Help with skin irritation caused by sensors and insulin pumps catheters

Help! It itches! Do you know the following problem? The adhesive from Freestyle Libre, Dexcom, Medtronic Enlite/Guardian, Eversense XL Sensor or the insulin pump catheters suddenly triggers skin irritation or contact allergies, the skin itches and burns after some time or a few days or is reddened after removing the glucose sensors and catheters. I'm Sonja from Zuckerschmuck and I was affected myself. In collaboration with other diabetics, we looked for solutions that helped most of us to use the great diabetes aids again without any problems. Of course, we want to pass on the tips and tricks to you and have included the " skin protection " section in our sugar jewelry range so that we can help all Diabuddies who suffer from itching:

Skin protection wipes and spray as a transparent barrier between skin and adhesive

Skin protection wipes (SKIN PREP, Skin Tac Adhesive Wipes, Sensi Care) or skin protection spray (SECURA, Sensi Care) as well as spray plasters (Hansaplast) are applied to the cleaned, disinfected skin and form a transparent protective film on the skin after drying for about 20 seconds. The glucose sensor or insulin pump catheter from Tandem t:slim, Medtronic, Dana, etc. is then inserted as usual and covered with decorative tapes if necessary. The protective film reliably prevents or minimizes itching and redness in most cases.

Tape as a barrier plaster between skin and adhesive

For some of our affected customers, the following trick was the ingenious solution to all skin allergies: A small hole is cut in the middle of our not yet glued tapes (overpatches without a recess/hole) where the sensor thread is. The tape is then stuck onto the adhesive surface of the sensor so that the tape serves as a barrier between the sensor patch adhesive and the skin and the sensor thread can be inserted into the skin through the hole in the middle. The sensor is then stuck onto the disinfected skin as usual and the sensor thread is "shot" into the skin.

How do I gently remove adhesive residue without rubbing?

When a catheter or CGMS sensor needs to be changed, unsightly adhesive residue from the old insulin pump catheter or sensor often remains on the skin. Here, too, we have thought about and carried out our own experiments to find out how we can remove these in the most gentle way possible without leaving more red skin due to unnecessary friction: Baby oil or olive oil help some diabetics to rub away the adhesive residue. However, it is even more gentle to use professional adhesive residue removers. We have searched for suitable aids for you and were impressed by the following products: REMOVE adhesive residue remover cloth for gently removing adhesive residue from catheters and glucose sensors Sensi Care plaster adhesive remover cloth for gently removing adhesive residue from insulin pump catheters and diabetes CGMS sensors Sensi Care plaster adhesive remover spray for gently removing adhesive residue from insulin pump catheters and diabetes CGMS sensors

What can I do about mild skin redness?

If, despite all precautions, mild skin irritation occurs after changing catheters or sensors in hot weather or while exercising, we recommend zinc ointment for the rapid regeneration of reddened skin areas. This is also ideal for use outside of diabetes for all minor abrasions and injuries: Abtei Wundheil zinc ointment against skin redness after insulin pumps and catheter changes Scio wound healing zinc ointment for skin redness after insulin pumps and catheter changes We hope that our tips help you and that you have a carefree everyday life with diabetes! If you have other tips and tricks that you would like to use to help other diabetics, please write to us at info@zuckerschmuck.com and we will be happy to share them on our Instagram and Facebook pages. Together we are strong! Your Sonja with Sugar Jewelry Team