Self-Testing with a Blood Sample
Your physician and health care team will acquaint you with the various products available with which you can test your blood for glucose level. They will explain techniques that will be easy to follow. And they will make specific recommendations so that your testing routine will fit into your daily routine. Your self-testing procedure will involve pricking your finger to draw a drop of blood. Convenient pricking devices are available in purpose.
You will then transfer the drop of blood to a tiny strip with a chemically coated pad at one end, wait one minute, and watch the pad change color according to the amount of glucose present in your blood. With some strips you can compare the color with colors on a chart and estimate your blood sugar by matching colors visually. With other strips the end of the strip is inserted into a metering device, which displays a digital readout of your blood sugar level. Metering devices are small enough to tuck into a purse or briefcase. Physicians say there is little difference in accuracy between the two methods. However, people who have visual impairments often have more success using the digital readout device than with visual comparison method.
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