How to Use a Blood Glucose Monitoring Kit

Being able to use a blood glucose monitoring kit is critical for diabetics, prediabetics and others who struggle to keep their blood glucose at appropriate levels. Most diabetic or glucose monitoring kits consist of a blood glucose meter, test strips that are stored in a special vial, and a lancing device. The test strips and blood glucose meter should match in brand, but you can use any lancing device you like.

Instructions

• 1

  Remove a test strip from the vial of test strips and insert it into your blood glucose meter. The meter should turn on automatically and display a two- or three-digit code on its screen; check this code against the code on the vial of test strips. Proceed only if the two codes match. If they don't, you may be able to adjust the meter's code by using the up and down keys on the meter, or replacing the code key (like a small memory card). How you adjust the meter's code depends on what brand of meter you're using.

• 2

  Wait for the "ready" symbol to flash on the glucose meter's screen; usually this looks like a drop of blood, or perhaps a drop of blood over a test strip. Once you see the symbol flashing, hold the tip of the lancing device against the side of your finger and press the trigger. Put the device down and gently squeeze your finger to "milk" a drop of blood to the surface.

• 3

  Hold the drop of blood against the edge of the test strip in your glucose meter. Which edge you hold it against may vary between specific brands of test strips; there's no way to be sure which edge you should be using without consulting your product documentation.

• 4

  Wait until the window on the test strip is full of blood, or until the meter displays a number. This may take a few seconds. The number is your current blood glucose reading. Write it down in your records and interpret it according to instructions from your physician.

• 5

  Remove the used test strip and discard it. Most meters will turn off automatically once the strip is removed, or a couple of minutes thereafter. You may also need to put a new lancet in your lancing device so that it's ready for the next test. Re-using a lancet leads to painful sticks as the lancet becomes dull with each use, and presents a potential risk of infection.