When people are first diagnosed with diabetes, there is a roller coaster of emotions that most of us have to go through. There are questions such as What will my life be like? How will I be able to poke myself? Or What are lancets used for? These questions are on top of the overwhelming concept of different costs and supplies and managing your life with diabetes.
Before we answer your questions, let us first understand the medical condition you will have to deal with daily. Getting a thorough knowledge of the medical condition can help you to cope with it easily.
What Is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a medical condition in which the blood glucose, which many people also call the blood sugar, gets too high. Blood sugar is the primary energy source, and you can get it from the food you eat regularly. Insulin is a hormone that our pancreas makes with the help of glucose that we consume from food. It will help the body to use it for energy.
There are cases in which our human system does not use insulin efficiently or never produce it. After that, glucose stays in the blood and does not reach the cell as it should.
As time passes, if the body has an excessive amount of glucose in the blood, it can cause severe health complications. Although you cannot completely treat diabetes, you can take the necessary steps to manage diabetes and stay healthy.
In case you may be wondering, what are lancets used for, it will help you know more about the blood sugar levels, and you can potentially keep the medical condition in check and prevent it from causing any further problems in the body.
There are several types of diabetes. These are commonly occurring, usually in adults. There is another type of diabetes that occurs in pregnant women. It usually gets treated after the treatment. But you should know that women diagnosed with diabetes are more inclined to develop diabetes in the future.
What Are Lancets Used For?
The primary goal of the lancets is to help in managing diabetes successfully. These are small sharp objects that you can use for pricking the skin. The skin piercing will let you draw a small portion of the blood to the surface so that you can check the blood glucose with a blood sugar monitor or test strips.
Although there are most people with the question of what are lancets used for, there are other methods for checking diabetes, such as diabetes strips that change the color according to the blood sugar levels.
Companies make these lancets so that you can firmly grip the lancet, and you can simply use it by clicking a button. Depending on how thick skin you have, there are different settings that you can set according to the thickness level of the skin.
These are a use-and-throw material, meaning that you should only use them once and get rid of them. If you use this product once, it will become blunter, and it will cause pain when you use a used lancet. You should use it once and get another one for yourself.
Suppose there is more than one diabetic patient. In that case, you should never share this product with anyone as it can cause infection because the needle used for pricking will become dirty with other blood, which may potentially be harmful to the body.
Types Of Lancets
Those newly diagnosed with diabetes do not know what are lancets used for or how many types of them are there. Most of the lancet devices look like a broad pen that comes with a dial at the end. The device has something to hold the lancets and comes with a trigger for deploying the lancet into the skin. The lancing devices ensure that the prick is the same each time, and you can adjust them to change the depth so that you can make the skin penetrate according to your preferences.
You can get the lancets either in the cam-driven or spring-loaded ones. The difference is in the operation of the mechanical works. When using a cam-driven lancing device, you will have to use a turning cap for loading the lancet. Cam-driven lancets come with several lances so that you can rotate the barrel for loading the new lancets. Cam-driven devices are for pricking the finger and are not suitable for use on other body parts.
Spring-loaded lancing takes the internal spring for deploying the lancet. There are variations of the spring-loaded lancing that you can use on other body parts, such as the palm, forearm, and thigh.
When you get the lancing device, you should look at the manual to know how other parts of the body can use the lancet. Some spring-loaded devices will help you to use them on other parts. You can also use the suction cup so that you can pull up on the skin slightly before releasing the lancet. What are lancets used for? It is the question that many people have when they come in contact with diabetes.
Due to the lancing types, not all lancets will sit on all devices. To understand how these devices work, read the instructions that you get with the packaging. Most of the diabetic patients are using used lancets. Using an old lancet can drastically increase the chances of developing infections. Doctors recommend replacing it after each use.
Conclusion
It is always better that you take care of your health, and lancets can help you keep your blood sugar levels in check. Many people also tend to reverse the medical condition by only being in good shape and having a healthy diet. Working out can help you significantly when you want to keep diabetes in check. Reading this post will provide you with the answer to what are lancets used for.
Sources:
- https://www.diabetes.co.uk/insulin/Diabetes-lancets-and-lancing.html#:~:text=Lancets%20are%20the%20small%2C%20sharp,and%20blood%20glucose%20test%20strips
- https://piplancets.com/blogs/pip/types-of-lancets-1
- https://diathrive.com/blog/post/lancing-device-what-it-and-how-use-it
- https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes
