Diabetes FAQ » Diabetes Tips » Tips on How to Make Your Diabetic Finger Stick as Painless as Possible

Tips on How to Make Your Diabetic Finger Stick as Painless as Possible

One of the most painful things about having diabetes mellitus is the finger sticks. Most people who require insulin have to test their blood sugar with a glucometer multiple times every day. One of the things that make glucose testing so painful is that many people test by sticking their fingers in the wrong areas. Many people use glucometers that require a good drop of blood to complete the test. To get an adequate amount of blood for those kinds of glucometers you need to use your fingers. There are glucose meters that require a small amount of blood, and for those you can use your arm. However, this article will focus on the correct way to obtain a blood sample for testing blood glucose.

The first thing to consider is the lancets that you will use to stick your finger. The lancets come in different gages, so purchase the smallest gage possible. You need lancets large enough to prick the skin, but not so large they will go too deeply into the soft tissues of your fingers. You don’t have to buy a special brand of lancets, but you should look for the package that says “thin” on the box. The thin lancets seem to cause less trauma when you do your finger sticks.

The next thing to consider is where you are going to do your finger stick. Most diabetics learn from experience what hurts the most and what hurts the least. Knowing where to stick is very important, because if you stick on the pads or on the very ends of your fingers they will get terribly sore. If you repeatedly stick yourself in the pads or ends of your fingers, you may dread testing so much that you may contemplate skipping your scheduled blood sugar test, and that could be dangerous.

When you stick your fingers you might want to use your first three fingers on either hand. Alternating fingers for each test, will allow your fingers start healing before they are pricked again. There are fewer nerves on the side of your fingers, so avoid the pads and aim for the areas to the sides of your fingers, which are adjacent to the pads.

Before doing your diabetic glucose testing on your fingers, it is a good idea to prep your finger for sticking. Let your hand hang down for a few seconds, and then gently squeeze and massage your finger in such a way that you are working the blood toward the area you are going to prick for the glucose test.

You may find the finger stick easier with a lancet device. If you use the little pen-like lancet device, which is spring loaded, it will allow the lancet to go just deep enough into the skin to get a sample of blood. If you don’t use the little lancet device, you may stick your finger deeper than you need to. Depending on the thickness of your skin on your fingers, you may need to experiment with the lancets and lancet device until you get your technique perfected. If you have thicker skin, you may need to apply a little pressure from the end of the lancet device against your finger before triggering the device.

When you make your finger stick to test your glucose level, be sure to keep your hands below your heart and your fingers should be pointing slightly downward. You need to position your hands in this way to allow for gravity to assist in the downward flow of blood. If the site of your finger stick hasn’t produced enough blood for the test, just gently squeeze your finger while keeping your fingers pointing downward below the level of your heart. After a few tries you will become more adept at obtaining blood samples to test your blood sugar levels.

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