Home Blood Glucose Test: How It Is Done

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How It Is Done

A home blood sugar test involves pricking your finger, palm, or forearm with a small needle (lancet) to collect a drop of blood and placing the blood on a special test strip, which you insert into the blood glucose meter before you begin the test. The blood glucose meter displays the results of a blood sugar test within a minute or less after testing.

The instructions for testing are slightly different for each model of home blood glucose meter. For accurate results, follow the instructions for your meter carefully. When testing blood sugar using a home blood glucose meter:

• Wash your hands with warm soapy water. Dry them well with a clean towel. You may also use an alcohol wipe to clean your finger or other site, but make sure your hands are dry before the test.
• Insert a clean needle (lancet) into the lancet device. The lancet device is a pen-sized holder for the lancet. It holds, positions, and controls how deeply the lancet goes into the skin.
• Remove a test strip from the bottle of testing strips. Replace the lid immediately after removing the strip to prevent moisture from affecting the other strips. Testing strips are sometimes stored inside the meter.
• Prepare the blood sugar meter (glucose meter). Follow the instructions included with your meter.
• Use the lancet device to stick the side of your fingertip with the lancet. Do not stick the tip of your finger; the stick will be more painful and you may not get enough blood to do the test accurately. Some new blood sugar meters use lancet devices that can obtain a blood sample from sites other than the fingers, such as the palm of the hand or the forearm.
• Put a drop of blood on the correct spot of the test strip.
• Using a clean cotton ball, apply pressure where you stuck your finger (or other site) to stop the bleeding.
• Follow the directions with your blood sugar meter to get the results. Some meters take only a few seconds to give the results.
• You can write down the results and the time that you tested your blood. But most meters will store results for many days or weeks, so you can always go back later and retrieve them. You and your doctor will use this record to see how often your blood sugar levels have been within the recommended range. Your doctor also will use the results to decide if a change in medicine (insulin or pills) for diabetes is needed.

Last updated:	July 25, 2007
Author:	Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS
Reviewed By:	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine, Alan C. Dalkin, MD - Endocrinology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer