Diabetic testing equipment comes in a wide variety of forms and functions and appearances. These days, due to the growing number of people who are diagnosed with diabetes each year, diabetic testing equipment is becoming big business, and the medical supply companies which manufacture and sell diabetic testing equipment are making staggering variety different types of meters and lancets. Most of these types of equipment offer different amounts of memory take different amounts of blood, have different options as far as what bells and whistles are built into the machine. No matter what extra options and bells and whistles may be in a particular make or model of the facts of exactly what type of equipment is needed is actually quite simple.

Blood glucose levels are tested by a machine called a glucometer. To use the glucometer, the patient must select a site, usually a fingertip, from which to draw a tiny blood sample. A single use test strip should be first inserted into the glucometer then the test site should be cleaned with an alcohol pad. Once the alcohol is dry, the fingertip is pricked with a device called a lancet which will allow the patient to squeeze a drop of blood onto the surface of the skin. The test strip is touched to the drop of blood and the blood is drawn into the glucometer which reads the blood sugar level. This may sound complicated but it is actually quite simple and with a little practice can be done in just a few seconds.

Those with diabetes may have to check their blood sugar many times per day just to keep the levels as close to the 60-100mg/dl normal range as possible. But, with care and an understanding and use of diabetic testing equipment the diabetic can live a long and healthy life.