| What you should
know about forearm testing.*
The freedom to choose where to test.
 Less
pain when you test on your forearm*
- Freedom to test on your arm, which has fewer
nerve endings and gives sensitive fingers a break.
- 3 out of 4 patients rated the pain of arm testing
as no pain at all or much less than a fingerstick.
Less blood can mean less pain--even on fingers
- Tiny blood sample allows for a shallow, less
painful stick.**
Forearm testing guidelines are easy to follow
- Most people take a fasting blood glucose test
– that is, they test prior to meals or more than 2 hours
after meals. For a fasting blood glucose test, you can choose
to test on the forearm or finger.
- If you test within 2 hours after meals, an insulin dose, or
exercise, you should test from your finger.
Recent studies have demonstrated:
Test results using samples taken from the forearm may differ from fingertip
samples when blood glucose is changing rapidly, such as:
- Within 2 hours after meals, an insulin dose
or exercise.
Understand how to get the most from forearm
testing
- Review Important Information about
Forearm Testing and talk to your doctor.
- Test from your finger if you normally have a
concern about hypoglycemia (an insulin reaction).
- Test from your finger if you feel that your blood glucose level
is changing rapidly.
- Test from your finger if you routinely test after meals, an
insulin dose, or exercise.
If you have any questions, please contact our Customer
Service.
Important information about forearm
testing
- Under certain conditions, blood glucose test
results obtained using samples taken from your forearm may differ
significantly from fingertip samples.
- The conditions in which these differences are most likely to
occur are when your blood glucose is changing rapidly such as
following a meal, an insulin dose or associated with physical
exercise.
- When blood glucose is changing rapidly, fingertip samples show
these changes more quickly than forearm samples.
- When your blood glucose is falling, testing with a fingertip
may identify a hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) level sooner than
a test with an forearm sample.
- Use forearm samples only for testing prior to, or more than two
hours after, meals, insulin dose or physical exercise.
- Testing performed within two hours after meals, an insulin
dose or physical exercise, or whenever you feel that your glucose
levels may be changing rapidly, should be done from the fingertip.
- You should use fingertip testing whenever you have a concern
about hypoglycemia (insulin reactions) such as when you drive
a car, particularly if you suffer from hypoglycemic unawareness
(lack of symptoms to indicate an insulin reaction), as forearm testing
may fail to detect hypoglycemia.
For more information about LifeScan Products,
please contact Customer Care.
|
 |
|
