I'm a type 1 with a pump. Anyone out there have any methods of accelerating the healing of insulin sites especially with a pump? Seems that shots work better for me in bring down a high vs a pump. I'm not sure why. If scar tissue related, the shot should have the same issue in the same areas. Any thoughts?
Letting an area rest is the best answer. But there are some physiotherapy treatments that can reduce the scarring, particularly ultrasound therapy. You would need to see a doctor and probably get a referral for this treatment.
I have heard that some people apply tea tree cream, but I would consider that a bit risky. Tea tree oil is pretty harsh. We discussed some home options recently in another thread.
here's another older discussion about scar tissue
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/583967:Topic:167026
I also keep a record in a notebook about where I put the infusion set, so I make sure I don't go within a square inch of another site in a 30 day period. I change my set every other day now, and have mentally divided these 4 areas (Right Ab, Left Ab, Right Butt, Left Butt) into 4 quadrants each, giving me 16 areas x 2 days/area, gives me 26 days where I won't go anywhere near a previously used area. It's been working out great for me. I've had type1 45 years, pumping about 24 years.
Copper peptides are effective at healing scarring, including scar tissue. It takes a while. I use Skin Biology products (I have no affiliation with the company) http://scar-reduction.com/. The efficacy of copper peptides is backed by scientific research & the site provides scientific references.
I like to prevent scarring when I can. I developed a method to prevent allergic reactions to adhesive but it also has the benefit of leaving no scar at all.
First thing I do is: I clean the area with a swab then I choose the center point and put a tiny dot on neosporin,
Then I cover the entire area with a IV3000 patch, Then I poke through the patch into the spot of neosporin underneath, Then adhere the set to the patch,
This way the adhesive never touches my skin. When I take out the set there is nothing but a tiny red dot that heals in a day or two. When I do it the standard way I can get a severe scar and hard nodule under my skin.
I have an allergy to the adhesive but I bet it would help even if you are not allergic and just prone to scarring.
Right after taking the site out try vitamin e-capsules. Take an e cap and cut it open and rub that right over the site that you just took out. It will help healing and you won't get as much scarring. Also ART (active release therapy) by a physiotherapist can be beneficial to breaking up scarring. Ultrasound too, like Brian said, can be beneficial with scarring. I did both to help scarring of an injury the ART helped a bit but the ultrasound did not only because it was fractured at the time they tried it. Other than that it usually does help.