# Least painful finger pricking?



## Southerner (May 19, 2011)

Has anyone found that some finger prickers are less painful than others. My daughter 8 is recently diagnosed and finding the finger pricking very painful. We are using EMLA cream. I wondered about the claims of various glucose metres that their lancets are the least painful. What about alternatives to finger pricking? Any advice welcome as having to chase her round the house and hold her down is proving very stressful.


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## novorapidboi26 (May 19, 2011)

Welcome to the Forum Southerner, have you met Northerner.........

It is true that some manufacturers/meters come with better, less painful finger prickers, but the difference can be minimal...........

making sure its a fresh lancet all the time and that its set to a low depth will help with pain, in theory it should be painless............convincing a youngster of this is another issue...........


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## Mark T (May 19, 2011)

Welcome to the forums Southener 

Does Alan C's advice on Painless Pricks help?

I've found some fingers are better then others, plus sometimes it's good to move a bit to get the blood flowing so you don't have to repeat the prick because you didn't get any/much blood out.

Which meter/lancet combination are you using?


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## Copepod (May 19, 2011)

Welcome Southerner 
Side of finger is much less painful than pads of finger - try it yourself to appreciate the difference! 
The other thing to consider, and this might sound daft, but might work over time, is to get your daughter to prick her own finger - even as an adult, I don't like other people doing things to me and prefer to do them myself. 
Additionally, Children With Diabetes email group (join from http://www.childrenwithdiabetesuk.org/ ) is very supportive to parents and gives families the chance to meet in person - seeing other children testing themselves might help your daughter to try herself.


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## margie (May 19, 2011)

Hello Southerner and welcome to the forums. Have a look on the instructions with the test-strips. Some allow you to test in areas other than just the fingers.

Good Luck


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## Northerner (May 19, 2011)

Southerner said:


> Has anyone found that some finger prickers are less painful than others. My daughter 8 is recently diagnosed and finding the finger pricking very painful. We are using EMLA cream. I wondered about the claims of various glucose metres that their lancets are the least painful. What about alternatives to finger pricking? Any advice welcome as having to chase her round the house and hold her down is proving very stressful.



Hi Southerner, welcome to the forum  I use an Accuchek Multiclix finger pricker from Roche, and from my own experience and what I've heard from others it's one of the best and least painful. It holds 6 lancets in a drum so is very convenient, and has several depth settings to help reduce the feeling.


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## Steff (May 19, 2011)

Hi and welcome to the forum.


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## Adrienne (May 19, 2011)

I agree with Northerner.   THe Accu Chek Multiclix is fantastic.  Took some getting used to for me to use on my daughter as the hole where the needle comes out is not in the middle and I chucked my toys out the pram and didn't want to use it but its my daughter's diabetes and she insisted and I love it now.  She was right


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## Southerner (May 19, 2011)

*Thanks*

Thank you all for your advice. Its really helpful. Has anyone any experience of alternative test sites?


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## Tezzz (May 20, 2011)

I use a Multiclix. I prefer it to others.

May I suggest you get your daughter to wash her hands first in warm water. It will soften the skin so a lower setting can be used  and also reduce the risk of a false reading. Also, use the side of the fingers - there are less nerve endings there.

I hope that helps.


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## Moddey (May 26, 2011)

I agree with the others, Multiclix is the best. 

My son was four when he was diagnosed and for the first few months it was a struggle. Even after that wanted to tell me when he was ready or count to three. Now he really couldn't care less and only complains if you end up using the same spot a lot.

Use all fingers apart from the index fingers and the thumbs (they can easily get sore and you need them more than the others) and make sure you use a meter that only requires a small amount of blood (Accu-Chek Aviva or Aviva Nano are our favourites). And stick to the sides of the fingertips, if you can.

Accu-Chek lancets allow you to adjust the depth of the prick, which is really important. Also, if you use one lancet several times, it will get blunt and hurt a lot more.

It will get easier and as Copepod said, she might want to have a go herself. 
It must be a hassle with Emla, are you having to use it every time?


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## Freddie99 (May 27, 2011)

I do love my Multiclix job. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I find the pads of my fingers are less painful. Then again they have got the better part of fifteen years of scar tissue on them. Old habits eh?


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