Diabetes - How to Check Blood Sugar Level Yourself
August 10th, 2010 | 
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To Check your blood sugar regularly tells you whether your lifestyle, your physical activity, meal plans, and medicines doing a good job controlling your diabetes.
There are two easy methods to test your blood sugar level yourself. They take less than two minutes.
Finger-stick method Noninvasive method
FINGER-STICK METHOD
Most equipment for checking blood sugar level involves pricking your finger with a tiny needle (lancet) to draw a drop of blood. Some draw the blood from your forearm. For reading your blood sugar level, you can use a blood glucose meter that will show the number on its screen.
There are many types of meters. Your doctor can help you choose one and show you how to use it. If you still have questions, check the instructions that came with your meter. There are many Newer options also available in the market rather than a lancet for creating the tiny hole needed to draw the blood from the finger like they test blood from other less sensitive parts of the body than the fingertips.
These new devices draw blood in ways similar to the finger-stick method.
To check your diabetes through finger stick method, follow these simple steps:
Step 1 - Wash your hands with warm water and dry them well with a clean towel. You can also use an alcohol wipe to clean the finger that you’ll draw blood from.
Hold your hand below your waist for a minute or so. This helps blood pool in the finger, making it easier to get enough blood for the test.
Step 2 - After preparing your lancet and glucose meter, have a clean test strip ready. Stick the side of your fingertip with the lancet. There are many kinds of lancets and meters. Some draw blood from your forearm. Your lancet and meter may not look like the one in this photo.
Step 3 -Put a drop of blood on the test strip.
Step 4 -To get your results, follow the directions that came with your blood sugar meter. Some meters can give results in a few minutes.
Step 5 -Write down the results and the time you did the test.
Mostly doctors will use these records to see how well you’re managing your blood sugar level.
NON-INVASIVE METHOD
Any other blood sugar testing tool does not draw blood. You wear it on your wrist like a watch and it takes the reading through your skin. It uses a slight electrical current to pull fluid through the skin and into the machine, where it measures the sugar level.
The watch can’t replace your regular finger-stick test. But the watch lets you see trends in how your blood sugar changes over the course of the day.There are some guidelines to check your diabetes with noninvasive method.
Some general guidelines for checking your blood sugar level are given as below
Wear the device for a three-hour warm-up before taking a reading. During this time, don’t bathe or swim. Adjust the device by entering a blood sugar measurement that you’ve gotten by the finger-stick method every time you use the watch. The device will automatically take readings every 20 minutes for up to 12 hours. It can be programmed to sound an alarm if your blood sugar reaches dangerously high or low levels.
By: Jyoti Mali
About the Author:
Posted in Diabetes
August 10th, 2010 5:29 pm
Just curious if there are other methods to check your blood sugar level other than the finger stick method. I’m leary of blood, lol. But, I realize it needs to be done.
August 12th, 2010 9:23 pm
Thanks for the tutorial Jyoti.. Now i don’t have to rely on the nurse to take my Grand’s sugar level every time. I really appreciate this article, thanks!
August 13th, 2010 9:54 am
Thank you for this one. It scares me that one day (I hope not) I will have Diabetes and it will be too late for me to realize I have it.
August 14th, 2010 10:12 am
This is pretty great, I never knew I could check my blood sugar level by myself. My friend was just diagnosed with diabetes, maybe I could get him one of those “wristwatch” testers. Any suggestions on where to find them?
August 16th, 2010 1:24 pm
For checking sugar level for the diabetic patient the Glucometer is used. Your shared steps would be more helpful to the diabetic person. Really done a great job by sharing this helpful information.
August 20th, 2010 8:55 pm
When I was a child, my mum use to test my sugar level with some strange method that she know from her mother.. using flour, egg whites an other things that you can find in your kitchen.
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August 26th, 2010 5:24 pm
Thank you for giving nice information about the Diabetes.The two methods of sugar testing (Finger-stick method ,Noninvasive method)is easy testing methods for the sugar patients.
August 27th, 2010 5:12 am
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