Diabetes is a chronic condition that needs constant management of blood sugar levels. Uncontrolled blood sugar levels start to affect different organs of the body. If you are a diabetic patient, it is important to check blood sugar levels regularly. It helps you understand whether the diet and lifestyle you are following are helpful in controlling blood sugar levels or not. It may help you avoid some major fluctuations in blood sugar levels. These days blood sugar levels are checked at home.
Mistakes to avoid while measuring blood sugar level at home
1. Postprandial Blood Sugar
Postprandial blood glucose test measures blood glucose post-meal. While testing the two-hour postprandial sugar level, it starts counting the time once you start eating your meal instead of upon completion of the meal.
2. Prick Timing
For an accurate reading of your blood sugars, it’s ideal to take the test at different times throughout the day as a lot of environmental and physiological factors do change according to the time.
3. Prick Finger
One of the common mistakes is done using the same finger for the test every day. Doing this may cause pain or even a minor injury. So, it is best to keep rotating the finger from either hand for testing.
4. One Prick, One Needle
It has been observed that many patients use the same needle for more than four to five pricks or avoid changing it for a longer period of time. It may increase the chances of infection multi-fold. Ideal way would be to discard the needle after every prick with proper safety measures.
5. Needle Depth
The lancing device is used for the test that comes with adjustable needle depths which can be changed as per the thickness of the skin on your fingers. Make sure the needle is set between 2-3 to ensure a proper prick.
6. Sanitization
Always sanitize the finger you are going to prick to ensure the area is clean and infection-free. Most importantly don’t hurry to prick once you have sanitized the finger with spirits. The important thing is always to wait for the spirit to evaporate from the skin surface before pricking.
7. Variations Between Sugar Levels
There is an acceptable variation between the readings of a laboratory and glucometer test levels. So even after following all possible norms if there is any difference in the readings don’t panic.