Hello, I am almost out of my current skin prep for my sons omnipod. I was wondering what everyone recommends. I’ve heard that opsite flexifix works good but when i looked iit up online is seemed more like tape. Sometime we just prep with alcohol but we are going into easier weather here. Any thoughts would be appreciated!
Is there a reason you feel like you need to prep the skin? I used IV prep when I first started 5 years ago but stopped shortly after because it was just one more thing to do. I haven’t had any issues not using anything.
I also used IV Prep in the beginning, but have only used alcohol swabs since without any issues.
I use Reliamed Protective Barrier Wipes. CCS Medical started sending them to me when Skin Prep had their recall issues.
he had some issues with it falling off initially and he swims alot in the summer, his skin does look beat up after he takes it off, but you may have a point probably just a coincidence but we just used alcohol the last time and didn’t get a huge bump in blood sugars pre and post pod change like we had been getting, (i’ve also started a temp basal increase the last few times after a pod change which may be the real answer, so many variables…) we’ll keep going like this for bit and see how it goes, thanks!!
We used IV prep for a couple of years, and then they had a big recall. We started using alcohol pads, and they’ve worked fine. Even through the summer and swimming. If I know my daughter’s going to be in the water for a long time, we use 3M micropore tape. We put it over top of and around the adhesive. Only lost one pod this summer, and that was after 6 hours in the ocean.
I used to just use alcohol as recommended, then my daughter went to diabetes camp, and I went with her as a nurse. We would change out sites every 2 days and the kids would sweat off their sites in like 1 day. We used IV Prep instead of alcohol, its basically alcohol but with a sticky , tackiness to it. We started using it and I like it much better , now when my daughter showers every day her pod doesnt get all messed up and hang off. It is made by Smith and Nephews.
I use a Tegaderm waterproof skin and place the pod on top of it. It stays on much better and when it’s time to change pod you just peel the Tegaderm skin off. The adhesive mess from the pod stays on the Tegaderm skin, not your skin, so there is no clean up needed. You can get a box of 100 at americandiabeteswholesale.com for $38.99. (3M Tegaderm Transparent Dressing 1624W)
I am in trouble right now from that attitude, actually. I used to use IV prep, but stopped prepping the skin entirely over a year ago. Now, I have a horrible staph infection in my arm from not prepping the site properly. So…I think it’s kind of like wearing a seatbelt. You could go without it for years and swear it’s an unnecessary precaution - until it’s the one time it isn’t. =/
FWIW, if you call into Insulet with a problem, they will ask about your site prep. If you say that you’ve used anything other than alcohol (which is what they recommend), they can refuse to replace a pod. I was told that IV prep was no approved for use, which I find ridiculous because all of the other pumps suggest IV prep.
do you cut a hole in the Tegaderm before placing the pod on or do you just insert it through the Tegaderm?
I suppose you could but I never have. That size film is about a 1/4 inch wider on both sides of the pod if you center it right. On the longer ends of the pod the film is about 1/2 shorter then the pod, so I make sure that the side of the pod that is opposite the canula side has about 1/4 inch of the film left. I hope that makes sense…the end result is the entire pod is on the film (with about a 1/4 of the film surrounding it) except for the canula side. The pod on the canula side extends past the film about a 1/2. It’s made a world of difference for me. The pod pad/adhesive never comes off the film. When the pod is ready to be replaced, it looks almost as fresh as when it was applied 3 days earlier. It amazes me how well the film stays on. Good luck.
Clever! Did you come up with this? Do you ever swim with it on for a long peroid of time? Do you think this helps with keeping the Pod on better or for skin irritations?
Jan, it’s great for both. Skin irritations and adhesion. The film stays on your skin much better then the pod alone does. I spent a week at the beach a few months back and the pod pulled away once while diving into waves, but it was the pod coming off it’s own adhesive. The film stayed on fine. I then replaced the pod, but remembered reading here that superglue helps…so I placed a few drops between the pod and it’s adhesive to minimize the possibility of it happening again…and it worked. Regarding using the idea of using the Tegaderm, I suppose I did come up with it myself…my pod sites work best on top of my thighs and I think the combination of shaving the hair off first, the skin tack, and the pod adhesive, over time started irritating my skin and rash-like patches appeared after removing the adhesive glue. I had a few Tegaderms laying around that I used previously for covering up a blister on my foot, so I gave it a try.
We have used different things over the past year but with the recalls on the foil packs for IV Prep, Desolve and Alcohol Preps we are now not using much. When my son first went on the pump, he got a infection from covering shaving bumps witht he pod. Someone recommended Hibistat and we used it to prep for a while instead of IV Prep. We lost our supplier of the smaller quantities and the larger quantities were drying out before we could use them. His itching seems to be reduced without it as some of the skin preps are more drying than others.
Currently, he changes in the am after a shower (unless occlusion, etc) and he uses Bard Protective Barrier Film. The shower make the old pod fairly easy to remove without the Desolve (our CDE recommendes baby oil but he hated that and it is not convenient to carry around like a foil pack) and we started using the Bard Barrier after itching became a problem. I do think discontinuing the Hibistat has helped the itching problem as much as the Bard Barrier.