Like Joanna said, infection is quite possible with all the poking we do, so if you think he might have an infection, I would either use the other side of the ear or switch ears. Of course treat the infection that is present but I would also start putting neosporin on after you poke, just to prevent future infections. We don't do that, and I use the same ear all the time because the other one doesn't like to bleed as well. If you do switch ears, I would do a test on both ears at at the same time once, because there can be a significant difference between the readings on different ears, and you would want to know to take that into account.
My vet actually used the risk of infection in his ears as a reason not to home test. :roll: Let's see....risk of an infection VS risk of hypoglycemia.....I think I'll take the risk of infection! She did suggest using a baby wipe to clean his ears before testing, but I KNOW Tinkles won't tolerate it! I do clean my lancing pen every time with alcohol. I read somewhere that you shouldn't clean the ear with alcohol because it will sting when you test him?
I'll check back later for the pm. :smile: