How to Use a Glucometer for Blood Sugar Monitoring

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Either you are out there, working out with your exercises or having a meal at a different period of time, with every step of progress in your body, there is a fluctuation of blood sugar.

This triggers many possibilities for different types of diseases & the most common, as we know, is diabetes. The rise & fall of blood sugar is prominent and needs to be maintained.

It depends on what source of energy you consumed & was it excess or less than sufficient quantity. This rise and fall of blood sugar are vital in maintaining its level, thus to stop potential life-threatening conditions, it’s crucial to control and monitor your blood sugar by a Glucometer. Through this article, we’ll guide you on monitoring your blood sugar beforehand & including its benefits and many other aspects.

 

Self-Monitoring for Blood Sugar: An Overview

Self-Monitoring for Blood Sugar

There are certain food constituents containing glucose contents that break down into small parts, while glucose is transported to different parts of the body. Several organs like the pancreas increase the level of glucose levels & insulin becomes the core reason to facilitate the blood to be transported into the cells.

Self-Monitoring is essential, and before it’s too late, one needs to start to monitor its blood sugar level for managing Type-1 & Type 2 Diabetes. This will allow them to understand their glycemic state through SMBG (Self Monitoring of Blood Glucose). This is effective and certainly gives you an insight into what measures should be taken to balance the levels.

Furthermore, we will learn how to use a Glucometer to monitor blood sugar or glucose, all the benefits and prevention you need to take before you scan your level.

 

Benefits of Self Monitoring for Blood Sugar Level

Self-Monitoring for Blood Sugar benefits us with quite some basic things, and these include pretty many habits and different activities which could be manageable and essential daily. Let’s see and go through what are all types of Benefits while self-monitoring.

  1. The most crucial benefit of self-monitoring for blood sugar is to arrange and assist in making decisions of what type of food consumption is vital & the other activities that can improve your diet & get your glucose level on track.
  2. This can be used to determine the High/Low blood sugar levels & can create good health management & which is very important and could let you analyse your body.
  3. This allows you to take care of the diseases beforehand, and you can prepare your needs to repent them.
  4. To monitor it well, Glucometer is the perfect idea to check and maintain sugar levels. Let’s take a look at what and how Glucometer can be helpful.

 

How can a Glucometer be Helpful & its Importance?

How can a Glucometer be Helpful & its Importance

To keep track of your blood levels, these small glucose meters can be very efficient in testing blood sugar levels just with a single drop of blood. It is a portable meter that is accessible at any point in time. There are specific reasons why it’s helpful in treating significant rise or fall in blood sugar levels. This is not a difficult task, as it’s a straightforward method to check the fluctuation.

The Glucometer is helpful for you & why it’s essential to self-monitor using Glucometer:

  1. There are specific patterns you can see while checking blood sugar levels on it that can let you access how you can treat your goals so that you can manage your diet accordingly.
  2. The importance lies within the diabetic imperfections, which can create a bug haul without notice. These include heart attack, eyes & kidney problems. In order to improve or eliminate such complications, one needs to control the blood sugar.
  3. This is more of a commitment, as other than controlling diabetes, you are managing your weight, optimising yourself through activities. It’s important how much you are giving it all to be healthy and fit.

Although this hand-testing sugar machine or Glucometer can be helpful in various ways, the critical part is how to use it for blood sugar monitoring. Let’s find out.

 

Steps on How To Use a Glucometer & When?

There will be a question in your mind about how and when should we test our blood sugar level using Glucometer? The answer to your question lies within how, when and what can be the disadvantages & advantages of self-monitoring. All these we’ll be covering further in this article. Let’s take a look at how should we use the Glucometer.

  1. It’s essential to wash your hands before starting your test, as reading cannot be accurate if you didn’t already.
  2. Glucometer comes with a variety of small strips, lancets (which is needed to pick your blood sample). While self-monitoring, it depends on how you are able to manage a little uncomfortable tingling while pricking your finger from the lancet.
  3. Before I allow to introduce you to the steps & all the processes, you need to know certain things which are essential to process the Blood Sugar Test. These are;
  • You need a lancet, which is used to prick your finger for taking out the drop of blood as a sample.
  • A swab is vital to aid the puncture portion of your finger. An extra bandage will be helpful, too, just for emergency cases.
  • At last, a blood sugar monitor through which you can observe the readings.
  1. Washing your hands with soapy water before testing will protect you from any infections on the pricking side of your finger. Try to use the sides of the fingertip to eliminate discomfort. As soon as you have done with the pricking, quickly apply the alcohol wipes on the site instead of washing it. Dry them well before the next step.
  2. As soon as you touch the edge of the strip by the end of your blood sample. The blood will lay on the testing strip, which goes inside the blood sugar monitor to arrange all the readings in the end & shows you the readings in a proper fashion.
  3. After every usage of lancets and strips, they need to be disposed of every time a new test is performed.
  4. Nowadays, there are modern glucometers where its strip is pre-inserted, unlike the old glucometers.

