Diabetic jewelry might be a steel medical alert necklace, or it could be a gold charm on a chain. Whether it costs $5 or $100, it could make a huge difference in your life.
It's easy to argue against diabetic jewelry. What if you never need it? That's the same argument you could use against wearing seatbelts and locking your doors. You may never need those things, but if the time comes that you do, you will bless the day you chose to use them.
Emergency medical people say that over 95% of them do look for medical alert jewelry, and 75% of them say they look for them first before they do anything else.
Here' another statistic. Half of medical errors occur on admission or discharge from a hospital. Diabetic jewelry and other medical alert items could keep that from happening to you.
Why It's Important
Type 2 diabetes symptoms include hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. And one of the most troubling side effects of low blood sugar is confusion. I know from personal experience that you don't have to be in a diabetic coma to be unable to speak for yourself clearly.
And if you don't have a friend or family member who knows everything the hospital or EMT person will need to know to be able to make good decisions for you, it's nice to have a backup plan. That's when your diabetic jewelry fills in the blanks for them.
Every diabetic should have diabetic jewelry on his or her neck and/or wrist. If you have drug allergies or you are on blood thinners, even if it's only daily aspirin, medical people need to know it. Also, if you are on multiple medications, doctors and EMTs need to be aware of that.
Keeping a list of your medications in your wallet or purse, including the dosages, will save a lot of time, and now there is a medical alert necklace that can store everything a doctor will need to know. It's a flash drive (or thumb drive) inside a necklace charm.
Of course, your doctor has to know how to use one, but all computers now have USB ports. They just plug your flash drive in and get your entire medical history. If you're worried about privacy, it is password protected. That means someone would need to know your password besides you.
That may be an idea that's ahead of its time. But it's still a good thing to have if you have trouble keeping all your medical information in your head.
Are you worried about expense? You can spend as little as $5 on diabetic jewelry. The website for the Jonas brothers, a singing group, tells about one way to get a medic alert necklace. Nick Jonas has type 1 diabetes, and he sells a stainless steel dog tag through Bayer. Some of the money goes to his charity for diabetes.
If you want to spend more, you can go as high end as you want. There are plenty of sites that sell diabetic jewelry. There are also sites that cater to younger diabetics
One of the interesting ones is a business that was started by a type 1 diabetic, Micah Marie Lynch, at age 19. She uses an insulin pump, and there is a clear plastic cap that she used to discard every three days. She stopped throwing them away and started painting them instead, and made herself some bracelets.
Her first year in college, she was making jewelry from the caps to sell. Now she has a website. Her hand painted medical bracelets and necklaces are unusual and beautiful. You can see them at her website, http://micahmarie.com. Her site states that 5% of each sale goes to your choice of charity, either the American Diabetes Association or a diabetes summer camp.
Diabetic jewelry is a medical necessity. Type 2 diabetes symptoms like confusion and diabetic coma are the best reasons to get diabetic jewelry. Identifying yourself as a diabetic right away may save your life someday. And as you've seen, it does not have to be expensive.
I have yet to find a legitimate website that gives away medical alert jewelry, The one website I did find was just fishing for e-mail addresses to sell. I'm hoping to find one someday so I can let my diabetic friends know about it.
A diabetic bracelet is worth it if it removes the worry of being misdiagnosed in an emergency. I wear my medical alert necklace all the time. I hope you will too.
Martha Zimmer, webmaster, http://a-diabetic-life.com, and author of juvenile series, The Smallborn
By Martha J Zimmer
It's easy to argue against diabetic jewelry. What if you never need it? That's the same argument you could use against wearing seatbelts and locking your doors. You may never need those things, but if the time comes that you do, you will bless the day you chose to use them.
Emergency medical people say that over 95% of them do look for medical alert jewelry, and 75% of them say they look for them first before they do anything else.
Here' another statistic. Half of medical errors occur on admission or discharge from a hospital. Diabetic jewelry and other medical alert items could keep that from happening to you.
Why It's Important
Type 2 diabetes symptoms include hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. And one of the most troubling side effects of low blood sugar is confusion. I know from personal experience that you don't have to be in a diabetic coma to be unable to speak for yourself clearly.
And if you don't have a friend or family member who knows everything the hospital or EMT person will need to know to be able to make good decisions for you, it's nice to have a backup plan. That's when your diabetic jewelry fills in the blanks for them.
Every diabetic should have diabetic jewelry on his or her neck and/or wrist. If you have drug allergies or you are on blood thinners, even if it's only daily aspirin, medical people need to know it. Also, if you are on multiple medications, doctors and EMTs need to be aware of that.
Keeping a list of your medications in your wallet or purse, including the dosages, will save a lot of time, and now there is a medical alert necklace that can store everything a doctor will need to know. It's a flash drive (or thumb drive) inside a necklace charm.
Of course, your doctor has to know how to use one, but all computers now have USB ports. They just plug your flash drive in and get your entire medical history. If you're worried about privacy, it is password protected. That means someone would need to know your password besides you.
That may be an idea that's ahead of its time. But it's still a good thing to have if you have trouble keeping all your medical information in your head.
Are you worried about expense? You can spend as little as $5 on diabetic jewelry. The website for the Jonas brothers, a singing group, tells about one way to get a medic alert necklace. Nick Jonas has type 1 diabetes, and he sells a stainless steel dog tag through Bayer. Some of the money goes to his charity for diabetes.
If you want to spend more, you can go as high end as you want. There are plenty of sites that sell diabetic jewelry. There are also sites that cater to younger diabetics
One of the interesting ones is a business that was started by a type 1 diabetic, Micah Marie Lynch, at age 19. She uses an insulin pump, and there is a clear plastic cap that she used to discard every three days. She stopped throwing them away and started painting them instead, and made herself some bracelets.
Her first year in college, she was making jewelry from the caps to sell. Now she has a website. Her hand painted medical bracelets and necklaces are unusual and beautiful. You can see them at her website, http://micahmarie.com. Her site states that 5% of each sale goes to your choice of charity, either the American Diabetes Association or a diabetes summer camp.
Diabetic jewelry is a medical necessity. Type 2 diabetes symptoms like confusion and diabetic coma are the best reasons to get diabetic jewelry. Identifying yourself as a diabetic right away may save your life someday. And as you've seen, it does not have to be expensive.
I have yet to find a legitimate website that gives away medical alert jewelry, The one website I did find was just fishing for e-mail addresses to sell. I'm hoping to find one someday so I can let my diabetic friends know about it.
A diabetic bracelet is worth it if it removes the worry of being misdiagnosed in an emergency. I wear my medical alert necklace all the time. I hope you will too.
Martha Zimmer, webmaster, http://a-diabetic-life.com, and author of juvenile series, The Smallborn
By Martha J Zimmer
February 28, 2012 at 9:18 AM
Diabetic jewelry, such as diabetic bracelets and necklaces, is a form of medical identification that lets any medical professionals know about your condition. If you become unconscious or pass out due to your disease and are unable to communicate with any caregivers, they will look for some form of medical identification before issuing a treatment or a diagnosis.
Diabetic Jewelry