Preventing or treating hard skin from lancet damage

[lucynical]

Hi there,

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter.

Does anyone have any tips for preventing hard skin build up on finger tips from blood sugar monitoring? I moisturise my hands like a demon but it doesn't seem to make a huge amount of difference. Just thought there may be some sneaky things I could try or perhaps a particular moisturiser people recommend.

Thanks
Lucy

 

[claire1991]

The only thing I can recommend is that you use a new lancet every time and rotate your sites as you would your injections.

All the best
Claire x

 

[lucynical]

Thanks Claire, I definitely do that, or at least try to. Although having said that, I do find it easier to get blood out of my left hand rather than my right which is frustrating!

 

[claire1991]

I'm the same! I don't remember the last time I used my right hand!

I've been diabetic for almost 20 years and use a different finger every time and then I'll use the other side and the top and all down the sides before I go back to the first area.
You will always get marks there but they're not that noticeable x

 

[TorqPenderloin]

I use a pumice stone to get rid of any hard skin build-up. Seems to work pretty well.

I first started using one because of the callouses I get from weight lifting. However, it also seems to be pretty effective at keeping the tips of my fingers from feeling like sandpaper.

 

[MarcoRiveira]

According to Dr. Bernstein, don't use alcohol which will harden the skin, just wash hands before pricking.

I used to use alcohol, but I haven't reached the point of testing where my skin hardened, but stopped anyway after seeing the Bernstein video. What happened instead was that my fingers got sore. After I changed my lancet device to the Accu-check Fastclix, I don't get the soreness anymore.