FAQ: How often should I scan my sensor?

FAQ: 

How often should I scan my sensor?

Answer:

If you use the MANUAL-SCAN (Freestyle Libre) sensor
  • During waking hours, you should scan your sensor at least once every 8 hours to avoid data loss. If you wait longer than 8 hours, it's ok — but your sensor will start to replace the earliest data in its memory with new data. This will lead to gaps in your glucose graph and and missing data — affecting your activity scores and your final report. 
  • At bedtime, you should scan just before you go to bed, and then when you first wake up in the morning. If you sleep longer than 8 hours, no worries - you should still get a majority of your data in. You might lose some small pieces of data (e.g. after a late night dinner), but for the most part, you will have enough context to takeaway actionable lessons from your data. Additionally, sleep is an essential lever in improving metabolic fitness, so don't feel guilty if you lose data while doing the right thing!
  • Each time you scan your sensor, the Levels app will show your glucose data from the past 8 hours, or your last scan within that time period. The Manual Scan CGM measures your glucose levels every minute and stores readings in 15-minute intervals, so you can scan your sensor as often as you'd like (i.e. multiple times within an 8 hour period) to receive more frequent updates in the Levels app, but at the very least, you should scan your sensor at least once every 8 hours.
Freestyle Libre Scanning Best Practices:
  1. Scan when you wake up and just before you go to bed
  2. Scan at least once during the middle of the day
  3. Scan as often as you'd like — there is no limit!
If you use the REAL-TIME STREAMING (Dexcom or Libre 3) sensor:

The Real-time Streaming sensors send your glucose numbers to your phone every 5 minutes, as long as you have Bluetooth and internet connection and are within 20 feet of your phone. 

If you have any additional questions please feel free to email the Levels Support team at support@levelshealth.com.

Further Reading:

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