[dws]

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

[Erin]

Originally Posted by 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?

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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. 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.