Checking Blood Glucose: Ease the Ouch Factor

Choosing Lancets

Just as blood glucose monitors are available in a variety of shapes and sizes, so are the lancets and lancing devices used to get a drop of blood for testing.

Lancet: A small needle used to prick the skin. You can use the lancet by itself or place it in a lancing device. Lancets are sold in different gauges (g) -- a higher number means a thinner lancet tip, which is usually less painful. For example: A 30g lancet would likely be less painful than 25g, but getting enough blood for your test might be more difficult with the thinner 30g.

Several companies make lancets, many with special features. Becton, Dickinson and Co. currently makes the thinnest lancets: BD Ultra-Fine 33 Gauge Lancets. These and many other lancets, including those made by Home Diagnostics, Inc., and Diabetic Supply of Suncoast, Inc., are compatible with several brands of lancing devices. Can-Am Care produces many store-brand lancets, including assorted-color ones.

"My daughter, who is just 6, likes to pick out her lancet color for her finger-stick test," says Linda Seidner of Portland, Oregon. "It helps eliminate the fear of testing and makes it more fun."