Using alcohol pads

[bra]

We buy alcohol pads they are about a penny a piece. A dollor for a hundred. Is this what everyone should use when doing the testing or is just washing with soap good enough on the skin?

[Dusty]

Alcohol tends to dry the skin out. I use just plain old soap and water.

[bra]

Excellent, I'm glad to hear an opinion on this. Not that they are too expensive really, and I do like to clean my keyboard with them, but they do seem to have my partners finger tips a little peely looking. But he has naturally rough fingers, we're working on those.

[jimmys devoted]

I am so chciken. I used ot use alcohol swabs,, but I switched ot bactine. It cleans the area and numbs it just abit......

the bottle lasts about three months.

[bra]

bactine? Is that the same thing that is used on burns? And its an antiseptic also? Well I guess if we're gonna get fancy maybe we could use Listerine? No really, thanks for the advice. I was kind of just looking for a way to add less work rather than more work. Thank you for the tip!

[jimmys devoted]

Kid you not.... Listerines was the first antiseptic, Invented by Lister for antispetic surgery.........
It works too.... though the orange and flavors get a bit sticky. use original.
I use teh bactine which is a general antiseptic, numbing agent. Use a ziplock bag with Curad squares. Soak them justa bit and keep them in there, simple and cheap.

[Britjojo]

I use swabs still when I test. I have a ton of them around from work, and so it just makes sense. I use a lot of moisturising creams on my hands already, so no drying that I noticed.

[cassiem0221]

Kid you not.... Listerines was the first antiseptic, Invented by Lister for antispetic surgery.........
It works too.... though the orange and flavors get a bit sticky. use original.
I use teh bactine which is a general antiseptic, numbing agent. Use a ziplock bag with Curad squares. Soak them justa bit and keep them in there, simple and cheap.

How funny! My grandmother used to get the listerine out everytime my cousin got a scratch! She would go to dabbing away with it. At first my cousin would SCREAM then she would say "Thanks Granny, I can't even feel it!" I guess it really does work. LOL She used to be a nurse and told me that doctors used to use it for cuts and scrapes all the time.. Guess she knows her stuff.

[Cassy]

You could probably just use something along the lines of a baby wipe, and have your finger be clean enough for testing.

[annadannadanna]

Gulp. When I do alternate site testing (outside side of my thighs works best), which my meter is okay with (FreeStyle Flash), I don't bother. Yup. I know it's bad and I wonder what kinds of germs are breeding there, but I had read that alcohol would interfere with the readings, and I keep forgetting to find out about this. When I do finger sticks, I use plain soap and water.

I really should use something, though, on the thighs.

[Chris]

I've spoken to several different diabetic educators on this issue and have fiound that they all tend to say the samething.... Water, or soap and water do the job better because the alcohol could interfere with the glucose reading, that is true.

Cleaning of the hands is not really a sanitary issue because infections from sticking your fingers rarely happens. It is more to clean off any substances that are on your fingers that could possibly affect your glucose readings.

[Cassy]

However there are some people with other problems besides diabetes. If you already have a compromised immune system from having Lupus for example, infections are easier to get than the average person. So sanitary practices in testing might be a little bit more important.

[Guinness]

Hello folks - new to the board - I went in my local CVS the other day and noticed something I hadn't seen before - Alcohol prep pads with some anesthetic in there with the alcohol. I was tempted to purchase them but then I wondered about how good an idea it is. Anybody seen these before? Anybody heard any studies about using them for diabetics?
Thanks for any replies

[faithib]

I just test unless I've got food on my hands or I've been gardening.
Alcohol does dry out the skin too much.

[jhellie_baby]

maybe using an alcohol dries the skin better used plain water. if you have sensitive skin, then just go for plain water.

[Gladys]

Band-Aid wound wash is the same as Bactine and less expensive.

DH likes to use Bactine too. He says it make the stick not hurt as much. The pharmacist told me about the wound wash.