# Drawing Blood at Home for Fun and Profit **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawing-blood-at-home-for-fun-and-profit/551950 "2010-08-30T01:59:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawing-blood-at-home-for-fun-and-profit/551950/1 "2010-08-30T01:59:19Z")
So I’m taking an “at home” blood test as a condition of participating in my company’s health insurance. The instructions indicate that you should AVOID EXCESSIVELY MILKING YOUR FINGER, in all caps and everything. Can squeezing your finger somehow impact the test results? Cuz I gotta say, I was having a helluva time getting enough blood on that thing without a little gentle squeeeeeeeezing. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawing-blood-at-home-for-fun-and-profit/551950/2 "2010-08-30T02:07:34Z")
A little gentle squeeze or two probably not, but the best way to get blood from a finger is to wash your hands in warm water and let them hang below heart level. Warm hands mean open capillaries under the skin, which means a nice blood droplet. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawing-blood-at-home-for-fun-and-profit/551950/3 "2010-08-30T02:20:40Z")
What are you testing for? I’m diabetic, and stick my finger several times a day. Sometimes I don’t get a good stick, and milk my finger “excessively” - just so I don’t have to stick myself again. What’s the big deal? ---
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawing-blood-at-home-for-fun-and-profit/551950/4 "2010-08-30T02:39:33Z")
> [@Rebo](#): > > What are you testing for? > > I’m diabetic, and stick my finger several times a day. Sometimes I don’t get a good stick, and milk my finger “excessively” - just so I don’t have to stick myself again. > > What’s the big deal? Presumably the test is for similar stuff-- glucose, cholesterol, etc. But the instructions don’t clearly indicate why “excessive milking” is such a big deal. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawing-blood-at-home-for-fun-and-profit/551950/5 "2010-08-30T04:43:07Z")
You’ll hemolyze the sample and get false readings. ---
**Author:** ![LorieSmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a587f6/32.png) [@LorieSmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LorieSmurf)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2010, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drawing-blood-at-home-for-fun-and-profit/551950/6 "2010-08-31T04:12:25Z")
What Cat Whisperer said. Is this a common practice for insurance companies? Because untrained people providing their own blood specimens at home (I’m not counting fingerstick glucose testing) could be rife (sp?) with error, excessive squeezing notwithstanding.