Why do they take blood samples from your fingertip?

June 16, 2017, 10:38 AM

Pipe Smoker

Why do they take blood samples from your fingertip? One of the most sensitive parts of your body.

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June 16, 2017, 10:43 AM

Russ59

quote:
Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
Why do they take blood samples from your fingertip? One of the most sensitive parts of your body.

To separate the men from the boys.

At my next blood donation in July, I'll reach the 20 gallon mark. I still dread the finger prick.

June 16, 2017, 11:12 AM

bigdeal

Back to the Ops question as I too am curious. My MIL is a diabetic, and I've always wondered why a couple times daily she has to punch holes in her finger tips to test her blood sugar. Sure seems as though there would be far less sensitive areas she could test from.

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June 16, 2017, 11:15 AM

MNSIG

quote:
Originally posted by bigdeal:
Back to the Ops question as I too am curious. My MIL is a diabetic, and I've always wondered why a couple times daily she has to punch holes in her finger tips to test her blood sugar. Sure seems as though there would be far less sensitive areas she could test from.

Some test meters can be calibrated for testing on the forearm or thigh. The fingertips are rich in capillaries, easily accessed in non-clinical settings and the offset from a venous blood sample to fingertip capillary has been well established over the years.

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June 16, 2017, 11:17 AM

exx1976

If I had to guess it's because the skin is thicker there than many other parts of the body, so it stops bleeding faster.

Lol @ the penis remark.

June 16, 2017, 11:19 AM

WaterburyBob

quote:
Originally posted by rduckwor:
Try the side of your finger tip.

RMD

That's the correct way to do it. You want the thinner skin on the side so that it's easier.
Only a small amount of blood (a drop) is needed, so the finger stick is the best way to get it.

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June 16, 2017, 12:04 PM

P220 Smudge

quote:
Originally posted by exx1976:
If I had to guess it's because the skin is thicker there than many other parts of the body, so it stops bleeding faster.

Lol @ the penis remark.

I had a doctor tell me that the mouth, hands, feet, and genitals are the fastest healing places on the body, and of those areas, taking blood from a fingertip seems a lot less painful or bizarre, so that could also be part of it. I often enough slip at work with the #11 Xacto and jab a fingertip. Never feels great, but I usually forget about it by the end of the day and it's completely healed in a few days. I tend to think that doc was right.

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June 16, 2017, 12:28 PM

detroit192

quote:
Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
quote:
Originally posted by rduckwor:
Try the side of your finger tip.

RMD
That's the correct way to do it. You want the thinner skin on the side so that it's easier.
Only a small amount of blood (a drop) is needed, so the finger stick is the best way to get it.

+2, and the finger tip is the most accurate place to test blood sugar if the levels are rapidly changing. Alternative site (for arm, thigh) are fine for routine blood sugar reading (morning maintenance monitoring, pre meal checks, two hour post meal checks), but finger tips get fresh blood flow quicker and is usually more accurate.

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June 16, 2017, 12:44 PM

jbcummings

Better my finger than some other place (penis, no, no, no!).

My wife used to work in a hospital medical lab. She used to hate having o stick the babies. They stick them in the heel.

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June 16, 2017, 12:48 PM

signewt

re: " Sure seems as though there would be far less sensitive areas she could test from."

after the first 10 years of such daily tests that sensitivity is not as troubling as the first 10 years....

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June 16, 2017, 01:21 PM

NerdRage80

Since they only need a drop for the tests, the finger tips are so highly vascularized that they heal quickly and get exactly what is needed quickly

June 16, 2017, 07:41 PM

wrightd

The previous poster was right: not the tip, but the side of the finger near the tip. The tip is filled with nerves for touch, the sides hardly as much, thus, much less pain, injury, and you preserve the feeling in the tips of your fingers. Any diabetics using the tips of their fingers just don't know any better, and they're hurting themselves unnecessarily.

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June 16, 2017, 08:20 PM

muzzleloader

A capillary blood sample is generally more accurate from the finger tip than a site such as the ear lobe. Also with 10 fingers you may rotate sampling sites. You can also see what you're doing if self-sampling.