Diabetes Direction

Testing your blood glucose is easy and with practice, only takes seconds to complete. If you decide to not use alcohol swabs before you poke, be sure to wash your hands. Any lingering substance on your fingers can affect the test, so you will want to be sure to have clean hands.

A lancet is the little tiny needle that pokes your finger to get the blood you need for the test. Most glucometers come with a lancet device, but you can also buy them seperately if you don’t like the one you have. You will find numbers on the device, starting with one. This setting determines how deep the needle goes, with a one being the lightest. Warm hands work much better than cold ones for testing, as our blood flows better when warm. It hurts when you are cold, plus it is more difficult to get that drop of blood that you need.

Before you test, get the materials you will need and have them ready to go. Don’t forget that you will want to wipe the blood off your finger when you are finished. If you use an alcohol swab, just save it for using after as well. I find the corner of a facial tissue (kleenex) works just fine.

When you are finished testing your blood glucose, you need to dispose of the strip and lancet, when changed. Some pharmacies will give you one of those medical containers. You can fill it up and take it back to the pharmacy and trade it in for an empty container. You can also buy your own, or if money is tight, make your own out of a heavy duty plastic jug, like an empty liquid laundry soap jug.

You will also want to test your PP, or Post Prandial (after eating) glucose levels. Two hours after your first bite is the recommendation. You want to aim at getting below 140 mg/dL in the USA, or 7.8 mmol/L in Canada and elsewhere. This may seem impossible at first, but you can get there!

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