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How to Choose a Glucometer |
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Choosing a glucometer is an important moment in the life of a diabetic. With so many glucometers available on the market, choosing the best one is not easy. There are many factors to consider but no doubt reliability and convenience come first, price is second. Well, this does not mean that you have to pay a fortune for your glucometer but getting something cheap can literally cost you your life! Here are some more factors that are useful to have in mind when choosing a glucometer:
Cost of the testing strips. The worst deal you can make is to buy a cheap, unreliable glucometer that requires expensive strips. It is a known fact that strips are the main expense, so, all equal, it pays in the long run to buy a more expensive glucometer with cheaper strips than a cheap glucometer with expensive strips. There are even sites, which offer a calculator for glucometers and strips, so there is no need to do the calculations manually. Light reflectance versus electronic sensors. There are two types of glucometers – the traditional light reflectance glucometers, which are cheaper and the newer - electronic sensors, which are generally more expensive but easier to use. If you are used to light reflectance glucometers, getting one of them is OK but if you have been recently diagnosed with diabetes, maybe the electric sensors glucometer will be a better choice. The amount of blood needed. Glucometers do not require gallons of your blood but still, there are models, which need more blood. Generally light reflectance glucometers require a larger blood sample but this is not always so. Size of the glucometer. If you need to carry your glucometer with you, larger sizes are not better. But on the other hand, if the size is too small and you can't use the glucometer with ease, there is no point in buying it. Available memory. This can be considered as an extra because you can write your results in a book but it is much more convenient if your glucometer can keep data about your previous tests. Nowadays many glucometers have a memory function, so chances are that you will not have to put up with a glucometer that can't keep track of your tests. How long does it take to complete a test. You might never have urgent tasks and have all the time in the world for your tests but still, it is tedious to wait 2-3 minutes for your results to appear. Make sure that your glucometer uses sipping strips. Most of the new glucometers on the market use sipping strips and it is much easier for you to operate it but still there are old models, which require that the blood is dropped on a particular spot on the strip. Maintenance. Some glucometers require no maintenance at all, while others can't go without it. Calibration is often required for every new batch of strips, so this is one more issue you need to clarify before you buy your glucometer. Compatibility. Compatibility is an issue only if you are buying your glucometer from abroad but still, have in mind that there are different measurement standards throughout the world, so make sure that your glucometer is compatibille with the standards in your country.
There are many other factors to consider when choosing a new glucometer but the ones we listed above are among the most common. There are many individual factors and if you know your own preferences, consider them as well. Anyway, you are not buying a new glucometer every day, so it does pay out to choose carefully the one that you can use frequently. |
