Diabetic testing lancet question

[kimbac3]

Can I reuse my lancets? Does anyone do this? Is it safe? I have to buy my own supplies and I thought I could save money by using the same one twice.
Any thoughts?
Kimba

 

[Talking Hands]

Do you wash your hands before testing? With clean techniques and care many diabetics reuse their lancets. Some will use one lancet per day, one per week and some will use the same one until it gets dull. Doctors and nurse will tell you to change it each and every time but that can be expensive if you are paying for them yourself.
There are risks of infection but I do reuse mine and change it weekly. If I am ill I will be more cautious and change it everytime.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Blood is a great medium in which bacteria can grow. At room temperature the bugs can grow exponentially in a few hours. That's the reason it's recommended you need to use a new, sterile lancet each time. With that said, I can understand why people reuse them considering their cost. It's just not recommended. If you do reuse you should make sure they're sterilized, perhaps in alcohol. As you know, skin infections can cause a lot of trouble in a diabetic, and can even spread to the bloodstream. Be careful.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Try someplace like Costco. I can buy a box of 200 BD Ultrafine for about $6.00, which is $0.03 each.

 

[seashoreCM]

Most of the problems from re-using medical supplies is getting somebody else's body components into you. I do think it is safe to re-use insulin syringes, lancets, etc. for yourself but to repeat, these items need to be sterilized promptly in alcohol including alcohol run through the needle before residues can dry on them.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Heather Smith]

My husband reuses his lancets all the time, and we have medical insurance that coverers his supplies. He just does it because of convenience. It's a pain to carry around a container to dispose of the used lancets. He should but he doesn't sterilize it between uses. He also doesn't swab his finger before testing or his injection sites. He's had diabetes for 25 years and has never had an infection so I guess he has become complacent. Before he and I were married and he had to buy out of pocket all of his supplies he even reused syringes.

 

[rbork]

Kimbac3 - PLEASE swab the site before lancing or injecting at least. All bacteria or viruses need is an entry route.
Good Luck.

 

[Tigger_Magic]

Here are some tips from diabetes123.com:

Here are some general guidelines:

Lancets

Always wash your hands with soap and water before a blood test. This is even more important if you reuse your lancet.

Do not clean the lancet after use. Just leave it in the lancing device. You already have any germs that might end up on the lancet tip.

If the lancet touches anything other than your finger, discard it.

When the lancet hurts too much, it means its getting dull. Discard it.

Syringes

Do not clean the needle after use. Just carefully recap the needle.

Do not mix insulin types if you reuse syringes. Use one syringe for each insulin type. That means more injections, but certain insulins cannot be mixed without reducing their effectiveness.

If the needle touches anything other than the injection site, discard it.

When a needle hurts too much, it means that the silicone coating is wearing off and it's time to discard it.

 

[Selket]

My 3 yr old is type 1 and we certainly use his lancet for more than one finger stick. We test him ALOT and I'd hate to think how many boxes of the things we'd go through changing them every time.

If you're testing yourself once a day or once a week so something like that I'd change everytime. When I had gestational diabetes and tested 4x a day I changed the lancet just once per day unless it seemed dull. If you store the lancing device in the pouch with the meter and it stays clean you should be fine.

Do you what you feel comfortable with!

 

[Susieab]

As a RN and unfortunantly someone has now how to monitor her blood sugar I definitely reuse mine. The only issue is person to person use and that is not involved in this situation. So I would do it until you think it is not sharp enough anymore.

Susie

 

[SueM in MN]

Most of the lancets in hospitals or clinics are single use - where the syringe or the lancet is actually disabled after use; those type actually prevent re-use. But, as an RN, I know people in their own homes don't always do (and don't always need to do) the same as is done in the hospital.

Re-use of lancets and syringes is a controversial subject. Some resources say not to re-use at all because of dulling and the chance of infection. Some (like the American Diabetes Association) suggest not doing it, but recognize that many people do re-use without a problem.

The big things you need to worry about are person to person transmission (which is not a concern for reuse of your own equipment on yourself) and skin organisms being brought into the body by the lancet going thru the skin. So cleaning the skin and cleaning hands before doing a procedure is good practice.

Another thing to think about is the situation. A diabetic who has good control and seldom gets an infection is a much better choice to reuse equipment than someone who is either in poor control or has frequent infections.

If you DO choose to re-use, be aware that alcohol is a disinfectant, not a sterilizing agent and you don't want to put alcohol inside the needle. Most of the information about re-use of lancets and syringes suggest NOT using alcohol on either of them because they degrade the metal, remove the coating on the metal and make the needle or lancet dull faster. As has already been mentioned, it's usually recommended not to clean the lancet and just leave it in the lancing device. That is safest in terms of not injuring yourself with it and also not soiling it while taking it out. Of course, if you think that the lancet or the needle point have come into contact with something, you would discard it.
This site has some guidelines for re-use that look common sense.
BD (one of the manufacturers) has some
scary information about re-use of syringes from the point of view of needle damage.

 

[BCV23]

I never reuse my son's lancets or needles. I like BD Ultra-Fine lancets because they have a cap to cover the used lancet.

My DH however reuses his own needles all the time. Drives me nuts but he is fine so far. He doesn't even use lancets but we won't even go there!

Sue, I'm going to have to read your links later. Thanks as always for all your good info.

 

[monica31671]

My son is seven and we change his lancet once a day. Maybe twice if I think his readings are high because his arm is not clean. We have never used a needle twice though.

 

[SueM in MN]

Sue, I'm going to have to read your links later. Thanks as always for all your good info.

You're welcome.