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Uncooperative fingers

I

ianf0ster

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
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2,697
Location
Harpenden, Herts, England
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
Dislikes
exercise, phone calls
My fingers often won't cooperate when I try to take a sample for the meter when I want to test my BG.
Do other members get this problem?
My blood pressure has always been on the slightly low side and my circulation in hands and feet isn't that good - I always suffered badly on Ski holidays until the heating pads became available.

I don't feel that it is the Lancer or the Lancettes, just that the blood doesn't want to leave my finger - or there is so little blood in there that not enough will come out. I have to dial my Lancer right up to 7 and even the find I need up to 10 attempts in order to get 6 results.

I find that my little fingers are almost useless for a blood test - less than 1 in 4 gives enough blood. It is my ring and my big fingers that have to bear the brunt of the testing, and sometimes they are still bruised the next day, making me reluctant to do many/any further tests.

Fortunately my meals tend to be pretty much the same most days, so I usually don't ned to re-test that much.
 
Antje77 said:
I don't know if you already do this, but it helps a lot if you don't squeeze the tip of your finger but start at the palm, pushing up to the tip.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thanks, I had not thought to try that. I will give it a go. Currently I find a sort of 'pull and squeeze' helps to get the blood out: -massaging away from the puncture (to help open it up and then squeezing gently when a little away from it. But often I get either no blood or too little for the test..
 
I used to have the exact same problem at first, but it greatly improved over time. I put it down to improving circulation as my body slowly began healing. My doctor dismissed this idea but frankly she’s clueless anyway.
 
It's my RH little finger that co-operates most nicely - unless it's cold, very occasionally feeling a bit peevish, and generally if I'm doing my stabbing with a blunt needle.

I sometimes need to give a little push to get the drop of blood out, or hold my hand downwards and give it a good shaking... But I'd definitely agree a warm hand works better.

Robbity
 
I have always had this problem, no matter what I do, and I have tried everything over the last 5 plus years. I don't need to test my meals these days, but I do still test 3 times (FBG, before tea, before bed). My blood does flow better in hot weather. Fortunately, my meter doesn't require a big drop.
 
Xaralto (anti coagulent) helps my my blood flow / spurt/ ooze when I lance fingers and thumbs.
 
Sorry to hear it’s so difficult for you @ianf0ster . I also struggle with this a bit, but not quite as much as you are doing. If I wash my hands in warm water, by the time I have dried them my fingers have gone cold again! Soaking in a basin of warm water seems better than a quick wash. Also I shake the hand that I’m about to prick downwards a few times beforehand, the way I would if I was shaking water off, but letting my arm hang down rather than at waist height. Sometimes rubbing my hands together vigorously helps too, as it warms them up.
 
Hooty said:
If I wash my hands in warm water, by the time I have dried them my fingers have gone cold again!
Click to expand...
Just a random thought but possibly useful. You could fill a glass with warm water and put your finger in an empty plastic bag in the glass to warm it up while staying dry.
 
Antje77 said:
I don't know if you already do this, but it helps a lot if you don't squeeze the tip of your finger but start at the palm, pushing up to the tip.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
This ^^

Thank you - I'd been having similar issues.. stabbing a number of digits because they just would not produce enough for a drop (that I wanted). Since I read your post, and squeeze from the base of the finger up I can confirm that it works every time. That with using the stabber on the Accu-Chek mobile on the lowest setting.

Daft really, I should have thought of that
 

Wash your hands in warm water, dry then give then a decent shake, with your hands by your sides. That often helps.

Otherwise, @Antje77 's pressing from the palm towards the finger tip works for me.

For most people the lancets we use, that come with lancing devices are fine, but there are more aggressive options available out there, if you get really stuck. The single use option lancing devices they use in hospitals are brutal beasts! I wouldn't like to have one of those in use too often, but they are out there.
 
Hot water helps me, but also massaging my finger as I dry it (using a tissue/piece of kitchen roll that I then keep wrapped around the finger until the lancet is ready).
And after I've made the hole I often need to press the blood up my finger from the knuckle for my first blood test of the day as I'm dehydrated and the blood flows out slowly!
Some days are worse, so if I have to try again I hang my the arm down for a minute first.
 
Antje77 said:
Just a random thought but possibly useful. You could fill a glass with warm water and put your finger in an empty plastic bag in the glass to warm it up while staying dry.
Click to expand...
Good idea, thank you!
 
Thanks for all the replies folks.
Warming my finger helps , but sometimes it is difficult to keep it warm, Massaging blood up from the palm of the hand has also helped. So I think that a combination of the plastic bag in warm water and massaging from the palm should get me a good test sample in most cases.
 
I had the same problem with circulation and low blood pressure and I found that if you sit on your hand for a couple of minutes and test straight away you will get blood out but if you sit on them longer than that it will go numb and that I had to wait for a while but I found shaking it worked when numb and as for winter and when it's cold and wet I have to place my hands on my chest as this is the hottest part of your body apart from your head but it is the heat from your heart that will warm up your hands as well as sitting on them but it's up to you how you do it and warm water is a bonus to heat them as well as you put water in the sink and let it stand and place your hands in it and then dry as you normally would and you will find that these will help you
 
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