Diabetes, a complex and widespread medical condition, requires constant monitoring and management. One of the most effective tools used in managing diabetes is the diabetic test strip.
These test strips measure blood glucose levels, alerting patients and their healthcare providers to potential issues. Unfortunately, diabetic test strips have a limited shelf life and must be replaced regularly.
That’s where the question why do diabetic test strips expire? Comes in. Before delving into the chemistry of query, it’s important to understand the composition and purpose of test strips.
Remember: Diabetic Test Strips expire because their effectiveness decreases over time due to different chemical reactions in the strips.
Why Do Diabetic Test Strips Expire?
Diabetic test strips are essential to managing diabetes and monitoring blood sugar levels, so it’s important to understand why do diabetic test strips expire. Notably, these strips contain reagents, chemical compounds that react to glucose in the blood to produce a measurable signal.
Over time, these chemicals in the test strips break down and cause different chemical reactions, leading to decreased accuracy and reliability. In addition to the chemical reactions, other factors can contribute to the expiration of test strips.
Exposure to light and heat can also cause the strip to deteriorate, leading to inaccurate readings. Also, if the strip is stored in an environment with high humidity, it may absorb moisture, making it less effective.
Will Expired Glucose Strips Read High Or Low
Although glucose strips are the most effective way to Inspect your glucose level yourself, always ensure the use of fresh and new strips for testing. The expired strips will likely read low value than the actual reading.
Moreover, it also depends on the type of strips you are using for testing. Most of the strips gave a false low reading when they expired, but some brands may give a false high reading. Therefore, it’s always important to consider the expiry date of the glucose strips you use for testing the sugar level.
Pro Tip: Always consult your healthcare in this concern as they have the best practical experience to help you accurately measure the reading.
Can I Use Expired Diabetic Test Strips
After deeply understanding why do diabetic test strips expire and how it impacts the result, if you are still wondering whether you can use the expired diabetic test strips or not, the answer is No.
Technically, you should avoid using expired diabetic test strips as they can result in either low or high readings on the strips, leading to the incorrect management of diabetes.
Moreover, there are plenty of potential risks from using expired diabetic test strips. Here, let’s look at some of the major consequences of them.
Ø Serious Medical Injuries
The most prominent risk of using expired test strips is that it can cause serious injuries or even death to the persons depending on the reading of such devices to treat their diabetes.
Ø Loss of Quality
Another risk of expired testing strips is the potential for a loss of quality. As test strips age, the chemicals used to produce the readings can become less potent, leading to less reliable results.
Additionally, the plastic used to make the strips can become brittle, making them more prone to breaking and rendering them unusable.
Ø Contamination
Using expired testing strips also presents the risk of contamination. Over, they can become exposed to bacteria and other microorganisms, which can lead to contamination of the results.
Notably, these can be especially dangerous when testing for conditions like HIV or other blood-borne illnesses, as inaccurate results can lead to improper treatment and a greater risk of developing serious medical conditions.
Remember: The risks of expired testing strips are very real and can have serious medical implications. Therefore, only use those that are within their expiration date.
Why Sell Diabetic Test Strips Locally
After knowing the different consequences of using expired test strips, you might not want to keep the extra strips on your shelf as they will become useless over time. Then why not sell the additional diabetic test strips locally?
At Diabetics Trust, we make it easy to sell test strips with a few clicks of your fingertips! Sell them to us at the best possible prices.
FAQs: Do Diabetic Test Strips Expire?
How Inaccurate Are Expired Glucose Test Strips?
Expired Glucose test strips can be very inaccurate as they may give a false low reading, or sometimes they are unable to detect glucose levels at all. Both cases will lead to the wrong medical treatment, causing serious medical complications.
How Long Are Glucose Test Strips Good For After Expiration Date?
Glucose test strips are good to use within 180 days after opening the strip container. Notably, these test strips are not recommended to use after their expiration date as they may not accurately measure blood glucose levels.
To Wrap Up
The strips must remain sterile, and when exposed to air, the strips can become contaminated, resulting in an inaccurate reading of blood glucose levels.
In addition, over time, the chemicals in the strips can degrade, causing an inaccurate reading. That can be dangerous for diabetics, as it can lead them to take the wrong dose of insulin or other diabetes medication.
Expired test strips should be discarded as they can no longer be trusted to give an accurate reading. Contact Diabetics Trust to sell the extra test strips for good cash.
