Time to order more, so wondering what you find best to help keep CGM sensors attached, I’ve been using AllKare pads for the past year and they have worked good for me but often the edges do come loose and have reapply the AllCare - particularly during hot sweaty summers. What do you find to be the best adhesive improvement?
I apply the entire area + with the AllCare, I don’t believe this should effect the sensor that is buried in my body.?
I use Skin Tac with good results. I use the bottle and not the wipes. That is just me. I’m sure others will be different.
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Opsite Flex-Fix. The bomb.
For those of you who use the wipes, how is it not a sticky mess?
I use the bottle so that I don’t touch the liquid. But whenever I do I end up with a unisolv/skintac war and there are always sticky spots found later. Is there a magical way to use the prep wipes without getting it on you?
It works better and looks a whole lot neater if you cut a rectangular hole in the Flexfix just large enough for the sensor bed to protrude through. Also, less likely to peel away as there is no gap underneath to trap water.
AllKare washes off my fingers fine. I do not use removers.
In order to insure the sensor pad ends up on a coating of adhesive I always wipe a larger area than what the sensor will cover. In a few hours the excess adhesive rolls up and off with finger rubs.
I’ve always thought that the adhesive should be applied to the skin to work in a ‘contact adhesive’ manner. However, I’ve read that many only apply the adhesive to the sensor tape, not the skin. So new question is: Does this work as well or better than applying the adhesive to the skin??
I use the Skin-Tac bottle with the little applicator ball attached to the underside of the lid with a wire. I prepare the site by washing with soap and hot water using a wash rag. I then thoroughly dry the area and slightly abrade the skin with the towel. I place the sensor with its white adhesive patch as usual. Then I paint Skin-Tac over the top of the adhesive patch with the ball-applicator. Be careful not to move or stretch the skin where the patch is applied until the Skin-Tac dries. You may use a hair dryer on low heat to speed up the drying process. This will usually last me 14 days.
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I have not tried tape and don’t believe it will work well with my sensor sites which are extremely close to my belly fold.
I generally use Skin-Tac wipes, or Skin-Prep wipes. My sensors start to peel back around the 12 day mark, then I add another layer of Skin-prep and put a grif-grip patch over top the sensor area. I usually get 20-21 days per sensor unless I get lucky and get a bloody insertion.
I use skin-tac wipes. What I do is use a cotton ball soaked in alcohol to clear the site of oils. Then I hold onto the cottton ball. When dry, I use the skin-tac wipes and if I get any on my fingers I clean it up with the alcohol soaked cotton ball. Then I put in my sensor and the transmitter, I then go over the top of the sensor tape and site with the skin tac wipe again for good measure. I clean fingers again. I then put on my op-site tape and as a final step use the cotton ball one final time to remove any adhesive remaining from the edges of the site and my fingers.
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I have never used AllKare but it is advertised as a barrier wipe. I use SkinTac which is advertised as an adhesive barrier wipe. If the words mean anything, I would expect SkinTac to have more adhesion power.
I apply SkinTac directly to the underside of the sensor tape and let it dry. I then attach it to my body and really press down the adhesive before inserting the sensor wire. This usually gets me 10-14 days of adhesion. Once the edges start to peel up, I then use Opstie Flexifix with a hole cut off for the transmitter or more recently, DexTape which is precut and much easier to apply to my arm sites. This carries me through for about 3+ weeks.
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I apply the same way as Terry4. Generally get about two weeks out of it.
I have more trouble with water coming from a rectangular hole than from anywhere else!
Do you use the Skin Tac wipes or the liquid on the sticky side of the sensor tape? Just wondering if the wipes apply to tape OK. Prefer wipes d/t more compact packing for trip from home base.
I have a couple AllKare wipes left, so will see if apply to the tape works better. I do intend to order some Skin Tac for a comparison.
I usually use the liquid which has a built-in dabber. (The downside of the liquid is knowing that if I spill it, I’ve wrecked my bathroom countertop.) This is easier than with the wipes.
That being said, I often use the wipes. I tear open the package about halfway and don’t completely remove the wipe. Then I use the packaging itself to protect my fingers from the sticky wipe as I wipe the sensor adhesive. I think that I get as good adhesion with the wipes as with the liquid.
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I had the same thought and did the same until my Skin-Tac wipes leaked in my go-kit and made a general sticky mess. Now I use the Skin-Tac plastic bottle and when I travel for more than a few days I pack the bottle in a double zip lock bag.
That is genius! I’m traveling next week and am going to try this instead of lugging along my giant skintac bottle. 
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I pack my skin-tac wipes and single serving alcohol wipes in a zip lock bag when traveling. And ever since “that hot sauce incident” I also pack my hot sauce in a zip lock bag.
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I had been using Opsite but started getting a rash from it so had to stop using it:( Now I use Hypafix. I put plastic wrap over the transmitter and then place the Hypafix over the entire pod. So far, so good. No allergic reaction/rash, knock on wood!
Are you putting something on your skin BEFORE you insert the sensor? I put a hydrocolloid bandage on to keep the itching down at the site. I recently found that Safeway makes a hydrocolloid bandage that, while smaller, is a heck of a lot cheaper.