Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Which is a more accurate place to test, the finger or the arm? This morning I tested both places, just out of curiosity, and there was a 10 point difference!! That seems a lot considering there was only a 30 second interval! patti --------------------------------- Relax. Yahoo! Mail virus scanning helps detect nasty viruses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Try testing the same finger 30 second apart, and I think you will see as big a difference. Home meters are only about 10% accurate last I heard. But to answer your question, the fingers show a quicker response to glucose level changes than the arm, thus will give more " accurate " results. (dare I get started on the difference between accuracy and precision?). Before you decide to start testing on your arm, is your meter approved for that? > > Which is a more accurate place to test, the finger or the arm? This morning I tested both places, just out of curiosity, and there was a 10 point difference!! That seems a lot considering there was only a 30 second interval! > > patti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Try testing the same finger 30 second apart, and I think you will see as big a difference. Home meters are only about 10% accurate last I heard. But to answer your question, the fingers show a quicker response to glucose level changes than the arm, thus will give more " accurate " results. (dare I get started on the difference between accuracy and precision?). Before you decide to start testing on your arm, is your meter approved for that? > > Which is a more accurate place to test, the finger or the arm? This morning I tested both places, just out of curiosity, and there was a 10 point difference!! That seems a lot considering there was only a 30 second interval! > > patti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Try testing the same finger 30 second apart, and I think you will see as big a difference. Home meters are only about 10% accurate last I heard. But to answer your question, the fingers show a quicker response to glucose level changes than the arm, thus will give more " accurate " results. (dare I get started on the difference between accuracy and precision?). Before you decide to start testing on your arm, is your meter approved for that? > > Which is a more accurate place to test, the finger or the arm? This morning I tested both places, just out of curiosity, and there was a 10 point difference!! That seems a lot considering there was only a 30 second interval! > > patti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 I found this article: http://meeting.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/abstract/128/4/220S-a It seems to indicate that the site of testing is what drives the accuracy. Looking at a hospital setting they testing venous, arterial and capillary samples. If I remember correctly (anatomy and physiology was too many years ago... ;-) Fingertips have more of the tiny capillaries where arterial blood moves to venous blood... many more than the forearm has. This is probably why they recomend finger testing when monitoring to correct a low blood sugar. The difference was referring to might be due to the simple fact that each finger stick would draw blood along a slightly different part of the circulatory system? Just a guess. Make sure you test your glucometer occasionally with control solution. Mike > > Try testing the same finger 30 second apart, and I think you will see > as big a difference. Home meters are only about 10% accurate last I > heard. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 LOL Sandy... I agree! I've tried the arm and it takes too long and I have to stick myself a couple of times too! I just use my finger. Just rotate between the eight fingers (I don't stick my thumbs) and rotate the sides of the fingers as well. That's 16 sites and it's easy to pick two sites per side of finger as well... 32 sites. If you get ultra thing lancets (like 30-32 guage) I most of the time don't feel it. Mike > > If you want or need to know what your BG is right now, use the finger. If > you want to know what it was 20 minutes ago, use the arm. ) > > I found it difficult to get enough blood out of the alternate sites unless > you got lucky and hit just the right spot. I also got bruising. After a > week or two, I never bothered to even try any spot but the fingers because > you build up calluses and it doesn't hurt as much. > > Sandy > ----- Original Message ----- > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 LOL Sandy... I agree! I've tried the arm and it takes too long and I have to stick myself a couple of times too! I just use my finger. Just rotate between the eight fingers (I don't stick my thumbs) and rotate the sides of the fingers as well. That's 16 sites and it's easy to pick two sites per side of finger as well... 32 sites. If you get ultra thing lancets (like 30-32 guage) I most of the time don't feel it. Mike > > If you want or need to know what your BG is right now, use the finger. If > you want to know what it was 20 minutes ago, use the arm. ) > > I found it difficult to get enough blood out of the alternate sites unless > you got lucky and hit just the right spot. I also got bruising. After a > week or two, I never bothered to even try any spot but the fingers because > you build up calluses and it doesn't hurt as much. > > Sandy > ----- Original Message ----- > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Mike, Have you tried the thumb? I finally did and it doesn't hurt at all - so now you have even more areas to do! In fact, I get more blood easily out of the thumb and little finger than I do the rest. I use the BD lancets - 33 gauge. ) Sandy Re: finger or arm testing LOL Sandy... I agree! I've tried the arm and it takes too long and I have to stick myself a couple of times too! I just use my finger. Just rotate between the eight fingers (I don't stick my thumbs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 22, 2006 Report Share Posted February 22, 2006 Mike, Have you tried the thumb? I finally did and it doesn't hurt at all - so now you have even more areas to do! In fact, I get more blood easily out of the thumb and little finger than I do the rest. I use the BD lancets - 33 gauge. ) Sandy Re: finger or arm testing LOL Sandy... I agree! I've tried the arm and it takes too long and I have to stick myself a couple of times too! I just use my finger. Just rotate between the eight fingers (I don't stick my thumbs) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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