16
LIVING
To swab, or not?
Do you want to know more about how to look after
your skin when injecting, using an infusion set, sticking
on an insulin infusion set, patch pump or CGM?
By Siobhan Forde.
need to know
Here we take a look at methods of how to clean
your skin pre-injection, tips on CGM and sensor
devices - how to safely attach them, keep them
on, and take them off. We also have fantastic
tips from leading CGM providers on how to avoid irritated
skin from adhesives and lots more information to help
you have a comfortable and happy skin!
People with diabetes have to puncture their skin
for several reasons, and any such thing can potentially
become infected. We finger-prick, inject, put in infusion
sets, potentially a CGM and an insulin pump. In the OLD
days, we used swabs before an injection. For blood tests,
sometimes too. Then it all fell out of fashion and we were
told that alcohol wipes were said to toughen the skin…
with the dawn of pumps and CGM there is much more
need for things that can help to stick things on - and to
take them off - safely.
We know good skin care is crucial for your diabetes
and particularly in terms of puncture sites and foot care.
The last thing anyone wants it to have to stop using the
devices due to skin issues.
With so many options to choose from let us look at
the type of products designed for comfort, effectiveness
and to reduce the risk of infection before and after you
puncture your skin.
Adhesive
Ideally your skin should be assessed by your medical
practitioner before starting on adhesive appliances,
such as CGM, and any allergies identified to minimise
any potential complications and to aim for maximum
comfort. Any hair should be removed to reduce chances
of infection and for less trauma when removing the
adhesive, but more importantly to ensure any devices are
fitted correctly against the skin The adhesives need to
have high tolerance to sweat and water and the skin area
is devoid of any hair.
Most of the major suppliers of insulin pumps, infusion
sets and CGMs offer great tips and useful information on
their websites. See links at end of article.
Adhesive remover
In my experience there are always those little bits of
sticky adhesive left on the skin even when you think you
have got rid of them all! Soap and water is a good way to
remove those stubborn bits stuck to your skin however
when you are having to do this regularly it can become
tiresome and annoying. Dexcom offers tips for removing
their sensor adhesive on their website along with a
number of other products so you can work out what is
best for you (to read them, click HERE).
Alcohol swabs
This is an interesting subject with well-known ongoing
debate in the medical world to include whether it is
actually useful or necessary to use alcohol swabs, and
indeed if it reduces the risk of infection. Given that there
seem to be a wide variety of swabs that contain different
amounts of alcohol it is hard to know which are the
most effective.
As a guideline we can find the recommendation from
the World Health Organisation (WHO): "WHO suggests
that the standard practice for skin preparation with
regards to vaccination or other injectables is swabbing
the injection site with a saturated 60% to 70% alcohol
swab for 30 seconds and allowing the area to dry for
30 seconds. A variety of alcohol swabs are available on
market including isopropyl or ethanol-based swabs."