About the finger pricks.. Can you use them a couple of times or discard after every use?

[Guest]

I was diagnosed with type one about a month ago and I have a quick question. I am still doing finger pricks and pen needles. I discard the pin needles after every use but I’m not sure about the lancets. I have been discarding them after every use, but for those of you that still do finger pricks.

What do you think! Can you use them a couple of times or discard after every use?

[Whitney]

We always discard my daughters. She’s 10 and extra prone to infections due to other medical issues though.

[Mylène]

My insurance completely covers pen needles and lancets, so I change them every time. If it were an out of pocket expense, I’d probably reuse, changing every day or two.

[Gma]

I test 8-10 times a day and I think I have used a new lancet 5 or 6 times in the last 9+ years, lol. Twice has been just because someone else needed to use my lancing device, and one time was because I got thinner lancets so put a new one in, and the other times has been when I got a new lancing device.

I usually only use 1 pen needle per pen, so for my long acting, I think it is used 23 times but for my rapid acting, I think it is more like around 75 times. Sometimes if it is a really good needle and still has enough slippery stuff on it that it is still going in easily, I will use the same one on the next pen. New or re-used needle, I always prime it before my shots to know it is working well. I have actually had more issues using a brand new needle than using ones that have been used many times.

Re-using lancets or needles has never caused me any problems.

I don't know if it has been posted in this thread yet, it usually gets posted in these kind of threads, but if not, eventually you will see a pic people like to post about what a needle looks like when it is re-used, when you do see it, totally ignore that pic as it is total BS.

[Jamie]

I know it's a running joke about changing lancets with us type 1s. I almost never did. I've had it for 30 years. about 10 to 15 years in I got hard calluses on my fingers (particularly the ones I poked the most). they looked awful to me and no one can just magically fix it. I even went to dermatologist etc. when I got tue cgm about 6 years ago I had to poke less and my fingers got better. now I change it once it a week.

[Jayden]

I'm now using a CGM and a pump but while I was using these I personally used the needles for a full day and used the lancets until they started to get dull.

Also a lot of people aren't aware that there are tips you can get for your lancet device that allow you to prick your arms which is MUCH preferred over finger tips for me!