Lance not puncturing skin!

[raydavies]

I wonder if anyone else has this problem? I Got myFreeStyle Lite and eagerly tried to use the lance, only to find it didn't puncture my skin. I wound it up and finally found it works on fingers only on setting 4.

It doesn't work properly on other parts of the body it just produces a barely visible speck of blood that's insufficient to get a reading. Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Ray

 

[sugarless sue]

Which bit of your fingers are you trying to use it on? Don't use the pads but go for the sides of the fingers. Wash hands in warm water to stimulate the blood and soften the skin a bit.

 

[raydavies]

Hi Sue,

I'm using the side of the finger. I'll try the warm hand wash for the next test - thanks for the tip.

Ray

 

[cugila]

I wonder if anyone else has this problem? I Got myFreeStyle Lite and eagerly tried to use the lance, only to find it didn't puncture my skin. I wound it up and finally found it works on fingers only on setting 4.

It doesn't work properly on other parts of the body it just produces a barely visible speck of blood that's insufficient to get a reading. Any ideas?

Many thanks,

Ray

Sue has given you good advice Ray. One other thing is you also need to 'milk' the blood from the puncture by very gently squeezing to make the blood drop a little larger. If using the AST (alternative site testing) method you MUST discuss with your HCP's before doing this as it is not as accurate due to the time lag in the readings.

 

[hanadr]

Ray
If you wash the hands, make sure they are absolutely dry before you test or you'll get a false reading
Hana

 

[whatashock]

I would agree, I sometimes do not get enought blood, and it is usually cold fingers.

The one thing to make sure is, if you do as I do, and put the strip in first, and you dont get enough blodd, dont use a differnet finger, as mixtures of blood casue strange results.