The Contour Plus Glucometer: a Small Sample and a Phone That Keeps the Record
The Contour Plus glucometer helps you get a blood sugar reading from a noticeably small drop of blood, which is the difference between a finger-prick you dread and one you barely think about. It draws the sample into the strip itself, so there is less pricking, less squeezing and far less of the business of trying to produce a bead of blood large enough to land on a target.
It also talks to a phone. Paired with the Contour Diabetes app, readings go across on their own, the app draws the trends, sets testing reminders and lets you send the record to our doctor or a relative without writing anything out. For somebody who tests several times a day, or a family keeping an eye on a parent’s readings from another town, that is worth more than any single feature on the meter itself.
What the Contour Plus Glucometer Offers
Beyond the small sample and the app, the two things worth knowing are the alerts and the averages.
The meter flags a reading that falls below or climbs above the range it has been set, which turns a number into a prompt rather than a note. And it holds hundreds of readings with daily, weekly and monthly averages, so a consultation starts from a pattern instead of from memory. Please let our pharmacist set the alert range with you using the targets our doctor has given you, because an alert left on a default range stays silent when it should speak, or cries wolf all day.
Before You Buy a Meter, Settle the Strips
Most people get this part wrong, and it costs them far more than the meter ever will. A glucometer takes one strip type and one only, made for that model, and the strips are what you will be buying every month for as long as you have diabetes.
So the meter is the cheap decision and the strips are the expensive one. Before you commit to any system, please ask our pharmacist two questions: which strips this meter takes, and what they will cost you per test and over a year. We will answer both honestly, including where the answer points to a different meter, because a machine you can afford to keep feeding is worth more than one that sits in a drawer by March. We will also tell you what we can supply on a standing monthly delivery so refills are never a hunt.
Taking a Reading Properly
Most unreliable home readings come from the technique rather than the machine, and four habits cover nearly all of it.
Wash your hands with soap and warm water and dry them properly, because sugar from fruit, juice or food left on a finger reads far higher than your blood and is the usual cause of a frightening number. Use a fresh lancet every time and prick the side of the fingertip rather than the pad, moving round your fingers so no single spot gets sore. Let the drop form on its own rather than squeezing or milking the finger, which pushes tissue fluid into the sample and reads lower than the truth. Then hold the strip to the drop until the meter beeps. Please never share a lancing device with anybody, even within one household.
Looking After It
Keep the strips in their own container with the lid shut tight, shut immediately after taking one out, at room temperature and away from sun, damp and the inside of a car. Not the fridge. Check the expiry before starting a new container, because a strip that has taken up moisture still produces a number, which is exactly the trouble with it.
Wipe the meter with a barely damp cloth and keep it out of water. Change the battery when the warning appears rather than testing through it. And bring the meter in to us from time to time so we can run a test alongside you, check your technique and confirm the meter and strips are working together properly. Five minutes, no charge, and it is the only practical accuracy check a home meter ever gets.
What to Do With the Numbers
Let the app or the memory keep the record and bring the phone or the meter to your appointments. A single reading says very little. A fortnight of readings shows a pattern, and the pattern is what our doctor treats.
Please bring the readings to us rather than adjusting your own insulin or tablets, since doses are changed on a pattern over weeks and a dose altered because of one number causes harm in both directions. Our doctor will set your own target range with you as well, because the right targets differ between people and are different again in pregnancy, in older age and for somebody on insulin. Once that range is in the meter, the alerts start earning their keep.
When to Act, and When to Get Help the Same Day
A reading below 4.0 mmol/L needs treating immediately, whatever the meter’s alert happens to do. Take fifteen to twenty grams of fast-acting sugar, which is three or four glucose tablets, half a glass of ordinary soda or fruit juice, or three teaspoons of sugar in water. Wait fifteen minutes, test again, repeat if it is still low, then eat something more substantial so it holds.
Where somebody with low blood sugar is confused, fitting or hard to wake, treat it as an emergency and get help at once, and please put nothing in the mouth of a person who is unconscious. A very high reading alongside vomiting, stomach pain, deep rapid breathing, breath that smells sweet or of acetone, or unusual drowsiness needs hospital the same day rather than another test. Please also come and see us for lows that keep happening, lows you no longer feel coming, or readings that stay high for several days.
What We Can Honestly Tell You
The small sample and the phone link are real advantages, particularly for somebody testing four times a day or a family watching a parent’s numbers from a distance. Come and talk to our pharmacist about the strip supply before you buy, and we will set the alert range and show you a test at the counter.
Where the running cost is what matters most, our On Call Plus glucometer has the lowest cost per test of anything we sell and its strips sit on the same shelf. For the largest memory and ninety-day averages, ask about the Accu-Chek Instant meter. Lancets go with all three, and they are half of every test.
Is This Glucometer Right for You?
Please talk to our pharmacist or our doctor before you buy if any of these apply.
- You have not asked about the strips yet. Please do, before the meter. Which strips it takes and what they cost per year is the decision that matters.
- You already own a meter. Tell us its model name and we will match the strips rather than sell you a second machine.
- You do not use a smartphone. The app is most of the advantage here, so ask us about a meter with a bigger on-board memory instead.
- A reading below 4.0 mmol/L. Treat it at once with fast-acting sugar, retest in fifteen minutes, and tell us if it keeps happening.
- Someone with low blood sugar who is confused, fitting or hard to wake. Emergency, and nothing by mouth.
- A very high reading with vomiting, stomach pain, deep rapid breathing, sweet-smelling breath or drowsiness. Hospital the same day.
