Recently, researchers have developed new ways to minimize the pain from those pricks and shots, according to the August issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter. Another lancet can be used on the thigh, palm or abdomen, giving fingertips a break. A needle-free laser device that vaporizes a pinpoint of skin on the finger. Glucose monitors with built-in blood sampling devices that take blood from areas other than fingers and require smaller blood samples. Other systems are being tested, including a glucose-monitoring device that is worn like a watch and a patch that changes color as it draws glucose through the skin.
Research is ongoing on oral insulin and skin patches.
Ask your physician if any of the new methods of glucose monitoring and insulin delivery would work for you. Mayo Clinic Scottsdale offers outpatient healthcare in 66 medical and surgical specialties and programs. Mayo Clinic also provides care at primary care practices located throughout the Valley and at the new Mayo Clinic Hospital.