Sarah Howard
Sarah Howard has worked in the diabetes research field ever since she was diagnosed with T1D while in college in May 2013. Since then, she has worked for various diabetes organizations, focusing on research, advocacy, and community-building efforts for people with T1D and their loved ones. Sarah is currently the Senior Marketing Manager at T1D Exchange.
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CGM sensors are only approved for specific areas of the body, but many people use other locations. If you use a CGM, do you have an area of your body where you feel you get the most accurate sensor readings? Select all that apply! Cancel reply
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I’ve only ever put my Libre on my arms, so I don’t know about other parts of my body. But if I were to follow the instructions to the letter, the sensor would go on the underside/flabby part of my arm. Instead I put it higher up, on the outer side of my arm. I find the bandages stay better on the flatter surface and they don’t hurt as much when they do peel off. I answered “other” because I think both spots would count as the “tricep area” and that didn’t really feel like an adequate answer.
Front of thigh 3-4 inches above the knee.
I use the Dex on the front of my upper arms. It has never worked well on my stomach. I never get the full 10 days. It starts to itch and become sore after 5 days and I have to remove it. And, after 3 kids, a few surgeries I am limited to space on my stomach due to scaring. I have never tried anywhere else.
Shoulders
Libre is incredibly finicky. If I’m on inch too close to my shoulder on the back of my arm, it will read 20-40 pts high…which is incredibly dangerous. Switching to Eversense…I don’t know how Libre got approved…it s POS.
My first sensor 10 years ago was on my abdomen in the FDA approved location. It was uncomfortable and moved every time I did. I have never used that site again. For me sensors are uniformly accurate regardless of the site. Currently I am using my forearms. When I get tired or bored I will move it somewhere else.
Dexcom says abdomen. Doesn’t work for me. Bet is back upper arm
I follow Dexcom recommendations — abdomen only.
Libre 2 sensors are only approved for the back of the upper arms, nowhere else. I called Abbott, the manufacturer because this is a place they can easily get knocked off. They told me this is where they were tested, so this is the only place they can be used. Skin Tac, an adhesive, is the only thing that keeps them on. I’m not really happy with the placement but no choice!
I think most of us as users view the statement (…only place it was tested…only place you can use” to mean that the abdomen is the only place they can “recommend”. Since many of us using CGM are also using pumps, the issue of site rotation and giving sites a rest is important. So we try other sites.
Top of the thighs
I use Dexcom on upper arms or upper abdomen only. Both are equally as effective and accurate.
I use my upper arms as my pump sites take all my abdomen/sides/hips and legs
I have been following the approved location (abdomen) for Dexcom, so I can’t compare other sites for accuracy.
I have used sensors for over 15 years only on my arms
Never used any CGM in any place other than abdomen. (Medtronic and now Dexcom.)
I don’t think I can twist well enough to insert on my butt, and my shoulders have been less-mobile due to frozen shoulder so I also don’t think I can get back of arm sites very effectively.
I have had frozen shoulder in the past. I did some physical therapy for awhile but it didn’t seem to help so I slowly didn’t do the PT. A few years later, the frozen shoulder corrected itself. Time it seems is what helped me. Hope your shoulder problem resolves, but it takes time. Try physical therapy as it may help you.
You might give TruSteel infusion sets a try. They have two parts: the “business” end with the cannula and an anchor piece (about two inches from the infusion part). I find I can insert in the back areas with the anchor piece coming around towards the front. Connecting and disconnecting for showers and such is easy.
I cannot wear my Dexcom G6 on my abdomen, I get intense rashes. I wear them almost exclusively on my upper buttocks. However, the last two sensors, I’ve worn on the lower part of my sides/obliques. If I wear them on the upper sides/obliques, I get rashes. So far, I’m doing okay on the lower obliques.
I have used abdomen and both the inside and back of arm. I have had accuracy on all of those locations but have also occasionally had bad accuracy, usually due to compression lows.
Libre2 is supposed to be on triceps so I’ve never tried anywhere else
same here
In Canada the Dex G6 has been authorized to be used on backs of arms and abdomen. I use both areas but find the abdominal area more accurate.
Above waistline as abdomen has been used for infusion sites for a very long time and has too much scar tissue.
I can’t insert the Medtronic sensors on the back of my arm because I’d need 4 hands to do that. I use other areas of my upper arms that I can easily reach and apply the tape. I get very good results. I have also tried my forearms a few times and while they gave very good results the sites itched, I had bruising and I would often lose the signal at night when I slept with my arms/hands shoved under my pillow & head.
My lone complaint with the Medtronic Guardian system is it takes two hands to put on. While sites differing than the abdomen are accepted, living alone I’m cheating.
Am whispering: using my inner thigh with satisfaction. Not suggested or approved towards the regulators but works well. And I can easily put on.
Freestyle Libre had excellent accuracy on the back of my arm, as verified by finger pricks. I switched to Dexcom three months ago and had been wearing it exclusively on the back of my arm. I know we’re supposed to do finger pricks every once in a while to check but I hadn’t until last week and found out that dexcom readings were about 40 mg/dl lower than finger pricks (after wearing for > 12 hours). I’m waiting to see how my A1C matches with the Dexcom readings. Hopefully it was just one bad sensor and not three months of a bad location. Anyway, I’m now wearing the dexcom on my abdomen with good accuracy but as a stomach and side sleeper, it’s not a good location. I might switch back to freestyle Libre if my A1C comes back and shows dexcom on the back of my arm was off for the last three months.
