Diabetes is a lifestyle disease that has engulfed almost all households today, it is essential that through medication, diet control, exercise, and regular blood sugar testing we keep our diabetes under control.

Regular monitoring of blood sugar levels is important as sometimes serious ailments can be avoided if we keep track our blood sugar levels.

When should you check your blood sugar level?

As such all Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes patients should do this regularly, but if you have any of the below symptoms, you might be pre-diabetic, and with early detection, you can get it under control.

• Sudden loss of appetite
• Suddenly you feel thirsty all the time
• Weight Loss for no apparent reason
• You have to go to the washroom much more than usual
• Vision is blurry, which was normal before
• You feel tired all the time
• You have suddenly developed very dry skin
• Even if you get a scratch somewhere it takes a very long time to heal

Keeping a home testing kit with you is always a good idea, as you can immediately know if there is fluctuation in your blood sugar levels, also with the rapid increase in Covid cases, it is best to visit pathology labs only when it is very necessary. Home testing kits would serve the purpose of being contact-less, and nowadays home testing kits are as reliable as pathology labs results.

But when you are handling home testing kits yourself, you need to follow proper instructions, to avoid injury infection.

Major Blood sugar testing mistakes that you need to avoid at all costs are:

1. Using alcohol or sanitizer before pricking

This is many times done by people to replicate the pathology lab procedure, but this should not be done at home, as it will be very painful when the needle pricks or the pore is left open after pricking. In some cases, such a thing can also lead to infection. It is best advised to stick to instructions stated on the manual you get with the home testing kits.

2. Pricking at the fingertip, and pricing the same finger every day.

The fingertip pad is the most sensitive, so pricking it will cause more pain than pricking at other places. Ideally press your fingertips and palm together, pricking at visible edges will hurt less. Alternatively, pricking at the same spot again and again daily or alternate days is not helpful either, it can cause serious injury and infection.

3. Not changing needle

This is the most common cause of infection while using home testing glucose kits is that people try to use the same needle for up to 10 pricks. Almost all medical professionals will tell you that the needle which you use to prick to get a blood sample in a home testing kit also called a lancet, should be changed after every prick. After each prick, it is going to lose more and more of its sharpness, and if you continue using it, you are essentially hurting yourself more.

4. Not washing your hands

We can’t stress enough, how important this step is, and this is the one most omitted one. Even if your hands don’t look dirty, or you feel they are clean, please do wash your hands with soap and water before using kits. Not washing hands will temper your result, chances are the elements of whatever thing you help before testing would reflect in your result, making your testing inaccurate,

Complement regular blood sugar testing with a proper diet and mild exercise as well.

When proper precautions are followed, one can rely on home testing blood sugar testing kits effortlessly, and be sure of their results as well. Eat healthily and stay healthy!