on forearm...Normal reading, tis a-okay. High or low, you doublecheck with a finger prick. IN my experience, I have had one fingerprick that ever disagreed with a forearm check, so I trust the forearm checks. The original question was in regards to sparing little fingers, thus...

[claysmum]

Well I guess we will have to try that then too! You know doctors really say not to but I guess we will have to try this out once in a while just to see what the readings are ( and if there is any diff). Now just to get my little one to go along with that idear!! :eek:

[duck]

Well I guess we will have to try that then too! You know doctors really say not to but I guess we will have to try this out once in a while just to see what the readings are ( and if there is any diff). Now just to get my little one to go along with that idear!! :eek:

It's so much less painful--I cannot think of the last time I felt like it hurt to check via the forearm. As I said, if you get a high or low reading, double-check with a finger prick, esp. for little ones.

I personally think testing on fingers is bad joo-joo: Your fingers are easily among the most sensitive areas of you body, very nerve-dense. You also interact a lot with fingers...imagine an unhealed finger-prick getting into something contaminated--Yuck. Also, (and this holds true for any area of the body tested, though) if you get something on a finger and fail to get it off when testing, it will skew the results. So if you have PBJ residue on your finger, your count will be higher. If you have soap unwashed off your fingers, it may be lower. So many things to keep in mind when testing...:hmpf:

It is smart to occasionally test between forearm and fingers to see how close they are...Keep in mind meters allow for 10-20% variation b/t closely-spaced tests...Isn't that amazing?

[Funnygrl]

I highly recommend either the softclix or the multiclix for fingersticks- much less painful.

[martinronquillo]

do any of you pay any attention to the size of the lancets these meters use?
one touc huses 28G
freestyle uses 25G
Accuchek uses 28G
you need not suffer the consequences of having to stick in your arm and sacrifice not having an accurate reading. there is a 3mg/dl/min difference in forearm testing vs. fingertips, esp on lows, you must use the fingertips.....other meters eg freestyle, say its virtualy painfree testing*
*alternate site, why go alternate site, cause it is painful on the fingertips!

solution: get a BD 30G lacet that fits all your lancet devices with depth setting of 1, small lancet means less pain, now you can test with more comfort,
want an even more comfortable way of testing, ask for a bd logic meter 0.3microliters, 5 sec test time and 33G lancet(smallest lancet so far) less painful vs. other meters. Can you use the 33G lancet with other meters, sure you can but you have to adjust the depth setting to a deeper one or a possibility of a restick because of not enough blood, meaning more painful again, the solution 30G lancet for other meters, 33G or logic.

Just depends what your preference is.

[Funnygrl]

do any of you pay any attention to the size of the lancets these meters use?
one touc huses 28G
freestyle uses 25G
Accuchek uses 28G
you need not suffer the consequences of having to stick in your arm and sacrifice not having an accurate reading. there is a 3mg/dl/min difference in forearm testing vs. fingertips, esp on lows, you must use the fingertips.....other meters eg freestyle, say its virtualy painfree testing*
*alternate site, why go alternate site, cause it is painful on the fingertips!

solution: get a BD 30G lacet that fits all your lancet devices with depth setting of 1, small lancet means less pain, now you can test with more comfort,
want an even more comfortable way of testing, ask for a bd logic meter 0.3microliters, 5 sec test time and 33G lancet(smallest lancet so far) less painful vs. other meters. Can you use the 33G lancet with other meters, sure you can but you have to adjust the depth setting to a deeper one or a possibility of a restick because of not enough blood, meaning more painful again, the solution 30G lancet for other meters, 33G or logic.

Just depends what your preference is.
I honestly find the multiclix lancets the least painful. And I have tried them all. Yeah, 33 may be thinner, but I think they make it longer to make up for it.

[claysmum]

Hi,
I too agree that the multiclix is the best. I have tried a few myself and even my son likes this one ( plus it is purple) that is a bonus.
It is really less cumbersum to use too!
We recently bought the Freestyle Mini and like they say, it uses way less blood but do not use their lancets. We had bood everywhere with that one. I like the poker because it is small, but it packs a punch. It is funny to me that they advertise needing less blood yet their poker is terrible.. Who knows..:frown:

[Funnygrl]

Hi,
I too agree that the multiclix is the best. I have tried a few myself and even my son likes this one ( plus it is purple) that is a bonus.
It is really less cumbersum to use too!
We recently bought the Freestyle Mini and like they say, it uses way less blood but do not use their lancets. We had bood everywhere with that one. I like the poker because it is small, but it packs a punch. It is funny to me that they advertise needing less blood yet their poker is terrible.. Who knows..:frown:
I use the same combo...multiclix with flash. My multiclix fits nicely in the flash case.

[martinronquillo]

good that you are happy,
dont go changing!
:)

it aint broke, dont fix it!

[dws]

Use the palm of the hands. *** below the little finger where it connects to your wrist. Give the fingers a rest :)
don

[Erin]

Can anybody give a suggestion on how to take care of beat-up little fingers? Taylor tests 8-10x daily and her hands look just awful. She is getting callouses (sp) and I'm worried that we have run out of space. She really has an aversion to alternate site testing. What to do?

Taylor may just be a child, but she finds testing on her fingers to be the least intrusive. So continue doing it. Full stop.

If callouses are a worry, keep a chart of where you test, and alternate finger by finger, side by side each test. (and don't forget thumbs!) You also can move slightly up or down the finger so you get about three test spots on each side of the finger... that's six test spots per finger, so you can go for a long time without pricking the same spot. (I'd do the top spot on each finger, then go back to the first finger and start with the middle spots and so on)

Put soothing hand lotion on her hands at bedtime.

but really, how her fingers LOOK aren't the issue, it is how she feels about testing, and if she is medically healthy. I see no reason to force alternative site testing on her if she doesn't like it. I would also be VERY hesitant to do alternative site testing on a child who can't recognize lows... i just wouldn't risk it.

I was a stubborn little kid... i so see where Taylor is coming from. If mom tried to force stuff on me, I'd eventually stop caring about the issue, but I'd keep resisting it just to spite her.

[Erin]

And I find that using a lancet a multiple times makes it hurt less... but the hygiene nuts of the 21st century won't ever recommend that... I'm just throwing out MY experience. Even up through high school mom would nag me to change the lancett... got one to last 13 months before she did it herself. The new ones hurt more.

[duck]

And I find that using a lancet a multiple times makes it hurt less... but the hygiene nuts of the 21st century won't ever recommend that... I'm just throwing out MY experience. Even up through high school mom would nag me to change the lancett... got one to last 13 months before she did it herself. The new ones hurt more.

Oddly enough, I would concur with this...You would think a fresh lancet would be most sharp and therefore less painful, but I have not found that to be true.

I use a lancet until I seem to scar too much (you can tell on your forearm when a lancet seems "bad" from the little red scars). It seems to be about every three months for me, and I test about 6-8 times daily...

[Tatermom]

Thanks everybody for the input. Tried the forearm thing...no dice. Her arms are like mine, getting blood out of them is like squeezing blood from a corpse. :dontknow: Just not vein-ey enough I guess. I used the clear thing for the poker and it says not to release the pressure until there is enough to test. That hurt her worse than the poke itself. The palm was a little better but the truth is I think I am worried about her fingers more than she is.