Want to test your blood sugar without pricking your finger? Continuous glucose monitors make this a reality

Joanna Kriehn, MS, RDN, CDCES - Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES)

Continuous glucose monitors make diabetes self care a whole lot easier! Being able to test blood sugar without pricking your finger can be a quality of life improvement when living with diabetes.

Fingersticks can be inconvenient and uncomfortable. And yet, in order to make treatment decisions and get the full picture with your diabetes, you have to do a lot of them. Continuous glucose monitors provide another option. Research shows that wearing a continuous glucose monitor can improve your A1C values and reduce your low blood sugars.

How do continuous glucose monitors work?

The system utilizes wireless technology and requires 3 components.

• A sensor
• A transmitter
• A receiver

First, you insert a small sensor under your skin (usually on the arm or belly). This sensor measures glucose (sugar) between the cells. The transmitter then sends this information to your cell phone or a device called a receiver. You then receive 2 pieces of information- a glucose number and a trend arrow that provides context to the glucose number. This is a valuable feature because it allows for blood sugar corrections to be made sooner. For example, it is easier to catch and treat blood sugar that is dropping than one that has reached a dangerously low level.

Continuous glucose monitors are generally accurate within 15-20% of blood glucose meter readings.

Pros and cons of using continuous glucose monitors compared to blood glucose monitoring

Pros:

• Fewer fingersticks
• Provide trend data to proactively manage low blood sugars and it's easier to see time in range
• Discrete testing
• Increased convenience
• Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitor provides high and low alerts

Cons:

• Cost
• Reduced accuracy when blood sugar is changing rapidly with a lag time of about 5-10 minutes
• Learning a new technology

Continuous glucose monitors and MyNetDiary

Continuous glucose monitors that can sync with the iPhone Health app are compatible with MyNetDiary. This article provides more information on how to set up communication between the MyNetDiary app and a continuous glucose monitor. The Dexcom G6 continuous glucose monitor is compatible with MyNetDiary.

Take ownership of your blood sugars!

Whether you invest in using a continuous glucose monitor to manage your diabetes or rely on finger sticks, taking ownership of your blood sugars is key to feeling your best, and for reducing complications. Testing is an important component of understanding how lifestyle factors such as eating, activity, medications, and stress impact your readings. Knowledge is power when it comes to your health!

To learn more about diabetes check out:

Tracking diabetes with MyNetDiary
Tips for testing your blood glucose
Factors that affect blood glucose

Still new to MyNetDiary? Learn more today by downloading the app for FREE.

Diabetes->Blood glucose Diabetes->Tracking

• Share this post: