Have you ever thought of checking blood sugar without a meter? Or do you wonder if you can check sugar level with less or no pain? Well, 20-25 years ago, you would have said no! But now, technology and innovation have made everything possible.
In diabetes, checking blood sugar every day is more important than anything. And why not? It affects your insulin and treatment dosages. But pricking a finger several times a day must be very painful. Although it’s for health’s sake still, it can also cause harm to diabetic patients.
But worry not! Go on and read this article to check blood sugar without a meter. So, let’s get started.
Simple Way to Check Blood Sugar Without a Meter
Diabetes is a highly complex disease that can cause other harmful diseases. Some devices are used to check blood sugar, such as Blood Glucose Meter, CGM, and Freestyle Libre.
The blood Glucose Meter requires a finger prick, but the other two do not. So, they are less painful and do not involve a meter. Let’s find out more about them.
Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM):
There is nothing wrong in saying that CGM has revolutionized the diabetes diagnosis system. However, blood glucose meter is still prevalent in most diabetic people.
CGM is a sensor-based device that is used to check the blood sugar level in your body. The name Continuous Glucose Monitor is on its feature to continuously monitor glucose levels in real-time.
A small sensor gets attached to your abdomen or arm that needs to be replaced in 10-14 days. Despite constantly streaming the data to an app on your phone, it also sends alerts telling you when your sugar level gets too high or too low.
However, it is not an absolute no-finger-prick device. Most of CGMs require a finger prick to attach and calibrate the machine once a day. Still, it is less painful than a blood glucose test!
Freestyle Libre:
Freestyle Libre is true meaning for checking blood sugar without a meter and finger-prick system. It is the same as Continuous Glucose Monitor; the only difference is that it does not require finger-prick and is more effective than CGM and Blood Glucose Meter.
It is also a sensor-based device attached to your abdomen or arm; however, you will not get continuous reading in the freestyle libre. You have to scan the sensor to get the readings.
Some of the main features of Freestyle Libre are following:
- You can do up to 1440 readings per day
- It shows 8 hours of glucose data
- It is easy and convenient to use
- You can also see your glucose level patterns and trends
- And most important, it does not require finger pricks
Other sensor-based devices are Dexcom G6 CGM, Guardian Connect System, and Eversense CGM.
Other Easy Ways to Check Blood Sugar without a Meter
In the era when no device or meter was available to check blood sugar, some ways help people to check their blood sugar. The methods are the symptoms! You must have listened to people saying that their sugar level is high as ants followed after they urinated.
There are many more such ways; let’s have a look.
- Increased Thirst: If you feel that you are drinking more water than usual or sweating much, your sugar level is high.
- Increased Hunger: A sudden increase in hunger is also a symptom of high blood sugar. You should pay attention to your routine and patterns.
- Urine followed by Ants: After you urinate, if you found ants after some time, then boy! You have high blood sugar.
- Sense of Tiredness: If you are feeling tired very often, even if you haven’t done much work, you also have a chance of high blood sugar.
There are many other traditional ways that you can automatically get by simply checking the symptoms of diabetes.
Note: These ways will not measure your blood sugar. These are just ways to check if your blood sugar is high or not. To measure, you have to use devices or go to a doctor.
What is the Future of Blood Sugar Testing?
At present, there are not many ways to check and measure blood sugar without a meter. However, the future of blood sugar testing will be different. There could be the following additional ways to measure blood sugar levels without meter:
Multiple Waves:
It is related to an experiment taken in Europe with a device—Glucotrack that measures blood sugar levels with the help of ultrasonic, electromagnet, and thermal waves. It is pain-free, needle-free, and cost-effective. Click here to know more about Glucotrack.
Radio Waves:
As the name suggests, it uses radio waves to check the sugar level in your body. A device known as GlucoWise is helpful to measure through radio waves. It is the same as Glucotrack in some features. Click here to learn more about GlucoWise.
Tears:
Surprisingly, researchers are working on measuring the blood sugar level through sugar level in tear fluid. NovioSense is the device that is placed under the lower eyelid to measure diabetes. It is wireless and can measure continuously on demand.
Contacts and Lasers:
Other future technologies can also involve contact lens and lasers to measure the blood glucose level in your body.
So, by looking at the future, we can say that the end will be painless and free of finger-prick.
Conclusion
As we all know, diabetes is a dangerous disease; therefore, measuring and checking blood sugar levels is essential. With or without a meter doesn’t matter! But thanks to all researchers and scientists, to make everything so easy and painless.
So, if there are options, then why not try them, correct? That was all for today, guys. Try the above-given ways to check blood sugar without a meter and share your experiences.
Also Read:
What is RBS? Everything you should know about Random Blood Sugar
10 Common Problems You May Face When Using A Glucometer At Home

Whether you want to gain muscle sustainably, lose weight, or do both—Mirganshi is the person you reach out to! She has a B.Sc in Nutrition and Dietetics from Lovely Professional University (LPU) and certification from Gold’s Gym Fitness Institute (GGFI). She grew up and completed her schooling in Jaipur, Rajasthan back in the early 2000s. Currently, she helps hundreds of individuals in correcting their diets, lifestyle habits, and physical health.
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