Testing Sites

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2007
Testing Sites
12
Wed, 09-26-2007 - 7:27am

I was just wondering...when I test my BS I sometimes get black and blue marks.  I rotate using 1 finger per day...I stick the sides and the middle of the pad.  Occasionally I will look at my finger later and I have a black and blue spot (it usually lasts 1-2 days)....my meter says I can use the forearm or the base of the thumb but not for testing after meals  which is when I basically test.


Just curious and wondered if this happens to anyone else and what would cause it.


Rita

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Avatar for cl_coldfingers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 09-26-2007 - 7:42am
I don 't get black and blue marks on my fingers, I am wondering how often you change the lancet?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2007
Wed, 09-26-2007 - 5:56pm

Hi Cheryl,


I change my lancet daily.

Avatar for cl_coldfingers
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 09-26-2007 - 6:24pm

Another thought...


iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2007
Wed, 09-26-2007 - 9:35pm

That's what I was thinking that maybe the pricking device was set too high because I have never experienced black and blue marks either.


I even did a search online and didn't see anything about this.


Do you normally bruise easily?

Avatar for cl_maryfrances40
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Wed, 09-26-2007 - 10:02pm

LOL!! Mary Frances is here!!


Once in a great while I will get bruising and it is usually when I have pushed too hard with the lancing devise and gotten much more blood than I need. Also if I don't put sufficient pressure on the site after I test. Now I have a clotting defect and this is when you see it! But probably 99% of the time I don't bruise. You can use alternative sites but not if the test results are critical because the results from alternative sites is behind that from you fingers. It has to do with the speed of the capillary blood flow.


When you test use the sides of your fingers, not too close to the nail bed as this is quite painful. It is also painful to use the center of your finger. Don't use the thumb because that is pretty painful also.


Incidentally, upon doctor's orders I test 5 times per day. Sometimes I test less than ordered and sometimes more! As I have said any number of times I am not a saint! But most of the time I do as instructed.


Avatar for 2sweet02
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-29-2003
Wed, 09-26-2007 - 10:22pm

Another thought about bruising, do you take something like Aspirin or NSAIDS?

2sweet02

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-18-2007
Thu, 09-27-2007 - 4:18am

I havent had any of symptoms you describe and it sounds like you are having some bruising under the skin caused by a small amount of blood under the skin surface. As others suggest it may be

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2007
Thu, 09-27-2007 - 7:32am

Hi everyone,


My setting for the depth is a low as I can get it...if I go one lower I have a real tought time getting the blood out.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-17-2007
Tue, 10-02-2007 - 12:50pm
I don't bruise, but sometimes it hurts my finger a lot or leaves a puncture mark. (I test 3 times a day using the last three fingers on my right hand; have had diabetes for over 21 years so that's a lot of testing. I don't use a lot of medication but if I overdo the carbs my numbers soar.) I set my lancing device at #5, the least penetrating; the device is the one that came with my Accu-Chek Active monitor and it uses Softclix lancets. If you use the same, look at the metal poker part and you will see that it is slightly curved. If it is inserted the wrong way, it will not penetrate properly, at least in my fingers. I pull it out and turn it the other way. I have to make sure the testing finger is nice and warm and the skin is damp. I touch it as lightly as possible when I release the lancet. If it's too light for enough penetration, I do it closer. Afterward, I dip my fingers in some Pi water (from my Nikken faucet special filter that includes special heathful minerals), but since most people don't have that, an alternative to healing the skin is to rub some wet vitamin C on the finger and let it dry to a light powder. Use the round ones that taste acidic, not the caplets that don't dissolve readily. Vitamin C paste is also good for skin rashes and infection. You can put a bandage over it and let it keep working. (I also swear by taking Vitamin C orally to keep my capillaries healthy, since most of the complications come from small blood vessel problems. I take 2000mg twice a day, extra to help a stuffy or runny nose since it shrinks the swollen tissues in the nose.)
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2007
Wed, 10-03-2007 - 7:32am

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