I have been getting the oposite… on abdomin… Dexcom showing 40 to60 higer than finger sticks.. My last Lab draw was same as finger stick, but Dexcom showed way higer… ???
Margin of error for Dexcom is +/- 20% so the numbers you’ve listed could be within range. Remember, sensors (all of them) reads interstitial fluid not while blood and can be being behind meter trading up to 20 minutes.
I’ve only used my abdomen so far. I guess I’ve been afraid to experiment because insurance only covers one sensor/10 days and I don’t want to lose one. The timing of this question is spot on. I’d just decided to try a different site today. Sounds like back of the arm works for many people….
You need to learn how to restart them. I usually get 20 days out of mine. YouTube it.
Unfortunately for me, the site itself seems to wear out. I have restarted sensors successfully in the past. (I once got 37 days from one of the early Medtronic harpoon sensors.) The Dexcom sensors only seem to last an extra day or two for me after I restart them and don’t perform well during the extra time.
Front left thigh
I answered abdomen, since the Dexcom works well here, for me, and hasn’t done well when I’ve tried arm or thigh. But, with old medtronic cgm, I found front of thigh my best place.
I have used Dexcom mostly around my abdomen or mid section just above the pants waistline for most of the time since 2008, but I now mainly use my inner thigh for CGM location because that is the only part of my body I’ve found where I have never had trouble with laying on the sensor resulting in compression lows. I have never had a compression low CGM reading on a sensor inserted into my inner thigh, but I get compression lows almost every time I sleep with the sensor inserted anywhere else on my body.
Use inner thighs because the location makes it easier to insert and remove. It works pretty accurate. Abdomen is used for pump infusion site.
I use the upper/inner thigh the most – accurate and stable from the get-go.
Tricep is just as accurate, but way too many compression lows, especially when asleep. So I rarely use them anymore.
I use abdomen, but have also used breasts with good results.
Buttocks. Solely. My other skins are as pock-marked as a WW( trench-warfare battlefield. About as ugly, too. 🦥
I rotate Dexcom from the one side I have available on my abdomen (permanent colostomy on the other side) to the two interior sites on my upper arms between my triceps and biceps. They all seem to work well.
All the other “fatty” sites on my upper legs and hips are used for pump insertions. I tried my breast tissue once for CGM and it didn’t want to work.
I put them where I was told to put them! Never thought of any other place to stash them. Sometimes I do what I’ve been told:)!
I mostly use lower abdomen area below the waistline.
Have been wearing it on my abdomen (above waistline) for a couple of years, seems accurate and doesn’t get knocked off. Had to switch due to starting Omnipod 5 and tried leg, arms, buttocks, kept getting compression lows while sleeping. Now wearing on inner arm seem to be working great. I think its trial and error for everyone as there is so much variability for all individuals.
Lower back/upper butt are my CGM (Dexcom) and pump infusion site locations of choice. I have more flesh there and it’s not a bendy body part, so less prone to kinks and irritation.
I use my Dexcom on my abdomen because that’s where they said I should use it. I am not overly impressed with the accuracy of my Dexcom CGM.
Try your triceps, I have way better readings there. They say abdominal area but my endocrinologist said use what works and double check it with finger tests.
Seems like Dexcom sensors have become a LOT more prone to “compression low” false alarms recently. Never a problem for me until this past year or so. Which sucks bc as a side-sleeper neither abdomen nor back of the upper arm, which I’ve been using since I started CGM some 10 yrs ago, are immune to that effect, which seems worse the first 3-4 days of a sensor. So my current sensor I finally bit the bullet and tried inserting on the front of my upper arm, overcoming my fear that it would be a painful spot, not having a lot of fat and muscle being close to the surface. But so far it’s doing really well. Didn’t hurt and is well out of the way of being pushed on when I lie on my side.
Following recommended placement of my Freestyle Libre2 by Abbott and alternate arms every 2 weeks and apply on back of upper arm(triceps)
Lower thigh.
I was told only abdominal area but always get better readings on my triceps. My endocrinologist said use what works, I alternate the sites.
I’ve found that the best place for my DEXCOM is just between the side and top of my upper arm. The key thing is to keep from leaning on it when I sleep, and that position works wonderfully for me. But I also have to take care to avoid a vein, since when I don’t, I’ve gotten a heck of a lot of bleeding. Oddly, that bleeding didn’t seem to affect readings too much, in contrast to bleeding when I place the sensor on my abdomen where
DEXCOM says it should go (but of course their limitations are only based on where they did their clinical trials, not where the sensor may actually work best for you). Each person really needs to experiement for their own bodies and sleeping position(s).
I’m not sure I understand the question: I have only ever used my CGM (Dexcom G6, which is reasonably accurate except for in the first 24 -36 hours of new sensor use, and sometimes near the end of a sensor session) on the approved area, namely abdomen. How was I supposed to answer the question in that case?
I am using de Dexcom G6 at the front of my thigh and get good readings.
I was not getting accurate readings on my abdomen.
After many years of inaccurate Dexcom readings on my abdomen I started using only the back of my arms with much more accurate readings. I look forward to the Dexcom CGM 7 which is to be placed on the arms.
Definates my upper arm. Especially during sweaty summer m9nths