Favorite Fingers
This is a picture of the fingertips on my right hand.
I think you can pretty easily pick out what fingers I use most for testing.
1) Ring finger
2) Followed closely by the middle finger
3) Then the pinky
4) and last but not least the index finger
I am a serious creature of habit when it comes to which fingers I like to poke. It's a habit that is not too tough to break - but I find that I don't usually have a compelling reason to change unless there's something else making me change (switching meters, injury to a favorite finger or hand, etc.).
Once I change, I quickly develop new favorites, and stick with them until something else comes along again.
While the fingers look pretty beaten up, they are really not too calloused up or rough. They are not difficult to draw blood from, and the tips are still sensitive to touch and temperature, etc. But looking at fingers from my left hand and comparing them to my right, you can pick out the most poked at first glance. No contest.
Not only can you tell the favorites, but you can easily pick out the favorite areas of the favorite fingers!!
I guess that it is easy to understand why we develop habits like this, especially considering how many times per day we test.
Am I the only one who has favorite fingers to draw from? C'mon - fess up...
posted by Scott K. Johnson | 9:16 AM
13 Comments:
My left hand, index, middle and ring all on the right side of my fingers. those are my fav's. I usually use the side of my finger becuase someone somewhere told me that it is less painful.
My fingers look very similar to yours (R pinky, ring, and middle) except that like George, I prefer the sides of my fingers to the centers.
After some very awkward blood splashing incidents, I decided that trying to use my L hand was not worth it.
Fave fingers? But of course!
The three middle (pointer, middle, ring) fingers on my right hand. Thumbs and pinkies, not so much. Left hand, nearly pristine.
absolutly not I use my right ring and pinky so much I basicly have to just tap it with a lancet and poof blood appears just like magic
I am a side-of-finger poker and I pretty much only use my ring fingers & pinkies. My right hand gets more abuse. I will use other fingers only when I can no longer squezze a drop from one of my favorites without setting the pricker to a higher number.
Ring finger and pinky of my right hand and on the outer edges of each.
You'd have to pay me money to use my middle or index fingers. LOL
Both ring fingers. Both pinkies. Middle fingers, only when the others start to look really, really spotty.
When Riley was diagnosed we were told to only use the "non-feeling fingers". We were told not to use the index, middle, or thumb because they are the fingers you use to feel things. Whatever that means. So, we hardly ever use an index finger or a middle finger. I must admit I seem to pick on his right ring finger more than the others.
Is everyone here Leftys?
I too use only 3 fingers: middle, ring, and pinky on my right hand. I used to use the same three on my left hand as well. But then I started playing guitar and I couldn't get any blood through the caluses. In the beginning, before the caluses were built up, though, I would have streaks of blood up and down my guitar neck ("played it 'til my fingers bled, was the summer of '69!" -- you get the idea).
Since I've cut back to using just three fingers, they are constently pocked with little black spots and I use practically the entire surface area. Now they're getting so darned calused I sometimes have a hard time getting blood from them, too!
I never liked using my index or thumb. Want to save some tactile sensation.
Well, I'm the weird one here. I always start the day with my pinky, next test-ring, next-middle, next-index and then start over with the pinky again. I go through this as many times as it takes throughout the day, always beginning the next day with the pinky.
I also rotate hands. One hand, one week. Next week, other hand. At the end of the week the first hand is pretty well healed and ready to begin action the following Monday.
I was also pretty OCD about this rotation thing when I was on MDI. The good thing about it is I didn't develop any scaring.
I only stick the sides of my ring and middle fingers on both hands. I've built up a pretty good scab on each side of those four fingers. Creature of habit for sure!
For a minute I thought you were going to make us guess how many pokes you have on your fingers.
We use the sides of Brendon's fingers...and his favorite is his pointer on either hand.
Least used is the thumb for some reason.
Because I play guitar, I use all my fingers starting at my left index, I move along to the next finger everytime I stick myself. I also stick into the side of the finger because I have calluses from playing guitar on the tips of my fingers.
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