Where to Buy the Contour Plus glucometer in Kenya
Order online and we deliver countrywide, or collect from our pharmacy at Kahawa Sukari Shopping Center, Nairobi. We send orders to Nairobi and every neighbourhood around it — the CBD, Westlands, Parklands, Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda, Rosslyn, Kitisuru, Lower Kabete, Lavington, Kileleshwa, Kilimani, Karen, Langata, South B, South C, Eastleigh, Buruburu, Donholm, Embakasi, Ngong Road, Kasarani, Roysambu, Zimmerman, Githurai, Ruaka, Banana Hill, Two Rivers, Village Market and Pride Lands — and across Kiambu, Thika, Juja, Ruiru, Kikuyu, Limuru and Ngong.
Beyond the capital we deliver to Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Machakos, Athi River, Kitengela, Kajiado, Naivasha, Narok, Kericho, Bomet, Kisii, Migori, Homa Bay, Siaya, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Vihiga, Webuye, Kitale, Nandi Hills, Iten, Kapenguria, Embu, Meru, Chuka, Kerugoya, Murang’a, Othaya, Nyahururu, Nanyuki, Maralal, Isiolo, Marsabit, Moyale, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Lodwar, Kitui, Mwingi, Makueni, Emali, Kibwezi, Voi, Taveta, Wundanyi, Mariakani, Diani, Ukunda, Kilifi, Watamu, Malindi, Lamu and Hola. Everything in this category travels in plain outer packaging with nothing on the outside to say what is inside, and the delivery note carries our name and no product description. At a reading in seconds a pack covers a known length of time, so tell us how many months you want covered and we will work out the quantity with you before you order.
Across Africa, ask us before you order. We have sent orders to Uganda, Tanzania, Somaliland and as far as Malawi, and we will quote for Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and the rest of the continent. Tell us the destination and we will confirm any import paperwork before the parcel leaves us.
Living abroad? Order from wherever you are and we deliver to your family here in Kenya. Kenyans in the UK, the United States, Canada, South Africa and the Gulf order from us regularly for parents and relatives at home. A blood glucose meter is needed every day rather than occasionally, so running out is the thing to plan against. Tell us who it is for, the size and how many months you want covered, and we will set up a standing monthly delivery so nobody is ever caught short.
Why Buy Your the Contour Plus glucometer from HealthAlone Kenya?
HealthAlone is a pharmacist-led health ecosystem licensed by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, and our stock is original, sealed and correctly stored. Kahawa Sukari is a real counter with real pharmacists behind it.
Our pharmacists will settle the strip supply and its yearly cost before you buy the meter, set the alert range from our doctor’s targets, and show you a test at the counter. Our doctor is here too if you would rather have the whole question looked at properly.
It is one more step in our vision: building Africa’s most trusted health ecosystem, accessible to everyone, everywhere.
Your Questions About the Contour Plus Glucometer, Answered
How much blood does it need?
A noticeably small drop. The strip draws the sample in itself, so there is less pricking and less squeezing.
Does it connect to a phone?
Yes, through the Contour Diabetes app, which collects the readings, draws the trends, sets testing reminders and lets you send the record to our doctor or a relative.
What if I do not use a smartphone?
Then most of the advantage here is lost, and we would point you to a meter with a bigger on-board memory. Ask our pharmacist.
What are the hypo and hyper alerts?
The meter flags a reading below or above the range it has been set. Let us set that range from the targets our doctor has given you.
How many readings does it hold?
Hundreds, with daily, weekly and monthly averages, so a consultation starts from a pattern rather than from memory.
Which strips does it take?
Contour Plus strips, and those only. Please ask our pharmacist about the strip supply and what it costs before you buy the meter.
Why does the strip question come before the meter?
Because the meter is bought once and the strips are bought every month for years. The strips are the expensive decision.
Why must I wash my hands before testing?
Sugar from fruit, juice or food on a finger reads far higher than your blood. Soap and warm water, dried properly.
Should I squeeze my finger?
Let the drop form on its own. Squeezing pushes tissue fluid in and reads lower than the truth. Prick the side of the fingertip, not the pad.
Can a lancet be reused?
Use a fresh one every time, and please never share a lancing device with anybody, even in the same house.
How should the strips be stored?
Lid shut tight and shut immediately, at room temperature, out of sun and damp. Not in the fridge and not in a car.
Can you check the meter is reading correctly?
Bring it in and we will run a test alongside you and check your technique. Five minutes, no charge.
What do I do about a reading below 4.0 mmol/L?
Treat it at once with fifteen to twenty grams of fast-acting sugar, wait fifteen minutes and retest. Repeat if still low, then eat something more substantial.
Where can I buy Contour Plus Glucometer in Kenya, and what does it cost?
From HealthAlone, online for delivery countrywide or over the counter at Kahawa Sukari Shopping Center, Nairobi. The current price is shown above. We deliver across Nairobi — the CBD, Westlands, Parklands, Gigiri, Muthaiga, Runda, Kitisuru, Lavington, Kilimani, Karen, Langata, South B, South C, Eastleigh, Kasarani, Roysambu, Githurai, Ruaka and Banana Hill — and to Kiambu, Thika, Juja, Ruiru, Kikuyu, Limuru, Ngong, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret, Nyeri, Machakos, Kitengela, Naivasha, Narok, Kericho, Kisii, Migori, Homa Bay, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega, Kitale, Embu, Meru, Nanyuki, Nyahururu, Isiolo, Marsabit, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Lodwar, Kitui, Makueni, Voi, Taveta, Mariakani, Diani, Ukunda, Kilifi, Watamu, Malindi and Lamu. Outside Kenya we have delivered to Uganda, Tanzania, Somaliland and Malawi, and we quote for Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and the rest of Africa on request. Ask us about the strip supply before you order the meter, because the strips are the decision that lasts.
