Do you cover the transmitter and sensor with something like Tegaderm? I remember covering mine when I had the Seven to protect the adhesive. I know the transmitter is waterproof - but the edges of the adhesive can get raggedy after a week.
Should I just leave it the way it is or cover the transmitter and sensor?
What do you do?
Thanks
I use a large sheet of Tegaderm, but I cut a hole in the middle (using an old sensor as a template) so that nothing sticky goes over the plastic of the sensor or the transmitter. The user guide says you aren’t supposed to stick anything on the transmitter.
Thanks for your response.
I vaguely remember doing that but it has been years since I have been on a Dexcom unit. :)
I “paint” the edges of the sensor adhesive with Skin Tac. Wear sensors for two weeks with no problems.
I need to get some skin tac too. I just did the Tegaderm because I have some left over from shoulder surgery. That is great that you get 2 weeks out of a sensor. I am hoping for the same.
I used to put the Tegaderm over the sensor and transmitter, but I don't any longer.
I did it that way to help keep it from getting the ??? when it got wet. I learned from someone on this site to 1) place the Tegaderm, in whole (with no hole cut out for the sensor insertion) and then 2) place the sensor vertically rather than horizontally on top of the Tegaderm. I have been doing it like this now for about four or five months with great success.
I do the same thing as Dave, in terms of painting the adhesive with skin-tac, but I also put two sided tape over the transmitter (for stickiness protection) before criss-crossing the whole thing with Hypafix tape (also painted in skin-tac). I get 3-4 weeks off of each sensor and I have to cut / add skin-taced hypafix at some point because of all the exercise (sweat and showers). There are two reasons I do this. 1) to keep the sensor from coming out over that period of time, and 2) to try to maintain a balance of pressure on the sensor. In my opinion, the weakest aspect of the Dexcom sensors is their susceptibility to mis-measurements due to changes in pressure on them (laying on them, leaning on them). I've been playing with different approaches for a few years and this seems to work the best for me. I got the two-sided tape idea from someone on another forum and it works well.
I don't cover and I can't use skin tac due to rash issues. What works very well for me is to put a piece of tegaderm down first and placing dex on top/through it. Tegaderm sticks better to me than the dex adhesive does. And the Dex sticks much better to the tegaderm than it does to me. I can get three restarts before it finally falls off a cliff.
Why no more Tegaderm on top?
And why place the sensor vertically?
Enlite - tagaderm
Dexcom - nothing, I just use some Skin Tac wipes if the adhesive start peeling off just to seal it better.
Opsite Flexifix. That stuff rocks!
Wow! 4 weeks is awesome! I may try this.
I think I vaguely remember doing this with the Tegaderm. That stuff is awesome. The Dex adhesive does bother some. I will also try this. So far - almost 12 hours - and it is almost right on with my One Touch Ping meter.
Thank you! Will look into this.
I use Skin Tac Wipe adhesive barrier wipes on the skin. After applying the transmitter unit, I cover the transmitter with a Post-It Note trimmed to size (the sticky stuff on the Post-It Note allows it to adhere to the transmitter) then cover the whole thing (Transmitter, Post-It Note, and transmitter's pad) with Opsite Flexifix. (The Post-It Note is easy to detach from the transmitter when disassembling the unit later, and doesn't leave sticky residue on the transmitter.)
Great idea! Am thinking about this.
I believe the reason another poster suggested I place the sensor vertically was so any water would drain off easier. I tried their suggestions, which also included placing the Tegaderm first, then the sensor, vertically and it worked like a charm, so I've been doing it that way ever since.
I can actually say I think it works better. If I was able to get more than two weeks out of my sensor, I used to have some skin breakdown around the plastic frame for the sensor. Now I can go over 30 days and rarely have any trouble or marks from where the frame sat.
I do the same thing as Dave, in terms of painting the adhesive with skin-tac, but I also put two sided tape over the transmitter (for stickiness protection) before criss-crossing the whole thing with Hypafix tape (also painted in skin-tac).
Could you elaborate a bit?
First, I am curious what you are referring to by "two sided tape". Is there a medical version of this you are using or is this a general purpose tape which never touches your skin, only the transmitter?
Second, I'm still not clear what the purpose of the double sided tape is. What does/could go wrong without it?
-irrational john
T1 LADA since ~1978; first pump: Minimed 507 ~1997, currently using Minimed 723 + CGM
Well, I'm not saying that the original taping always holds the whole 4 weeks, but it does tend to keep everything in place and I can add more as needed to get through 4 weeks. I spend a lot of time exercising (sweating and showering) and so the ends can start pulling back earlier than that. When it starts looking scraggly, I cut the detached ends off and throw on some new skin-taced pieces, either directly over the same path or at a 45 degree angle from the original. One taping MAY get me through, but not usually.
Hi, Irrational - I use the basic two-sided tape that you can get at Staples in a little plastic dispenser. (3M I think.) I ONLY put it over the transmitter. The purpose is to protect the transmitter from the "stickier than molasses" skin-tac that I put on the Hypafix, yet still have adherence. Without it, the skin-tac would gum up the outside of the transmitter. The two-sided tape peels off nicely without that issue.
Hope that helps. Good luck!