• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Type 2 Finger prick problems

D

dick48

Member
Messages
6
I have just been prescribed insulin injections for my T2 and now have to test before driving. I am finding it difficult to get much blood when pricking my fingers. Any advice please?
 
dick48 said:
I have just been prescribed insulin injections for my T2 and now have to test before driving. I am finding it difficult to get much blood when pricking my fingers. Any advice please?
Click to expand...
Warm them up, either under a warm faucet or by rubbing. Also, check the depth of your pricker. You might need a bit more needle.
 
Hello and welcome :)

I use the sides of my fore finger, middle finger, ring finger and little fingers and if struggling I have to squeeze the finger to produce blood, as long as your fingers are warm and there is enough depth on the pricker you should be ok.
 
Apart from what's already been said, the best advice I ever read was on this forum, and that was to prick your finger and leave it for a few seconds before squeezing, to allow the hole to open up. Works much better for me this way.
 
Interestingly (to me anyway), when I was first diagnosed it was like trying to get blood out of a stone, but as I regained control and began healing my body, it became much easier. These days it shoots out like a jet. If I set my lancing device to max depth it's like I've just been shot :hungover:

I put it down to vastly improving circulation over time. But then again my blood was like treacle at the outset. I don't know if other people have noticed similar? I've never noticed anyone else mention it, here or elsewhere.
 
One other thing is to massage the finger from the base towards the finger tip then finger prick, this was a technique my son had used on the ward he worked on it was one of his jobs to check the blood sugars of patients he called it milking the finger. When I first started testing I was having problems extracting blood he noticed and said look dad try doing it this way it worked
 
dick48 said:
I have just been prescribed insulin injections for my T2 and now have to test before driving. I am finding it difficult to get much blood when pricking my fingers. Any advice please?
Click to expand...
Check the thickness of your lancet as well.
My finger pricker takes at least two gauges of needle.
I started on a fine one but now the surgery gives me a slightly thicker one.
 
If I'm having problems, as well as doing above suggestions, I shake the test hand downwards. This works for me, especially if my hands have been cold.
 
Use a decent lancing device such as a Accu Chek Fastclix, and you will not have any problems getting a sample.
 
OK I know the answer to this question! After years of multiple pricks to get tiny bits of blood out I did a lot of research and boy am I glad I did! This lancet and device are the only ones in existence that need just the tiniest amount of blood! I still have trouble in the winter and need a little massaging and heating up of fingers but compared to all the previous devices, these have stood the test of time for me. You can get them on Amazon.com not sure about Amazon UK. I can't seem to get the lancet and the device here in Europe either but the needle and strip supplies are freely available at the pharmacy here in Italy. You need to buy the lancet and the device separately as the lancet that comes with the device is not the one you want.

Freestyle LITE blood glucose monitoring system - (there is another that says Freedom Light but I've never used it, I think it is larger than the Lite only)

One Touch DELICA lancing device - you will need to get the One Touch Delica lancets to go with it

I read an article by VeryWell Health about it but I can't seem to link it here, however you can google and it should come up
Glucose Meters That Require the Smallest Samples
I hope this helps!
 
dick48 said:
I have just been prescribed insulin injections for my T2 and now have to test before driving. I am finding it difficult to get much blood when pricking my fingers. Any advice please?[/QUOTE

Warm hands help but make sure you test on the side of your finger tips, if you use the pad it's where the nerve endings are and hurts more. You could try holding your fingers downwards save stroking the finger you've pricked from palm to fingertip.
Click to expand...
 
I agree with Hopeful34, I prick my finger then put the pricker back in the case and by that time the hole has opened up so it's no problem squeezing out the blood. One thing I was told after many years of pricking was to wipe away the first spot of blood because there will be fluid in it which will affect the reading, I wonder if anyone else has been told this as whenever I'd had my finger pricked by a nurse etc. they always take the first spot of blood.
 
dick48 said:
I have just been prescribed insulin injections for my T2 and now have to test before driving. I am finding it difficult to get much blood when pricking my fingers. Any advice please?
Click to expand...
A great solution for you would be the Genteel lancing device. It generates a vacuum to draw the blood drop out and it is also suitable for other sites and for example pricking from your palm gives the same reading as fingers as it shares the same blood supply. Best of all it's almost always pain free.
 
I also find that it can be harder to get the blood out if I'm a bit dehydrated - I now make sure I have drunk enough water and that seems to help.
 
dick48 said:
I have just been prescribed insulin injections for my T2 and now have to test before driving. I am finding it difficult to get much blood when pricking my fingers. Any advice please?
Click to expand...
I hate non-bleeders. Get that a fair bit. Urgh.

I hope the fingers have started bleeding.
 
Back
Top