(in reply to Heidi’s December 18 post)
Many people “solve the problem” by shooting in a replacement Sensor 4-12 hours BEFORE disconnecting the old one… when you’ve chosen to replace the old one while it’s still working. Don’t move the transmitter or notify the receiver that you’re stopping the old Sensor, just shoot in a new one and let it quietly “warm up” a few extra hours.
Here’s another significant trick, also widely used: Some people, including me, get better results when the wire is shot in at less-than-standard depth. But the right way to accomplish this ISN’T by bending the inserter at a funny angle before shooting-- that creates weird stresses between your tissue and the wire after you let go. Instead, the right way is to choose a site along your side, body shape bends around from front to back. I use both love handles and upper butt cheeks. Love handles, straight down from armpits, have the biggest natural bend; but outer butt cheek (near the vertical seam of pockets on blue jeans) does nearly as well. Just stay WELL AWAY from hip and leg bones. Perhaps that’s your main problem-- are you shooting in too close to your belt, where there’s lots of ligaments and pelvic girdle bones? It’s much better to be just an inch or two above contact with the chair when you sit down, where you’re more “meaty”.
Some day, maybe, I’ll get all of this stuff into videos on youtube. Alcohol isn’t a good preparation. (It’s got a nasty drying action on your skin; it isn’t really much of a disinfectant; and it does absolutely NOTHING for adhesive contact issues.) The widely used “I.V. Prep” wipes are only slightly better; the one which you should buy (over the Internet, TODAY) is Smith+Nephew’s “Skin Prep”.
These wipes looks and smells nearly the same as the “I.V. Prep” wipes (they make both), but it works differently-- it leaves a thin, transparent, plastic-like layer on your skin which (1) helps the pad stick MUCH better; and also (2) creates a buffer between your skin and the actual adhesive, reducing irritation and itch. (You can see the barrier/adhesive-helper film layer on your skin after it dries.)
First scrub your site area with a fresh washcloth and soap, hard enough to turn your skin a bit red. (Several studies have shown this to be better than alcohol at cleaning skin anyway-- if you desire a chemical disinfectant which exceeds a quality scrubbing, you really need to go all the way up to PVI or equivalent.) Dry with a fresh towel. Open a “Skin Prep”, and wipe it across your target area (no scrubbing, just a gentle wipe). Wait about 15 seconds, then wipe just once across the top of your target area again-- not your entire Sensor pad target, only the top.
That second wipe is for two reasons: First, Skin-Prep is extremely “runny”, and tends to flow away from the top of the wetted area; and second, the long “upper side” of the Sensor pad is where adhesive failure usually happens first-- so you give that area some extra help. Now wait for COMPLETE dryness (I use a hairdryer to help it along.)
The rest of Rebecca’s technique is really good, though I personally use the round end of a paperclip instead of a fingernail (her fingernails are probably longer than mine). I’ll emphasize just one other thing, though: After the pad is set down, but BEFORE shooting in the Sensor, (and before squashing down the EXPOSED portions of the adhesive pad), you should push down on the Sensor housing really hard, with a bit of side-to-side and up-down movement to help create good pad-to-skin contact. The most important portion of adhesive pad is --> underneath the housing <–, and it can’t be pressed in after you’ve shot the Sensor in.
I shoot with index and second finger on the collar, thumb on the white shooter, and other hand holding the housing in place (fingers on the housing clips). One firm motion, shooting and pulling up the collar together. But if your hand is smaller than mine, you don’t have to do both jobs at once: The important thing is to KEEP THE HOUSING, and the shooter assembly, from moving at all. (During both steps-- the shoot-in, and the collar-back pull back.)
An unstable, wild “shove” on the shooter is bad, because you’re likely to tilt the assembly a bit as your press it in. (That vastly increases the risk of a failed inserter pull-back, because the pressure on the wire from the inserter cylinder isn’t balanced. So the wire can “catch”, getting bent… not good.) It’s spring-loaded anyway- whether you push in the white button really slow, as I do, or really fast, the wire is inserted at the same speed. Firm, smooth, and a bit slower is better than a desperate lunge in either direction.