You need to place your finger on the top suction port of the test strip, not on the side. When the suction port turns red, it means that a blood sample has been collected. (Do not drip onto the test paper) The American Diabetic Association recommends the following blood sugar levels for those of us living with diabetes [5]:

You can get test strips on prescription or you can buy them over the counter at a pharmacy or online. Most meters will only take one type of test strip. So, you should make sure you know which strip your meter uses before buying. This is also important to remember with your prescription for test strips. Your local area may only have a limited range of meters available to them and will only prescribe strips for the meters they give out. Depending on how you treat your diabetes then you might need to use a monitor and test strips to manage your diabetes. Here we’re going to take a look at what monitors and test strips are, and how you can get them. Blood glucose monitors You can also buy a blood glucose meter from a pharmacy or online. Our shop sells meters and test strips. You should speak with your healthcare team before you buy your own meter. Test strips Sinocare test strips have an expiration date of two years after manufacture as long as the containers remain sealed. Once the container is opened for use, all the strips should be used within three months. Any remaining strips after three months should be discarded, as they may give unreliable results. Final ThoughtsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention: Diabetes Basics. { https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/basics/index.html} There are several brands of glucometers and test strips available commercially. Each has the same basic methodology but differs in design and technology. Each strip must be used only with the glucometer designed for use with it. Levels higher than this indicate diabetes is not well-controlled. A single high reading should not alarm us. However, if the blood sugar levels are higher than expected frequently, we should talk to our doctor. They may suggest a change in the dosage of insulin or other antidiabetic medicines. Do Blood Sugar Test Strips Expire? Remove a new test strip within the valid expiration of the vial. After taking the strip, immediately cover the vial to avoid losing efficiency.

Your doctor or nurse will give you a blood glucose meter for free if you have type 1 diabetes or treat your diabetes with medication that can cause hypos. On rare occasions you will get a prescription instead. Remember, you don't pay for prescriptions if you have diabetes and it’s treated with any type of medication.

Write the discard date (6 months after opening the vial) on the vial label when you open it for the first time. Discard the remaining test strips after the discard date. When taking blood, you need to wait for the alcohol to evaporate before giving the needle injection.

Advanced Electrode Strips: It can avoid interference from blood oxygen variations and assure you of accurate test results each time.Keeping your fingers clean, wipe the first drop of blood away with a clean tissue, and test with the second drop of blood, which is less likely to be contaminated when using the testing kit. Mixing and matching are not recommended. Using a glucometer with strips made for another brand of machine is very likely to give inaccurate and dangerous results. Do Lancets Expire? The test strip expires;(The expiry date of the uric acid strips: 12 months, Period After Opening :3 months)