A Diabetic’s Guide To Infusion Sites

Hi there, it’s Hyeunjoo, your resident Type-One Diabetic.

If you don’t use an insulin pump, then you probably don’t know what an infusion site is, nor is that information relevant to you; but if you do, here’s my guide on how to use them, using firsthand experience!

The infusion site is that little thing that lets you actually inject insulin when using an insulin pump.

There are multiple different styles of infusion site, but they’re typically all in the same “standard” design family; that is, a small adhesive patch with a needle that taps into your bloodstream. Your pump connects to the site and pumps in insulin through that needle, while the adhesives keep the site on your skin. It’s a neat system that works great!

What’s not so neat about it is the various problems that can arise from using it. Here’s some of the most common pet peeves I’ve had using them, and how to counteract them.

The first problem I want to talk about is a common one: when the site slips off!

One of the worst things about infusion sites is that it slips off fairly easily; it’s just an adhesive patch, after all. If you take a shower, go swimming, or even accidentally clip it while changing clothes, it’s liable to fall off, which is a real shame and a waste of money to boot!

The best way to counteract this is to first apply the infusion site when your skin is completely dry. Applying an infusion site immediately after a shower or after doing an exercise will make the adhesive slip worse, in my experience, so using a towel if you’re sweaty or waiting until your skin is 100% dry can work wonders and really help the adhesives stick on for a while.

If the problem lies more with your daily activity causing the adhesive to loosen, a neat fix can be buying an extra adhesive covering. These are pretty common online, and basically just go over the infusion site and help it to stick to you. An adhesive along these lines can work great!

The second problem is the question of just when to change the infusion site.

The most common answer for this is either 2 or 3 days, and in this case the most common answer is the correct one! I’d personally recommend 3 days, since that’s the timing I use, but 2 works well too! Any more than 2 or 3 days and the infusion site will begin to have problems, plus it’ll probably start slipping off on its own.

That’s not to say that it’s a hard and fast rule, though; Medtronic recently released extended infusion sets that can go for as long as an entire week, so it varies depending on the brand of infusion set and your personal needs. As with anything, the best choice is to read into it and figure out what works best for you!

The third and probably most important problem is developing lipohypertrophy, which for the unaware, is when your skin gets scar tissue from injecting insulin.

The good news about lipohypertrophy is that it’s pretty hard to develop if you’re not being careless; the bad news is that you can get it pretty fast if you are!

Lipohypertrophy is essentially when you’re injecting too much insulin into your skin, which causes some really, really nasty swelling. The best way to prevent is simply to rotate where you’re placing your infusion site.

The places that I’ve found work best for rotation are your stomach, buttocks, thighs, and triceps(this last option is only good if you’re not doing some really intensive physical activity).

Typically I go in a pretty set pattern; stomach, then thighs, then buttocks, then back to stomach. I use one site for each side, one left, one right, and then keep rotating. I don’t use my triceps, since I actually place my CGM there(which is a whole other article).

Honestly, though, using the stomach is probably the easiest place, since reaching down your pants and trying to fix any problems with your infusion site can be pretty awkward in public. To that end, sometimes I actually just rotate from side to side on my stomach.

You can ward off lipohypertrophy fairly easily simply by moving the infusion site an inch or two away from the last site it was in. If you spot any thickened or swollen skin, definitely stay away from that general area, though!

A fourth, and possibly the most relatable problem I can think of, is that putting on the infusion site hurts.

Granted, diabetics kind of have to get used to being pricked by needles, but it doesn’t make applying the infusion site hurt any less!

If you’re the type who can’t deal with pain very well, using numbing cream or something along those lines can work wonders in helping you be able to put the infusion set on.

The good news is that infusion sets themselves aren’t painful at all(well, they shouldn’t be) once actually applied. There are both stainless steel and flexible cannulas, but neither of them are actually uncomfortable or give you any problem, besides the initial pain from applying the infusion site. Soon enough and the infusion site will just feel like a natural extension of your body; honestly, I forget it’s there most of the time.

That’s all I have to say on infusion sites; if there’s anything else you want to hear about, or if I missed something, feel free to contact us!

Until next time!