I would just assume that you do need to hunt them down…
Just because… Lol
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This is basically my plan. The front edge of the sensor digs into me to the point of creating open sores (after extended sensor wear). I tried one of these under the sensor edge and it feels SO much better.
The ones I have are small and would only cover the front edge of the sensor. Were you inserting your Dexcom sensor directly through a larger one?
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Yes, after I applied the bandage I put the sensor on it and followed the regular insertion steps (didn’t bother cutting a hole out for the sensor). I did put tegaderm over the whole thing with a cut out for the transmitter).
It was always comfortable and the sensors lasted. I only stopped using them when I found a cheaper solution for me… I now use Tegaderm both under and over the sensor.
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That’s what I immediately thought!
And go Nicky! Nice work!
And as far as your sensor digging in, ouch! I’m sorry! I do hope these will provide relief.
I think maybe if anyone could demo this it might make a useful post of its own? (hydrocolloid bandage with Dexcom on top)
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I stopped at Shoppers yesterday and bought some Life brand bandages and they are identical in packaging to the ones I posted in this thread. However, I wasn’t able to find any small ones, only large square and circular ones. Not sure if the small ones have been discontinued or were just not at this particular store.
For my next sensor, I will either put a whole bandage underneath or I’ll cut a smaller piece and put it just at the front of the sensor edge.
One downside is that the bandage has been quite itchy for me so far. But I think putting in a fresh sensor with some Cavilon underneath (I don’t use Cavilon underneath sensors, currently just infusion sets) may prevent that for me.
My current sensor is halfway through week 5 still spot on (this morning sensor said 9.3 mmol/L and meter said 9.7 mmol/L…been high for the past 24 hours non-stop, but that’s another post!!).
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Not sure it’s something to be proud of, but I couldn’t be happier I helped Jen. It’s how I do my medical research. Just like that. Jen, if you need help with a diagnosis, I can do that for you, too.
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You should be happy!!! Thank you. 
You saved me going out and buying a bunch of random brands of random products just to see if the inner packaging matched. (I’d done some googling, which is how I knew it probably wasn’t Band-Aid or Nexcare brands, but that’s as far as I got.)
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I wondered that. EH was instructed to use those bandages over his melanoma biopsy site once and they really irritated his skin. (Why no one in medical land really takes adhesive allergies seriously is beyond me!)
I hope the cavalon helps!
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Probably because they are hard to avoid. I mean, it’s not like when you’re getting a Holter monitor test or a surgical site bandaged (both of which I’ve had done in the past year) that they have a selection of electrodes/bandages to choose from, or at least I don’t think they do. The Holter monitor caused a horrible reaction, and, actually, now that I think of it, they decided not to bandage the stitches because of where they were, so I had no issues there.
Plus, most don’t have ingredients listed. And even if they did, it’s really hard to tell what specific ingredient you’re reacting to. I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to rosin and latex, but these things are really hard to test for, and I may be allergic to more. (I’m going to ask to get tested for latex the next time I see an allergist, just because that one can get really dangerous.)
Luckily, the itching in this case is not unbearable. I certainly prefer it to the open sore that was causing pain every time the transmitter got bumped or I rolled onto it at night. (I think an infection may have been brewing…I slathered a bunch of Polysporin on it when I had it exposed, and I think that went a long way to making it feel so much better!) We’ll see when I remove everything how much of a rash it’s caused.
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