Hello Everyone!
I'm looking for some advice - I've been on an insulin pump for around 12 years. Recently I have started to notice some skin irritation to the adhesive used to keep the canola in place. My skin gets very itchy and when the tape is removed my skin is a darker color. I just wanted to know if anyone else has this problem and if there are any remedies to it. It's frustrating to wear something that itches all the time! Thank you!
I had been having the same problem. The only way I have made it go away is applying lotion everyday where I usually put the pump sites in so when it comes to putting it on after I shower I don't have that issue anymore. I hope that makes since. Obviously you
can't remove the tape while the canula is in so I put lotion around it then when I change the site, I apply lotion in that area so it doesn't have a discoloration. It seems to have helped I haven't had that issue for a few weeks now.
Thank you! I started doing this too and it has helped. I've also really had to try and remember not to itch the spot once I remove the old tape - which, sometimes I do without thinking. Hopefully I'll start to see some calming of the skin since as of now it just seems to be a relentless cycle! :) Thanks!
No problem. Hopefully it works with just the lotion.
If the lotion helps, great! But if you need more ideas... I have gone through a couple different phases/versions of tape irritation, and here's what I've learned:
(All products I mention can be found on Amazon and purchased without a prescription, and most are also available from your pump company. Speaking of pump company, if you call and tell them you are having tape issues they can usually send you samples of tapes and wipes and stuff so you can figure out what works best without having to buy an entire box of each to test.)
1. Different infusion sets use different adhesives, so it can be sometimes worth it to see if a different set can take care of the problem.
2. There's liquid stuff you can put on skin before you put in an infusion set to keep the adhesive from actually touching your skin- SkinTac, Mastisol and IVPrep are pretty common- and I think most come in both individual wipes or in bottles.
(Small caveat: these things also help the tape stick better, so you might need an adhesive remover in addition, but those are also pretty easy to find on Amazon or similar.)
3. If you find that its not ALL adhesives causing irritation, you can put a piece of tape like Tegaderm, IV3000 or... I've forgotton what the other one is called that I used to use, but you can stick a big piece of tape on your skin, and just stab the infusion set right through it.
4. Itchy while its on is unpleasant for sure, but if when you peel it off you see red splotchiness where the tape was, thats often an indication that the tape actually peeled off a layer of skin, and either using the adhesive barrier wipes (skin-tac, IV prep) can help with that, or just the adhesive remover wipes to help loosen up the adhesive before you rip it off can make a good difference too.
Good luck!