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How often should Glucometer lancet be changed?
Question : How often should Glucometer lancet be changed?
Should the lancet, used for drawing blood, be changed every time we measure blood sugar at home with a glucometer?
glucometer
Best answer:
Answer by 14U2
That’s what the manufacturer wants, but we use it a few times before changing it. 
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#2 written by LibertyBell 1 year ago
I guess some common sense is in order here. The purpose of the lancet is to pierce the skin w/o causing infection. As long as the lancet is sterile and sharp, there should be no problem. If you use a fresh one every time, you can be assured of the lancet being sterile and sharp. If you use a used one, you cannot be assured of it being sterile and sharp. That being said, I see no reason at all why one couldn’t use a lancet more than once… as long as it is cleaned and sterilized after each use. Given that some of you are getting several uses out of them, it’s fairly safe to assume that lancets stay reasonably sharp for several piercings. Therefore, you people that insist that you should only use them once, are assuming that the rest of us don’t have any common sense. Perhaps it is you who don’t have any practical sense.
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#4 written by pepper 1 year ago
What is wrong with you people for not changing your lancets after every glucose check? For one thing, if you are sick and stick your finger with the lancet and then reuse it again after you are over your sickness, guess what you will be sick again. You are at risk big time if you fail to change your lancet. Doctors do want you to change your lancet every time. I don’t care who you are! I learned this in nursing school as well as taking my Type 1 insulin dependent daughter to the doctor every 3 months. It surprises me to read what people actually admit to when using this site. It is a shame because you are not teaching first time diabetics anything other than how to be irresponsible. I have never in my life heard of a doctor tell a patient that it’s ok not to change your lancet. Start doing what is right and teach our children to be responsible.
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#9 written by cavalierkcs 1 year ago
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#10 written by sue 1 year ago
I only change mine when it makes a big hole insuring a sore finger!! That is about every 2 weeks.
The companies that make these things, the doctors, the nurses, the CDEs all tell us to change them with every test, but I don’t feel the need to do that.
If my daughters and granddaughters want to borrow my meter and lancet, they know they need to change the lancet for each of them and then a new one for me.
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It’s always a breath of fresh air to see someone with some common sense who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.
Bravo, Liberty Bell.
I see no reason why a lancet couldn’t be used over and over as long as it is cleaned each time, either. The darned things are surgical grade stainless steel for Pete’s sake. They ought to last at least two dozen times before they ever start to lose their edge. And stainless steel isn’t hard to sterilize, either.
It’s pretty clear why manufacturers are recommending using them only once. Even a dork can figure that one out. Doctors probably recommend using them only once because of liability issues and lack of confidence in their patient’s ability to properly clean and sterilize the lancet. I’m not sure why the two answerers are so adamant about using lancets only once… unless they are conditioned to think that way or believe other folks can’t think on their own.
This isn’t complicated and is basically a non issue as long as people use a little prudence. (what ever happened to that word?)