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Unable to do finger prick tests.

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Davetf

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3
My wife is type 2 on insulin and usually does finger prick blood tests 4 times a day. She also has lymphodema in her right arm and is not allowed to use that side for her tests.
Unfortunately she has now contracted cellulitis in her left hand/ arm and cannot use that hand for testing.

The question is how and where does she get the blood from to test?
 
I know at some point in the dim and distant past it was suggested I used my ear lobes for testing (probably when I was a kid refusing to do blood tests cos it hurt my fingers) - obviously this can be tricky to do on your own without a mirror handy.
I cannot remember how well it worked mind ....
 
Hello, Welcome!

I don't know if it is out of practice but outer palms of your hands or toes
I remember blood meters use to come with a finger pricker end that was used for arms.
Has this been discussed with her diabetes team for a suggestion?
 
It's called alternate site testing and I think she'd best contact her health care professional for advice.
I tried to do a little experiment for you so I tried testing my lower leg, tummy and fore-arm. My normal pricker couldn't produce a big enough drop of blood in either of those places even at the highest setting or with a lancet without the pricking thing, so she may need a different pricker I guess. The good part was that it didn't sting at all, even with the loose lancet.
I tried my earlobe too (because that's where you test dogs and cats) and that gave a beautiful blood drop. I didn't manage to aim the teststrip on it in the mirror though.
Still, earlobe may be useful for now, if she's ok with you helping her (or if she's more dexterous in a mirror than I am).

Good luck!
 
We are waiting for a response from the diabetes team hopefully later today. Hands and arms are totally out of bounds so maybe it will qualify her for a CGM.
 
Thanks Antje77, that’s going further than anyone expects to help. The ears look like the best temporary option though I wouldn’t like that long term.
I’m type one so can understand her difficulties.
 
Davetf said:
We are waiting for a response from the diabetes team hopefully later today. Hands and arms are totally out of bounds so maybe it will qualify her for a CGM.
Click to expand...
The only issue with a CGM or freestyle libre is accuracy - a lot of diabetics have come across bg levels 1-3 levels higher or false hypos and hypers. But I do wish you all the best and I hope her team put forward a long term solution in helping her manage her diabetes.

I also like to add that CGMs and sensors have a chance of it being faulty or failing. Even diabetics that get them they still need test strips to test from time to time or test because of a faulty sensor. So it doesn’t completely rule out the need to finger prick, I am hopeful one day we don’t have to.
 
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