I just got approved for my first pump. I was wondering rather or not I should remove body hair or not before I attach the inset. Any advice you could give I would appreciate.
It just depends on how much body hair in my case. If there isn’t much i’ll just sick it on. Now if you are using a location with quite a bit of hair I will usually shave it. Just so it sticks to the skin and not the hair. At first you will have many locations to stick it easily but as time goes by you will probably be looking for more real estate and that’s when you’ll bust out the razor. Good luck on your pump!
Thanks for the input (pardon the pun) In my case I better stock up on razors. This is one time in my life I wish I would of been born hairless. Ouch this is gonna leave a mark. LOL
I find the inset sticks better when there is no hair. Plus it hurts less to take it off 
My daughter is a little furry (LOL) but we discovered if we put baby oil on the adhesive a minute or two before taking it off then her hairs don’t get pulled. It was a real issue without the baby oil.
Thanks I’ll have to keep that in mind.
I am on the Omnipod and whenever I do a pod change I shave the site and alcohol wipe the area then put on a new pod. I do this not for adhesion purposes but to keep the pod adhesive from pulling out all the hair… Ouch!!!
Thanks for your help. I’m not getting very excited about going on a pump. If it will give better control over my bg levels I guess it will be worth it. Tired of the roller coaster.
Buy stock in GILETTE : > you’re gonna need it.
I think your right. I am getting way to excited about this LOL. Every time I have been shaved before surgery I have hated it.
When I went on the pump, initially I couldn’t get the insertion set to stick to my skin, and my hair would push the insertion set back out of my body,after that, I decided I was going to shave symmetrically, so I didn’t look so wierd, with bloches shaved off- the next time my adult brother saw me at our parent’s swimming pool he asked “WTF is wrong with you?” in reference to the missing hair----- He’s always been a buttnugget and the pump has been a wonderful inclusion in my life. I have been pumping for several years now, and shaving is just something I do. It’s no big deal anymore.
I don’t shave body hair. I’m not perfectly smooth but I’m not all that hairy either (look at the Wikipedia page for the Minimed Paradigm. Shhh… that picture of a person with an infusion set is me… a couple of years ago. Don’t eat while you look at it, you’ve been warned!)
The one thing I sometimes do is try pull the hair away before patting down the tape. Because of the follicle is not under the tape, but the other end of the hair is, then it creates a bit of a “loop” which can be painful at times, especially of you move and the tape yanks the hair…
I do think that, after awhile, scar tissue may develop and hair may just not grow. I noticed that I had “bald spots” on my legs back when I was on MDI and used the same site too often.
HI.
I just started on the pump 2 month ago and I found it pain full!! to change the cannula.So I shaved my stomach. no more pain. So I would say yes shave.haha
I take it your brother isn’t diabetic.
I’ll have to check out the picture; but I think I’m gonna have to shave because of all the hair.
I was thinking about using the bald spot on my head or maybe I could transplant the stomach hair to my head. HA HA
No, not a diabetic.
Hi.
I would suggest something like the Braun BodyCruzer razor to get rid of the excess hair. It has a guard that keeps the electric razor from touching the skin in case you have sensitive skin. It is waterproof and I use mine in the shower. I will usually take my set off and my glucose sensor while soapy and in the shower (clean and semi sterile) and touch up the spots that have grown while the sets were in. Then I can hop out and put new set and sensor in.
I went electric because I found that using a regular razor (which I use to shave my face) caused dryness and sensitivity to alcohol wipes when prepping for set insertions.
It is really made for “manscaping” or whatever but it has been perfect for my needs with a hairy chest/stomach. My hair now more or less goes from my beltline up to my chest in a “V” but I have not received any crazy looks on the lake or at the pool.
Good luck.
Rob
Does anyone notice that the infusion doesn’t stick as well after a shower? Every time I have put my daughters in right after a shower(3x’s) it comes back off within an hour or two.
We have stopped putting it in after a shower and either do it before shower and cover w/tegaderm or wait for a few hours after shower.
Thanks for the tip. I’m getting hooked up to the pump this Friday. This should help since my skin is sensitive.