Hello community … I wanted to share what I’ve been doing to help ward off that dreaded hyperlipotrophy also called diabetes lumps. NO Thank you! I wore a pump for 14 years and 6 months ago changed to Tresiba. But it’s been a total of 20 years with diabetes as my teacher of getting through life with grace and compassion.
I’m currently am doing a half hour of massage therapy weekly specifically working myofascial release and lymph drainage to any of the areas I am injecting. NOTE * I avoid the areas I am using on that day or day before in case it speeds up absorption. I also do daily dry body brushing which I think also keeps things moving. Occationally I will use body wraps with seaweed, essential oils like lemon grass and castor oil. Personally I feel like it is really helping keeping the tissue healthy and assist in breaking up the scar tissue from building up. But I have been hearing so much about new treatments such as infrared to fat which brings blood to the surface and help break up fat tissue build up (so assume can also penetrate the dense tissue from injecting). Another one I hear of was cool sculpting which is for cellulite but similar concept… Tresiba is excellent, my a1c is 5.4 and I never thought I would be off my pump with so much stability but does do a number in the tissue. I’d love anyone else’s input or stories on this!!!
Many thanks for sharing and for those of you that keep me inspired!
I have been conscious of lipotrophy issues since I began insulin several years ago. (I was warned about it right in the beginning.) I use more than a dozen injection sites and rotate through them in order so each one gets 2 or 3 days’ rest between uses. In addition I sometimes use additional types of injections such as IMs at still different locations when a really quick correction is called for. So far so good.
True confession time…i found your post intriguing but it sounded a little “far out” when i first read it. I’m a new T1D - 15 mos in - & thought what in the heck is she talking about?! But last night i changed pump sites & felt a lump. Don’t know if that’s what you were talking about but all of a sudden, i was a massaging fool! And i thought of you, wishing you’d explained more about your process. The lump is gone & i guess i will have to read up on this issue but if you have the time, energy & inclination, i hope you will explain a little more of what you do, how often, etc. Do the lumps go away or just get smaller?
I tell you, this D life just gets more and more …ummm… Interesting! 
Thx for your post.
Alex27 I am supersized your doctor or educator hasn’t told you about this. It’s why people say how important rotating your sites is. I’ve time there’s a build up on scar under the skin in the places your using. Each area needs time to heal but after 20 years it’s unavoidable.
I know people who have lumps the size on tennis balls on their stomachs or legs from the old pork and beef insulin. I think the sensor in will also create scar so I don’t wear it. Any thing sitting under the skin like that will cause some sort of responce from the body. I never not know what my blood sugar is. I can usually guess my blood within 10 points. But that took yeeeeeeeaaaars to figure out. One thing about this disease there is so much to learn and I am still learning!
Thank you for your response David_dns can I ask if you have ever used your calf? I’ve been wanting to try it but nervous!!
I thought I was doing great with my rotations till I started dancing last year and was forced to look at my body and mirror and was humbly reminded I am not immune to it cause it was in all the spots I inject.
No, never used the calf. Mostly the abdomen for subcutaneous injections. I have 18 sites mapped out and I use them in rotation so each one gets a day or two of rest.
For IMs it’s usually the deltoids and very occasionally the thigh. The deltoids seem to produce quicker response, and that’s the reason for doing an IM in the first place.