Now that you all have gathered information on step-by-step usage of using Glucometer for Blood Sugar Monitoring, we need to know when & how you or anyone can get the best results from self-monitoring.

Self-monitoring through Glucometer doesn’t need the device itself, but there is other such essential stuff (lancet, bandages, alcohol swap/wipes) that you need with you at all times. There should be a quick update on your test strips so that you wouldn’t be having any outdated ones left behind.

After you have self-monitored your blood sugar level, it’s essential to take your readings to your doctor to analyse your readings.

 

The Right time of Self-Monitoring Blood Sugar (Frequency)

There are three timings at which you test or self monitor your blood sugar:

  • Just for self-precaution to maintain your target range of Blood Sugar.
  • For the ones who are suffering from Diabetes-1
  • Lastly, for the ones who are suffering from Diabetes-2.

For each of these cases, there are a set of instructions provided by doctors & in general, and they are specific. It means they usually need to follow this set of instructions to check the progress.

Let’s take a brief instruction of each of the cases, except for those just measuring for self-precaution.

Instructions to when Diabetes-1 will perform tests:-

  • Usually, doctors will recommend you to test for five to ten times every day.
  • This includes testing before meals & snacks.
  • Either before or after the workout.
  • This is important to test before you go to sleep & during the night too.
  • They usually have to perform tests, especially when they are ill.
  • We don’t prefer you to change your routine, but it is vital to test if you do.

Instruction to when Diabetes-2 will perform tests:-

  • In this situation, it is recommended to do tests several times a day, just like for Diabetes-1 patients.
  • But if you have an intake of non-insulin medications in a while, there is no need to test your blood sugar level.

 

Problems to Avoid while using Glucometer

Problems to Avoid while using Glucometer

Self-Monitoring can be easy to process only if you have gone through all the steps & precautions. To summarise, let’s check and see the problems to avoid while using Glucometer, so you may proceed with the best self-monitoring process & won’t be creating such issues.

  1. The primary precaution you need to remember is to use the same size and type of strip which is preferred for your Glucometer.
  2. The amount of blood drop shouldn’t be more than ~1micro-litre, which is precisely a drop. You should go through the instructions of your glucometer.
  3. Storage of the test strips is vital for the best stability, and one should store it through refrigeration by entirely capped.
  4. Using expired test strips may result in infection and improper results, which can be very harmful, so make sure you get the fresh strips in possession.

Even after you have avoided these issues while using Glucometer, there are some critical factors, including your diabetic complications, the severity of it, health and other conditions.

Thus, according to ADA (American Diabetes Association) suggests a particular set of sugar levels:

Situation Value Needed
Post-Meal 80 mg/dl – 130mg/dl
Pre-Meal It should be less than 130 mg/dl

This means the value of blood sugar level should be maintained around these values. That is why several tests by a Glucometer are crucial to managing your diet and blood sugar.

 

Advantages & Disadvantages of using Glucometer

The Glucometer can be an amazing friendly device to you, as it offers you several advantages to improve your health. Although there are quite a few disadvantages which won’t disappoint you but you need to know, so let’s discuss:

Advantages

Disadvantages

While testing with Glucometer, the core advantage we see is that it provides you with real-time feedback. There could be a possibility of expense while purchasing the supplies.
Patterns detected with this device can show changes in glycemic in the body The Physical pain of the finger pricking could be a concern for some people.
The reading can inform patients by the doctors in enabling them to change their lifestyle or even medications. The amount of anxiety can be produced in the individual.
A Friendly device that can provide you assistance on the go. There is a particular need of learning the process of self-monitoring for Blood Sugar.

Hence, these are the basic pros & cons of Glucometer usage; consider them all as essential because it’s the process and the question to protect the state of your health & health comes first before the expenses.

 

The Final Verdict

For Diabetes or anyone who feels that their lifestyle is right off the track, & needs assistance then Glucometer is there to rescue you to provide a better state of health. Without crucial training of using Glucometer and regular tests to review readings, you couldn’t get the best benefits from it.

As that can be a stressful activity for those who haven’t learnt it yet, so we suggest you prepare and learn about using Glucometer, so that you may be able to gather around the readings and process all the activities which are essential.

After going through all the benefits, steps on using Glucometer, precautions, pros, cons, and all the other systematic tasks which were vital. We suggest you do not hesitate in making a choice to have a healthy and happy life. Discussion of readings, lifestyle with your doctor can be helpful for your medication. Stay safe, and stay healthy.

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