[Diabetes-talk] Returning member with questions.

[Ann Williams]

Alan,

Alas!  It is not unusual or someone to have trouble getting enough blood 
from his or her fingers.

Here are several things I have seen people use to get enough blood out 
of their fingers:

   1. You already mentioned the first one, starting with warm hands. 
      You mentioned warming your hands in water, which is a good idea.
   2. Set your lancer to poke you as deeply as you can stand.
   3. Shake down the hand you're going to poke, as if you were shaking
      down an old-fashioned mercury thermometer.  The idea is to get the
      blood down into your hand.
   4. Before you poke your finger, take a rubber band (thick is better
      than thin), and wrap a double thickness around your finger, like a
      small tourniquet.  Do not loop it over the top of the finger, just
      use the double thickness as if it was one piece.  That way, if you
      need to take it off after you lance, to get more blood flowing,
      you won't wipe off your blood drop. You can wrap it fairly snugly,
      but not so tight it's painful. You can hold it down with your thumb.
   5. When you can feel the blood engorging the fingertip, lance the
      side of the finger.  Many people will get a fairly large drop of
      blood easily this way. But if you don't, take the rubber band off
      now, and squeeze the finger from the base to the tip.

I hope this helps.

Ann Williams, RN, CDE