Lancing device maintenance

Not too long ago, there was a discussion about wether or not to use an alcohol swab when you were either testing or injecting yourself. Now I just went to WalMart and bought a new Lancing Device. As I was browsing through the instructions (just wasting time I guess), I read that I should thoroughly rinse and dry the Lancing Device before using. I also read that the L.D. can be cleaned with a mild detergent and water, or cleaned with isopropyl alcohol or a solution of 1 part bleach and 10 parts water. I guess my questions to you are: First, how many of you guys clean the L.D. before using it for the first time? and second, How often if at all do you guys clean your L.D. once you start using it? I for one, got all the L.D.'s that I have and washed them all. I will start cleaning them at least once a week, if not more often. I want to hear some thoughts, am I being anal or is this something that we should all be doing?

Personally I just make sure my hands are clean and dry, and don’t feel the need to always use an alcohol pad unless its something really important like an A1C test where you’re looking for an accurate result with a minimal possibility of something interfering with a clean reading.

I use the Accu-check MultiClix because I find it easier than handling each individual lancet, and typically use each lancet (out of the 6 in the cartridge) 3-4 times before I rotate to the next one. But it varies really, if it starts to hurt I change it because that’s when I know its getting dull. :slight_smile:

You should always change the lancet after being sick, or using it in a dirty environment and cleaning the actual lancing device itself every now and then is definitely not a bad idea!

I shook the sand out of my lancer when I dropped it on the beach? The only time I washed one was once when MrsAcidRock left to go shopping at 9:30 and came home at 3:00 and said “I’m having low blood sugar” so I had to sieze the opportunity to find out. She got 81. I swap lancets every 25 tests or so when I swap strip vials.

I’ve been D for 4 years and have never cleaned it. I’m lucky to change the lancet once every few months.

I’ve been diabetic 18 and 1/2 years. I’ve never cleaned a lancing device. No infections.

Doesn’t it hurt to use the same lancet so much? The most that I use each lancet would be 4 or 5 times before discarding it. Most of the time, I just use it once or twice.

The device itself I never clean. That is, if you are talking about the device that holds the lancets. I do, on occasion, use alcohol, but mostly just wash my hands. I am in the woods hunting alot and just wipe my fingers and stick away. Never had a problem.

It doesn’t “hurt”, it “builds character” :slight_smile:

I’m in the never wash, rarely change camp!

I got the Accu-check MultiClix device last January. I think I just replaced the first drum last week. That’s keeping in mind that I clicked through the first two lancet out of curiosity without realizing that you couldn’t click back. Nice device but it makes being lazy about changing lancets infinitely easier.

I have gotten into the habit of washing my hands before testing though. I’d say about 70% of the time I’ve checked, it doesn’t seem to make a difference, but for that 30% that does make a difference, it makes a huge difference. The most dramatic difference was a 454 BG that turned out to be under 100 because I had forgotten that I had prepared a sucrose solution for a lab earlier in the day.

Yeah, “pain is just weakness leaving the bo…”

Actually, I don’t feel much pain anymore. After a time, the thing just stops drawing blood and that’s when it becomes annoying enough for me to go through the trouble of clicking over to the next lancet.

Hah, exactly what I meant by making sure my hands were at least relatively clean… that would have been pretty bad if you had bolused for 454!

I change the lancet once a week.

Nadda me, I just don’t. I do however use the Accucheck Multi Clix lancet device. i suggest it to everyone. It holds six .lancing devices in one cartridge and it works very well.

rick phillips

we have never cleaned any lancing device and i agree with rick. we love the multiclix! It has been especially great not worry about sharps disposal at school:)

I’m confused. I thought the MultiClix rotated itself. I don’t see any way to rotate it on the device itself. What am I missing?

The MultiClix changes lancets when you rotate the end counter clockwise. (the end you press to arm it) It allows you to cycle through the 6 lancets in the set once, and then doesn’t allow you to rotate any more.



If you have one in front of you, there is usually a window on the front of the pen with several horizontal lines - each line represents how many lancets are remaining. :slight_smile:

I have never cleaned a meter or lancing device, and I’ve been at this for 20 years. Never had any infections. I subscribe to the “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger” theory of health, and I WILL die someday!! LOL!!

OK, I went and got my lancer, and guess what, you’re right!! :slight_smile: I actually think it wasn’t there until YOU made it be there, LOL!!!

What it means is that I’ve been using the same lancet for a LONG time, and that I threw away a couple of barrels of unused lancets because I didn’t know to rotate it.

Ah well, it was time to learn something new, anyway! :slight_smile:

Great!! It’s always nice to learn something new, no matter if its something big or small. If we never learnt anything, life would get pretty boring, pretty quick. :slight_smile:

I never wash mine, and can’t think that I ever will.

I use the Fastclix lancing device that comes with the Accu-Chek Mobile (<< awesome meter by the way), it has a rotating barrel of lancets like the multiclix. The lancet gets changed whenever I bump across the lever that rotates the lancets when taking the glucometer in and out of my pocket. So about every 3-4 months :wink: