Chronic Disease Management

There’s a distinct chance that you, or someone you know, (especially if you’re a native of the Rio Grande Valley) has type-1 or type-2 diabetes. Obesity, heart disease, and other serious chronic illnesses have risen in the United States, and we want to be a staunch ally for the afflicted. We believe that managing chronic diseases, which encompasses a breadth of illnesses such as type-2 diabetes, is not just a personal obligation for you, but a code of ethics that we’ve followed for over a decade and a half.

The miracles (pun intended) of modern medicine have allowed for the creation of home diagnostic medical equipment as well as self-monitoring tools, giving patients the opportunity to control a key portion of diabetes management, explicitly blood glucose levels. Having a strong sense of control of your blood sugar levels will grant you the knowledge to make appropriate nutritional and lifestyle changes.

Blood Glucose Meter

Glucometers

To ensure sustainable lifestyle changes while grappling with diabetes, you need a very powerful device: a glucometer. There are different types of glucometers on the market, and they are in groups such as self-monitoring, none-invasive and continuous. Our Glucometers offer (at minimum):

Test Strips

Testing Strips

A glucose testing strip, a seemingly insignificant piece of plastic, is inserted into a glucometer, allowing for your blood sugar levels to be measured, a mainstay of glucose testing and diabetic management. Testing strip accuracy is of the upmost importance and patients should veer from using untrustworthy sources as unlicensed, imitation testing strips are easily accessible. Testing strips can usually be bought separately or bundled with glucometers and lancets.

Lancing Device

Lancets/Lancing Device

A pointed piece of surgical steel encased in plastic, used to puncture the skin on one’s finger (or other body part) to get a blood sample. Lancets for blood sampling are available in different gauges, which refer to the width of the metal point. The higher the gauge, the smaller the perforation the lancet makes. For example, a 23-gauge lancet makes a larger hole in your skin than a 30-gauge lancet does. Some people find the higher-gauge lancets less painful to use, but the trade-off is that it may be harder to get an adequate drop of blood with a higher-gauge lancet.

While some people simply use a lancet alone to stick their fingers, many people prefer to use a lancing device. A lancing device uses a spring to drive the lancet into the skin and retract it very quickly. It also allows the user to change the depth of penetration depending on the thickness of the skin and calluses and the sensitivity of the fingertips. In this way, enough blood can be obtained without causing unnecessary pain.

If you still have trouble getting an adequate drop of blood despite trying different lancets and lancing devices, diabetes educators suggest washing your hands with warm water, hanging your hand down by your side, or shaking your hand vigorously like a thermometer before lancing your finger. Each of these techniques can increase the blood supply to your fingertips. After puncturing your finger, gently “milk” it from the knuckle to the fingertip to promote bleeding.

Syringes | Pen Needles

Syringes / Pen Needles

Syringes for insulin users are designed for standard U-100 insulin.

Insulin syringes are made specifically for self injections and have friendly features:

  • shorter needles,[7] as insulin injections are subcutaneous (under the skin) rather than intramuscular,
  • finer gauge needles,[7] for less pain, and
  • markings in insulin units to simplify drawing a measured dose of insulin.[8]
  • low dead space to reduce complications caused by improper drawing order of different insulin strengths. 

Pen needles are used in conjunction with injection pens to deliver injectable medications into the body.

A pen needle consists of a hollow needle which is embedded in a plastic hub and attaches to injection pens. Pen needles come in a variety of needle lengths and diameters and are used by health professionals and patients for injection of a variety of medications. They are commonly used by people with diabetes who often require multiple daily insulin injections. Injection pen and pen needles are an alternative drug delivery method to the traditional vial/syringe method.

Have a question about our Chronic Disease Management products?

Scroll to Top