Sugar friends should be diligent in measuring blood sugar in winter and pay attention to four points when measuring blood sugar

Now that the weather is getting cooler, winter is slowly approaching. In winter, the temperature is low, and many diabetics who do not have a blood glucose meter at home have become "lazy" to go to the hospital to measure their blood sugar, and even patients who have a home blood glucose meter do not realize that they should be more diligent in measuring blood sugar in winter. However, for many sugar friends, it is easy to have complications due to blood sugar problems in winter, so what problems should be paid attention to when measuring blood sugar in winter?

In winter, you should be diligent in measuring your blood sugar

Diabetics who regularly check their blood sugar will find that after the "great cold" of the lunar calendar, the blood sugar index rises in a straight line, and the blood sugar in winter is higher than in spring and autumn. This is because in winter, people eat a lot of greasy and heavy-tasting foods every day in order to ward off the cold, and outdoor exercise is significantly reduced, resulting in an increase in blood sugar. In order to detect blood sugar fluctuations in time, diabetics should measure their blood sugar more frequently in winter than in other seasons. For patients with mild diabetes, they should go to the hospital to check their blood sugar at least once every half a month in winter; Patients with severe diabetes are most likely to have complications due to sudden blood sugar increases in winter, so it is best to check their blood sugar every day and contact their doctor frequently.

Warm your hands before testing your blood sugar

When measuring blood sugar at home, some sugar friends will encounter the problem that their fingers are not easy to bleed. In winter, when the temperature drops, blood vessels constrict, and fingertip blood collection is more difficult. And if the hand or fingertip is cold, the blood sugar test is inaccurate or even low, so blood should be collected from the warm finger. Experts suggest that when collecting blood in winter, you can make your arm hang down for 15 seconds, and push your other hand down from your wrist, or shake your hand and rub your hand for about half a minute, so that the peripheral blood vessels of your fingertips are full and convenient for blood collection.

Some elderly sugar friends have poor peripheral circulation, and they can also use the second trick - soak their hands in hot water. Ask the family to prepare a basin of warm water at 40 degrees Celsius and soak their fingers for 5 minutes. Blood circulation is accelerated, blood vessels dilate, and blood can be collected. If it is difficult to collect blood for a long time, you can consider using some drugs to promote blood circulation and dissolve stasis to improve microcirculation. In the cold winter, sugar friends should not measure blood sugar as soon as they return indoors, it is best to stay indoors for a period of time and then check, the success rate of blood collection will be higher.

What should I pay attention to when measuring my blood sugar?

1. If the finger from which the blood is collected is damaged, infected, scarred or rashed, do not choose this finger for the time being, and the finger needs to be disinfected with alcohol. Therefore, it is best to double-check your finger for any of the above problems before taking blood.

2. Diabetic patients who use the same finger for blood collection for a long time will also make the finger skin dehydrated, dry and rough, forming calluses, which will become inconvenient for blood collection in the future. Therefore, before collecting blood from your fingers, you can wash your fingers with warm soapy water, because warm water can promote blood circulation and make your fingers more congested. Either way, you must wait for the skin to dry and have your blood collected to avoid affecting the accuracy of the results.

3. After blood collection, use hand cream or ointment for diabetic hand and foot protection to keep your fingers moisturized to reduce calluses.

4. Once the fingers are red, swollen, hot and painful, it is necessary to be alert to the occurrence of infection. Antibiotic ointment can be applied and dressed. If there is no relief after simple treatment, please seek medical attention promptly.