Glycaemia is a commonly known evil these days with every other household having one or more diabetic candidates. Though mostly genetically conspired, the level of blood sugar, especially hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can be self-controlled with gross changes and stern restrictions imposed upon your day-to-day life! Lancets or lancing devices are almost a regular-use item, for such patients, among other diabetes supplies.

A lancet is a piece of medical equipment that is used for capillary blood sampling. Their primary utility is making punctures usually on the fingertip to obtain blood samples. Diabetic patients necessarily require measurement of their blood sugar levels at regular intervals. The easy-to-do collection of blood samples is thus important for such individuals.

Lancets for diabetes

A lancet closely resembles a sharp blade or a small knife, that is, lancets indeed are pricking needles with double edges. A lancing device is equipped with the lancet such that with a single press on the device, the lancet pops out and pricks your skin. The depth of penetration can be customized according to the user's requirements, that is, the thickness of his or her skin. A long lancing device is specifically used for purposes like the fetal scalp blood testing which is required to measure the acid-base status of the fetus.

Lancets for diabetes testing

As lancets are extensively used medical devices, they come in a wide variety too. The two most common lancets are:

• Automatic Lancing Devices and

• Laser Lancing Devices

The least painful lancing device

A comparison of the above two types reveals that the automatic lancing device is more in demand than the later ones. They follow the simple mechanism of penetrating to a certain level of the skin after the button is pressed. The spring-loaded lancet is released and pops into the skin up till a certain depth! Automatic lancing devices offered by a wide number of manufacturers are easily available in the market.

On the other hand, the job done by a laser lancing device is like that of the automatic one; the procedure is a touch different. The device produces one pulse of laser which helps in making a hole in the skin. Blood is drawn from the perforated skin much in the same manner as the automatic devices do.

For more articles you can read: Happy Thanksgiving

Finger pricking devices and lancets - their maintenance

Blood sugar testing is as important as having a healthy diet daily or some regular physical workouts! Proper monitoring is always an essential pre-requisite for overall wellness. Glucose level monitoring is one that tops the drop-down list for ‘steps to remain healthy’ and more so if you’re a diabetic.

Maintenance of lancing devices includes proper cleaning so that chances of contamination are negated. Since widely used 'at-home' a proper knowledge of the process of recording the results is crucial. Keeping a note of the date, time, testing results, information on diet, etc. are important considerations.

While using a lancing device don’t forget to go for quality control checks; that’s heavily recommended by professionals!