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How often should I use a fresh lancet?

R

rosalindp

Active Member
Messages
36
Location
New Zealand
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Hi

I use an Accu-chek Performa meter, & I've only just realised that the manufacturer recommends a fresh lancet per test. (I know, I know... I must be a slow learner... Sigh.)

I have twisted the lancet thing (to get a new lancet) only about once every couple of weeks (or more). (I'm testing about 8 to 10 times a day.) My thinking having been, "Well, it's still sharp enough to get the blood..." But now I'm wondering about how hygienic (or not) it has been to use the same lancet over & over. (There is only me using it, & as far as I know I don't have any kind of blood diseases.)

I've ordered a heap of new lancet drums so I can follow the "proper" procedure in the future, but it may take over a week for them to arrive.

Thanks.

Kind regards,
Rosalind :-)

PS My HbA1C was 108 on 16 June 2017.
I was put onto Metformin on 24 June 2017.
And my HbA1C was down to 67 on 6 September 2017. (Woooohooooo!!!)

Joke:
I have CDO. It's like OCD - but in alphabetical order, like it should be.
 
I've been on a diabetes newsgroup where many people recommended changing the lancet once a year, unless it feel dull earlier.
Exception - ALWAYS change it before and after someone else uses it.
 
Technically it should be changed after every stick. I change it when it hurts or is hard to get blood. Not before. Unless it's bent from jamming it into calouses.
 
Joke:
I have CDO. It's like OCD - but in alphabetical order, like it should be.[/QUOTE]

I think they recommend changing it every time to reduce the chance of infection.


On another note LOL to your signature! :)
 
Hi. I change mine every few weeks (my DN was shocked as she spotted I wasn't claiming any scripts for them!). The infection thing is purely theoretical and in practice not a problem.
 
Well Im 20+ years post diagnosis and am only just on my second box of lancets so its fair to say not that often!
I take the line that as long as a lancets working ok and has only come into contact with my blood then thats ok.
 
Having a suppressed immune system I cannot afford to consider infection as just theoretical. The needle contacts the blood and so does anything else on it.
 
27 yrs finger pricking and maybe somewhere between 6 and 10 new lancet devices down the years. So that works out at about 6 or 10 new lancets I've used.
I jest slightly, but in all seriousness I honestly haven't used anymore than 2 dozen lancets over the years.
It's not something I advocate to anyone it's just that I'm a lazy ******.:)
 
I have been changing mine after every test! Time to relax a bit with it or perhaps sterilise them, wish I could do that with the strips.
 
I change my lancet every night ready for the next day, I find my fingers get sore if I use it any longer
 
therower said:
I jest slightly, but in all seriousness I honestly haven't used anymore than 2 dozen lancets over the years.
Click to expand...
One of the nurses at the wound dressing clinic Bundaberg hospital said to me once "No to be austere", when I was re-using bandages and pressure stockings.

@therower break loose and use a couple more do not be so austere with yourself. :D
 
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