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Genteel Plus lancing device

Genteel is a USA-based company that creates a unique type of lancing device.

I bought the blue Genteel Plus for £59.99 from Amazon.

The pitch

The Genteel Plus is advertised as a pain-free way to do fingerprick blood tests. It creates a vacuum to suck blood drops out, meaning it doesn't need to insert the lancet as far. It is also meant to be good for alternate site testing.

Note

There are two Genteel devices. The original can only use Genteel's own lancets. The Genteel Plus can use any square lancet. There is a list of recommended lancets in their FAQ.

Review

Summary: A great device that does what I want, and has made testing far easier for me, but I would hesitate to recommend it. You may want to consider it if you find fingerprick tests scary, need to do alternate site testing, and aren't too concerned about portability.

Pros

  • I found the Genteel Plus a lot less painful than even a shallow jab with a normal lancing device.
  • As advertised, it seems to work with any square lancet (I used the generic lancets that came with my glucose meter starter kit).
  • It was able to get blood out of places other than my hand.
  • I know it's childish, but I like the shiny blue colour I got. I like that they've made some effort to make it a bit nicer-looking. It also came with stickers, which would be nice for kids.

Neutral

  • You definitely need to watch a getting started video before using, as it is pretty different. But I really didn't find it complicated, I was up and running in a few minutes.

Cons

  • It would be bad for anyone with dexterity problems. You have to hold it steady (without pressing hard), and hold down a button for several seconds. It also takes some effort to prime it. Changing the caps (to alter the depth) might also be a problem for some.
  • It's friendly-looking, but not friendly-sounding! It makes a very loud "ping" when you press the button, and the whole thing shakes slightly. This somewhat undermines its attempts to be non-scary. Those advertising photos of someone doing a test on a sleeping child? That kid is gonna wake up.
  • It's definitely not discreet: it's large, and loud. This might bother some people if they need to test when out and about.
  • I have a question mark over portability. It's not massive, I'd be happy with the carry case in my handbag. But, to fit it in the case, you have to press the plunger down, which means it's primed. Other reviewers have mentioned issues with accidentally setting it off, and I can see how that might happen if it's bumping about in a bag. As I'm only using it at home, I'm leaving it un-primed and just letting the plunger stick out the top of the case. But this would be really impractical if you want to take it anywhere; you'd need to find a bigger carry case.
  • I also have a question mark over durability, especially if you store it with the plunger pressed down. It takes some force to prime it, there's clearly some springs or something under tension there. I just wonder how long it'll last.
  • It's USA-focused. In the UK, I can't find the Genteel butterfly lancets (not that they're needed, but it's odd they're not available), or quite a lot of the lancets they recommend. Note that the image on Amazon includes a few lancets, but they were not actually included. Genteel say they can't ship their lancets to the UK. I also wonder whether the generous warranty would apply outside the USA.
  • They've done themselves no favours with their marketing. "Painless" is always going to be a stretch when you're poking sharp objects into your skin. I'd say it almost is, but you certainly feel it (it's more like a "thwack" than a "stab"). Just like I'm fed up of people going "oh fingerpricks don't hurt", I think companies over-claiming or not accurately describing how their product may behave is just unhelpful.