Blood Glucose Monitoring: Buying the Right Monitoring Device
Blood glucose monitoring can provide you with helpful insights into the effect of your lifestyle and fitness on your body. Also, it can help determine whether or not you need to change a medical prescription. But, with a lot of blood glucose meters available in the market, finding the right one that suits your need can be overwhelming. However, with some expert advice, you will be able to get the perfect meters for you:
Importance of Blood Glucose Monitoring
Self-monitoring your blood glucose levels can help you manage your diabetes if you have this condition or have a family history of diabetes. A blood glucose monitoring device can help you monitor your blood glucose levels as well as understand how your diet and exercise regimen is impacting your blood sugar level. Also, it can track the effects of diabetes medication on your blood sugar level. Moreover, by doing a regular test, you can maintain your sugar levels at a normal range and prevent diabetes complications such as eye disease, diabetic coma, nerve damage, gum disease, and kidney damage.
Factors to Consider when Purchasing Blood Glucose Monitor
There are many blood glucose monitors you can choose from on the market and considering the factors below will help you make the right decision:
- Ensure you buy a meter with a good track record for accuracy in clinical trials and independent tests with consumers. You will need to read a few reviews online to get information about meter brands and models.
- Test time. A blood glucose monitor’s test time must be five seconds or less.
- Ease of use. A great blood glucose meter comes with a bright and easy-to-read display. If you have issues with your vision, a monitor that can talk can be very helpful.
- Blood sample range. Purchase a monitor that requires less than one microliter of blood. This is especially important if you are sensitive to lancing. Also, a small sample range makes it less likely that you get an insufficient blood error and waste your test kits.
- The majority of monitors require you to manually calibrate every time you begin a test using a new box of test strips. But, incorrect coding is quite common and a miscoded meter can result in miscalculations of your blood sugar level. Thus, it makes sense to get one with automatic coding.
- In terms of blood glucose monitor costs, you consider the cost of the monitor, lancets, and test strips. Keep in mind that test strips can be heavy on your pocket.
