@77Lucy
Sounds like there's room for improvements in your pricking techniques.
First of all make sure your needle is sharp enough. Using a blunt needle (lancet) will hurt, but conversely they don't need changing very often. I'm down to testing once a day and my current needle is now over a year old
Then see it you can set it to a depth that works with your skin. Too deep will hurt, too shallow means blood is difficult to flow
Then there's the pricking sites. They should be at the very side of your fingers near the nail. Don't use the pads (where the fingerprints are) that will hurt. The strip sticks out almost at 90 degrees to the side of my finger when I do mine
Use a different finger site each prick. There will be a minimum of 4 or 5 sites each side of each finger, except the fore fingers, thumbs and middle may well be too sensitive.
I just stick with my little and ring fingers on each hand, which gives 4 fingers x 4 sites x 2 sides = 32 pricks before I repeat one. Everyone at my peak of testing 8 times a day that was more than enough time for each site to rest and heal.
I set myself a little routine. The early pricks are near the top of the finger, lunch time in the middle, dinner a little lower. But I use a different finger each meal, so I might do breakfast ring left top, lunch little left middle, dinner little right low, bed ring right top. Then the next day I start the next finger round, so breakfast little left top., lunch little right middle, dinner ring right low...
But with so many sites as long as I mix it up it doesn't matter.
Make sure your hand is washed in warm water. That will soften the skin and prevent hurt.
Hope at least soem of this helps