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Alcohol swabs and diabetes


Trigger Mike

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I keep seeing and hearing diabetics talk about lack of alcohol swabs in the store that they use when testing their sugar levels.   I am type 2 and finger prick but just rinse off my hand in water.  Should I be using swabs?  Is type 1 testing different?

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Think it would be your choice. I have never used a swab. Figure when I expose the needle it's clean. But, I pretty much country dirt and germs are nothing around me. Wife just shook her head and accepted me anyway. It's probably important to use one, but not for me and never a problem, so far.:rolleyes: Also, doc don't know it.

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Alcohol swabs for sticks is generally more of a feel good thing than effective. I studied sterile preparation technique in college and more recently immunization certification (20 hour course) and that's basically what I was taught. It is of some value to physically remove microbes from the skin. Washing your hands before the stick is probably as good if not better.

JHC

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Now that brings up an interesting thought.

 

All my life, whenever I was going to get a shot, the doctor (or more usually the nurse) would swab the area with alcohol. I always assumed that was to sterilize the skin so I would not get an infection.

 

EpiPen. You not only do not rub the skin with an alcohol swab before sticking it in them, but you stabbed the needle through the patient's filthy clothing.

 

Why don't you hear about someone who was saved from anaphylaxis but then almost died from an infection caused by the dirty needle?

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SWMBO is type 2 and uses the alcohol swabs all the time.

She gives the victim finger a good scrub with the swab each time, but uses the Accu-Chek FastClix Multi Clic for the finger stick.

Each "sticker needle" is enclosed in a cylinder type device, (Think revolver cylinder) that can't be sterilized, (so I don't know what to think about that!), but I don't argue about it. For $2.00 per 100, it ain't worth frettin' about.

Preacher's Cassock donned and mount the pulpit for the sermon:

Keep up your eye Doctor visits etc, though. SWMBO has been getting shots in the eye to shrink blood vessels and laser treatments to cauterize the bleeds inside the eye and sees her diabetes specialist regularly.

All sorts of scary things go on with diabetes, as the disease progresses, affecting every part and organ of the body, so a good diabetes Doctor/Specialist managing your health is a must IMHO.   

SWMBO's Dad, blind and in The Tri-Service Military Hospital, awaiting amputation of both legs, passed at 51 but was careless about his maintenance of  the disease.

All his children have it but monitor their health carefully; the youngest of the four, is now 66 and the oldest 77, which I attribute to being more careful about their health. 

 

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I just use the swabs to stop the blood from getting all over everything! I use a six-test sticker pen, but haven't really used the swabs before sticking my fingers. I suppose I should wipe down the outside of the sticker before use, now that I think about it...:unsure:

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Maybe about 15 years ago I read an article about a summer camp for kids with diabetes.  There had been lots of concern about cleanliness for blood tests and injections.  By about the third day all their protocols had gone by the wayside.  Kids would rinse off with a hose, do what had to be done, and get back to having fun.  No infections.

My wife is Type II, she doesn't swab her fingers, I don't swab her belly for her injections (yes, I do all of them for her).  No problems.

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I wash my hands for finger pricks and use BD swabs for needle sticks.

My Dad used to inject through his work shirt... with a needle in one hand, Baby Ruth in the other.
Doctors are always the worst patients.

Falling off a house ladder when his heart stopped is what killed him.
It wasn't the diabetes or his prostate cancer.

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I’m type 2 as well!  I test on the heel of my hand because I use my fingers all the time and stabbing my fingers results in them splitting when I work hard.

 

 I change lancets regularly and often douse my hands in parts cleaner, use chemical hand cleaner, wash with Dawn dish soap, and use diabetic lotion every morning when I get up in the morning.  There’s a box of alcohol wipes in the cabinet over the fridge that has been there since I was first diagnosed.  They are packed individually and I doubt that there’s more than half a dozen packets missing.

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When I was still testing I just stuck with no prep at all. My wife does use an alcohol swab. When she is out of swabs she uses a cotton ball from my loading bench and a drop of bourbon 

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If you use a swab, let the alcohol dry thoroughly before you stick and touch the strip to the blood pearl.

Alcohol will give a false high reading, or so I was taught by the old crusty floor supervisor nurse with Sergeant's stripes tattooed on her shoulder.
 

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In 24 years of private veterinary practice I never swabbed an animal’s skin with alcohol before inserting a needle or drawing blood.  The antibacterial effect of alcohol occurs when it dries completely.  Making a needle stick before the alcohol dries simply ensures that it will sting more, as well as increasing the risk that bacteria will be carried under the skin.  Not good when dealing large strong animals or ones with big fangs.  I cannot recall an adverse reaction at an injection site after administering tens of thousands of injections.

 

Humans doing their own sticks should follow their doctor’s instructions.  If you use alcohol to cleanse the needle/lancet site, allow it to dry completely for maximum antibacterial effectiveness, as well as minimizing pain.

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