How important is washing your hands before a BG test?

I am rigorous about it when at home, especially since we have two dogs (one still a lick-obsessed pup) and a cat. Also if I have been handling food.

But, you know, real life often intrudes, when out and about.

In that situation, I lick my finger (checking for any sweetness), wipe in on a clean piece of clothing (say under a collar) and get on with testing. In those circs, I then lick the blood drop off too.

If I need to test, and I am not near a bathroom, then... I need to test, don't I?

For a while I carried those little individually wrapped wipes, but apart from the expense, I suspected that the cleaning agent residue was affecting the reading.

Brunneria said:

For a while I carried those little individually wrapped wipes, but apart from the expense, I suspected that the cleaning agent residue was affecting the reading.

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I'm glad you mentioned that. I bought a little bottle of antibacterial hand gel (99p) in LIDL today, but I guess that might affect the reading too.

nskelton said:

Opinions? Evidence?

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Opinion. Evidence beyond merely anecdotal might be out there, but I lack the patience to dig it out.

How much this matters really depends on what washing your hands might change from the perspective of the BG test. I realize that's not a very useful answer but that's the central point as I have always seen it. Consider the difference between BG testing without washing first immediately after you've peeled & eaten an orange versus 30 minutes after you previously washed your hands without touching much in the interim. In which case would you have a greater confidence in the results?

My feeling is that there are a lot of procedures in medicine where the underlying rationale more or less boil down to "We always do it this way because it removes (aka significantly lowers) the probability of something going wrong." I have tossed washing my hands before BG testing into this category.

I also attempt to make washing my hands at multiple points during the day a habit. Partly I do this to try to avoid introducing error into my BG tests. But I also volunteer at an animal shelter and I want to reduce the possibility of unwittingly carrying an infection from one animal to another or carrying it back home to the cats who live with me. I don't know how else to try to avoid contamination from stuff one can't actually see except to wash my hands even if I don't happen to think they are dirty.

So ... I try to definitely wash before testing if I have been handling food of any kind. Doubly so if what I have been handling was "sweet" in some way. And of course if you get a BG result which seems "off" then wash and retest makes the most sense, yes?

But, no, I don't wash before every BG test. I test 6 to 8 times a days and I'm just not able to convince myself to do wash first.

Prem51 said:

I'm glad you mentioned that. I bought a little bottle of antibacterial hand gel (99p) in LIDL today, but I guess that might affect the reading too.

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I have seen concerns about contamination posted before. Beats the heck out of me.

I think the most important thing is to dilute/remove any possible type of interference. I would not trust "licking" my fingers simply because the purpose of the enzymes in saliva is to reduce more complex carbs down towards glucose. It just feels to me as though it might make things worse, not better.

Just rinsing with bottled water if you weren't sure might be a better thing? I also don't trust those suggestions that cleaning with an alcohol pad would distort the results. As long as the alcohol is allowed to evaporate.

If you have doubts, you can always test. Use the hand gel as you normally would and then test your BG. Then wash your hands with soap & water and test your BG again. The results should be close except for the inherent test error of the strips & meter. If they aren't, then the gel is suspect, no?

The main reason for washing hands is to remove any contamination which might affect the test. This author of this paper concluded that if hand-washing is not possible, wiping way the first drop of blood and testing the second is recommended, as long as the finger is not squeezed to get the second drop:-http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3041180/

I think the thing to remember is that anti bac wipes are just that, anti bacterial, so they will stop bacteria entering the blood stream, however other contaminants that may affect the reading, will simply be moved around the testing zone. Cleansing is important for both health and accuracy reasons, but also remember the meters only have a tolerance of +/- 20%, but I have experienced raised readings from fingers with sugar residue on.

I usually wash my hands anyway after doing anything mucky, or any food handling that might leave sources of potential contamination on my fingers. If I get an unexpectedly high reading then I'll use the most readily available source to clean my hand/finger and repeat the test. I used to use a baby cream that contained aloe vera as my hand cream, and often forgot to rewash my hands before testing - this actually tasted sweet even some time after application if I licked my finger...

Robbity

Diabetic nurse usually uses hand wipe

If I've eaten anything like fruit with my hands before I've tested then my test results are always high, if I clean my hands after then my results are back in the range I'd expect.

This is something I only started to notice since I've had a CGM, calibrating it 3 times a day at meals tends to make you re-check if the test shows BG being a lot higher than the CGM states.

But do I wash every time - no.

I have always been told to wash my hands before testing. It'll just turn into habit and can't do any harm

It depends what's on your hands, but it's unlikely to be nothing.

The blood has to pass through whatever is on your hands, so the test result will always be affected to some degree.

You will never be able to get a completely clean test, but at least by washing and drying your finger well you will have the best chance of obtaining one.

Hand washing or using small 70% alcohol wipes when away. It's highly recommendable for both accuracy and hygiene. Gelatinous hand sanitisers will leave a moisturising residue, I never use them before testing. I always carry the small wipes in my testing kit. They are less than £2 per 100 on Amazon.

Wilkinsons sell a handy box of 10 Antiseptic Hand Wipes for £1.00 - the wipes are individually wrapped so you could just carry 1 or 2 in a trouser pocket or Ladies handbag.

I use Dia-wipe-Diabetes-finger-testing-wipes from Amazon. About £1.50 for a pack of 25. Very small package, ideal for handbags or pocket.

Hi Drummer mum. That sounds even better value for money. Thanks for that.

I've found them ideal as I can't always get to wash my hands

Washing hands with warm water also gets the blood flowing to the area, and therefore makes the pricking easier. (I lived in subarctic weather conditions for a long time - and this really mattered.) And absolutely - if food is on your hands it can quite dramatically alter, as in raise, your BG reading - you need clean hands for sure, IMHO.

Drummer mum said:

I use Dia-wipe-Diabetes-finger-testing-wipes from Amazon.

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Since I had never heard of these before, I wondered what was in them, especially since their claim is "no alcohol, fragrance or other disinfectants to interfere with your Blood Glucose Testing".

It appears that they are just a "solution of water and 0.9% Sodium Chloride". Uh, saline solution aka salt water anyone?

Interesting direction I had never previously considered taking. And certainly something you could also probably make for yourself at home should you want to save on costs.