Sore fingers

[embayweather]

My fingers are getting quite sore with the tests I do before meals and of course before snd during driving. Made worse by having to test if I use my road going mobility scooter . I cannot reach many other parts and my tummy is used for insulin, and I have Reynauds syndrome so my fingers are often very cold and may need more than one prick. Any thoughts as to how to reduce the soreness please? I am testing around six times a day on average.

 

[In Response]

I too have Reynauds and have tested 10 and more times a day without getting sore fingers.
The usual advice is
- warm your hands before pricking. I usually cuddle a cuppa to bring blood to the surface
- make sure your lancet depth is set appropriately - deep enough to get blood but not so deep it hurts
- prick on the side of your finger pad
- rotate fingers. You have 8 to use (plus two thumbs of you want) so don’t focus on a single finger.
- do not press your fingers close to the tips to get blood out. It is better to shake your hands first and hold them facing downwards to get assistance from gravity.

 

[VashtiB]

Hello and welcome @embayweather

I'd like to start by saying how much I like your avatar

Secondly I'm sorry to hear your fingers are getting sore- I certainly found that at the start but it seemed to become easier and less sore over time. That said I have a couple of suggestions- which you may already be doing. The first is to warm your hands before testing- I use hot running water in winter but anything that helps the blood flow-opening and clenching your fist for example can help.
The second thing is to use the sides of the finger rather than the pad ad that seems to be a how lot less painful.
The third is to alternate fingers and hands- I find this a bit tricky myself- some of my fingers seem a lot happy to produce the required blood drop than others so I do tend to favour them as it is more reliable. So while I do believe this advice I don't follow it that well.

Are you on any medication for diabetes?

The other option is a CGM which doesn't require the continuous finger stabbing- is that an option for you?

Welcome and Good luck- I'm sure others will come with other suggestions

 

[In Response]

The other option is a CGM which doesn't require the continuous finger stabbing

CGMs do not completely remove the need for finger pricks.
They do reduce the need but there are often mentioned limitations of CGMs which means that finger pricks are still necessary,

 

[Jaylee]

My fingers are getting quite sore with the tests I do before meals and of course before snd during driving. Made worse by having to test if I use my road going mobility scooter . I cannot reach many other parts and my tummy is used for insulin, and I have Reynauds syndrome so my fingers are often very cold and may need more than one prick. Any thoughts as to how to reduce the soreness please? I am testing around six times a day on average.

Hi,

Are you puncturing the finger tip pads or the sides? You may find less soreness using the sides?

lol, I really don’t have time to run a tap or boil a kettle..

 

[In Response]

lol, I really don’t have time to run a tap or boil a kettle..

Yes but you don't have Reynauds.
Writing from experience, if you do have it, you make time. It takes a lot more time to get blood out of a bloodless finger than it does to boil a kettle.
Reynauds is no laughing matter.

 

[8amoreno]

Have you thought about getting a CGM like the freestyle or Dexcom best decision I have ever made. No more fingers pricking. Well at least 99% on off the time. Every now and then you may need to but from what I was told. It is also now accurate then finger pricking.

 

[embayweather]

Thank you all for your comments. I should add that I use insulin once a day and I am still trying to find a good level for that. I wear gloves most of the time as without my hands are so painful. I do alternate fingers using them all once every ten days to minimise any scarring. Running hot water is nowadays an expensive operation for me because of where the boiler is so I put my hands in my pockets to warm through. CGM is way to expensive for me. Desirable as it is especially as I have muscular dystrophy too which makes reaching many parts very hard, thus finger pricks are the only useable site for me, but even those are challenging. I realise I need rubbing out and drawing again but that will not help with the current problems. Do any of you use cream to soften the finger tissue over time? Mine seems hard on both pad and sides.

 

[EllieM]

Desirable as it is especially as I have muscular dystrophy too which makes reaching many parts very hard, thus finger pricks are the only useable site for me, but even those are challenging.

The NHS criteria for eligibility for cgms has recently changed, so in the long term it may be worth asking your doctor if you qualify. I appreciate this doesn't help you in the short term though.

 

[embayweather]

I did ask my gp and he did not know anything about them.

 

[Jaylee]

I did ask my gp and he did not know anything about them.

Hi,

Chances are, he won’t… But if you have (or get) a specialist hospital team for your diabetes, they may advise you GP to prescribe?

Best wishes.

 

[embayweather]

No hospital team either. Trying to sort this out on my own. Bit like my MD

 

[In Response]

I do alternate fingers using them all once every ten days to minimise any scarring.

I rotate my fingers throughput the day.
Odd dates (1st, 3rd, 5th, … of the month), I use my left hand and, even dates, I use my right hand.
Then I split the day into 4, separated by meal times and use a different finger for each part of the day.
That way, I don’t use a finger more than a couple of times a day and it has a day to recover.