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 wear 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 selected lower back / upper buttocks only because that’s where I have the most reliable padding to support sensor placement. The only other place I have tried is my stomach, but I get lots of sensor kinks/ failures there. So my selection is based on function ( where I can reliably get readings) ratherthan rather than the accuracy of readings from those two locations.
Have to rotate placement, bleed a lot. Place Omnipod and CGM in same area to keep track, not knock them off. Upper arm is best for me, heals fastest. Also upper outer thigh and upper buttocks. Dexcom wants you to put it on abdomen. Not enough room on me.
I don’t know whee they are most accurate but the only places i use for cgm location is backsof upper arms. They rarely get knocked off there. Seems like everywhere else they get knocked off. I’m active ….
The most accurate place for me is on top of my thigh above my knee. It works best on a flatish part of my body.
This results here are interesting. Assuming the people using the back of the arm are using Dexcom and the one using the abdomen are using Minimed It show that about half the users are on each type sensor.
I am currently on the Minimed sensor and have no Idea if I could put it on my arm. I may have to switch when I step over to Medicare soon.
I’m on a Libre and Abbott tells you to use the back of your upper arm. How might that impact your analysis?
The sensor does not work on my abdomen. My buttocks is about the only place I’ve tried where is works. I get annoyed with Tandem and Dexcom Tech specialists when they tell me that their devices are not warranteed to work unless I wear the sensor on my abdomen. My doctor says to wear it on my buttocks, or wherever I can get it to work. Frustrating.
I rotated between abdomen and back of upper arm. Choice is not so much about accuracy as just the fact that there’s only so much real estate you have between pump insets and CGM and keeping everything moving to avoid existing scar tissue and developing more. Plus my understanding is that you don’t want your CGM placed too close to your infusion site. On MDI I had any number of locations I could inject, but with a tubed pump a lot of those places (buttocks, back of the love handles, back of the arm) are just not practical (yank outs, awkward to reach, etc). So the official CGM locations aren’t always manageable.
Other. Lower abdomen below the belt line. Upper abdomen doesn’t work for me at all.
For future QoD: Please list distinct choices of lower and upper abdomen as the placement in one location is not the same as placement in the other.
I answered “Chest”, but replying to ConnieT1D62, it is actually Upper Abdomen, consistent readings with only occasional loss of signal. I keep the lower abdomen available for an Infusion Set.
Other. I have used every one of these sites with no statistically significant at the 0.05 level difference in BG readings. Sensors seem super accurate, no matter where they are inserted. Miracles are miracles with an amazing mathematical certainty. ✍(◔◡◔)
Where it’s “approved” and where my body won’t gush blood upon insertion are 2 very different things. I have much less problems inserting into my arms than I do my abdomen.
I have rotated my G6 to various parts of my body.
I have found all areas work but the abdomen appears to be the most accurate.
Slightly inside of left upper arm. It’s somewhat protected, out of the way, avoids compression lows as I don’t sleep on that side.
i have only used the back of my upper arm because that is what the libre instructions tell me. So, I cannot c ompare accuracy. However, it is out of the way, not prone to being drenched with sweat, and comfortable. Now that I have learned to place it a bit further towards the back I have stopped knocking it off in doorways. Given the discomfort of shots in the abdomen, I would not consider this as an alternative.
Abbott Freestyle tells you only on the back of the upper arm , changing arms when changing sensor. I use tape to keep the sensor from coming off or getting loose. This was my first CGM and I use it about 50 scans a day.
I’ve tried my Dexcom CGM sensor on my abdomen, buttocks, and back of upper arms. For me the upper arms is the location that provides a substantially more accurate reading so that’s were I place it most often.
I was told to only use the abdomen area, good to know it works elsewhere because it gets kind of sore after switching back and forth in the same area for years!
I checked both Inner Thigh and Outer Thigh, but those are both wrong. The only place I seem to have enough real estate is on the front of the upper thigh. Accuracy of your various areas is not really a choice factor for me. There isn’t enough depth to my skin in other reachable (need two hands for Minimed) areas except abdomen, and not enough real estate there to run a rotation program.
A couple of the comments mentioned bleeding. My bleeding frequency went way down when I started icing the site for 30 seconds before insertion.
I place the Dex sensor/transmitter on the side of my upper arm because it was uncomfortable on my abdomen, with lots of bleeding. My pump infusion set goes on my abdomen, above my waist. After decades of MDI there are many areas I can no longer use.
I said other. I prefer my thighs but not necessarily because I get better readings. I’ve found the readings are about the same between abdomen, arms and thighs. For me, the adhesive lasts longer on my thighs.
Side, and back of upper arm up to the middle of the shoulder.
Don’t know if it’s anymore accurate, but it is the most comfortable and convenient.
I could never wear it anywhere else! i would rip it off in a minute anywhere else with all the gardening that I do.
I haven’t tried anywhere but the abdomen with the minimed. Upper thigh I’m sure I’d tear off but I should try some new areas. Have trouble with sweating and losing tape stickiness at this time of year with lots of activity.
While the abdomen is the recommended placement for CGM’s, they get too sweaty in the Texas heat and get in the way when lifting a heavy object.
I do use plastic sheath tape to keep my CGM affixed to my body. The best unobtrusive location is rotating the back of my L and R arms.
Tom
I find the back of the arm most comfortable. However if I swim 5 days or more the dexcom over patch starts to peel off.
I started wearing a CGM YESTERDAY so have had little time to explore CGM placement!
I get excellent readings on both of my quads with specific CGM’s.
I have the Medtronic CGM and wear it on the side to back of my arm just below the shoulder muscle. I can’t really use it anywhere else and started doing this when I had a Dexcom (which I’ll hopefully be getting back to soon 🤞 ).
My abdomen is where I rotate my infusion sites and I have very little body fat so my options are limited. If I where it on my butt, lovehandle area, or thighs I would absolutely rip it off. Plus I do yoga so it has to be in a place where I won’t lay on it during poses. I’ve never tried it on my chest. I’m a woman and I did try putting my infusion site in the breast area, but it failed miserably. I’m a little afraid of wasting a sensor trying it out for the CGM. I’m DYING for the Dexcom G7 because I think it will help me use other areas. I’m in desperate need of new sites!
The Libre is supposed to go on the back of the arm but I often wear them more on the side because I find that the adhesives work a little better there and my skin there isn’t as sensitive so it hurts less when I peel them off.
I only use stomach and back of arms so cannot rate other areas. However, I much prefer the back of my arms. I wish a BG vs SG accuracy stat would be added to Dexcom and/or Tandem’s reports so SG accuracy could be measured.
I’ve never thought to try other ‘parts’ of my arms. The insulin pump is usually attached on the abdomen, so I don’t want to add insult to injury by applying something else simultaneously.
I’ve always used Dexcom on the back of upper arms. It’s accurate and I’ve never had one be knocked off. Only down side of that area is occasionally I will get compression lows at night. Which is very annoying and messes with suspension of basal with CIQ.
My sensor has so many issues as does my closed loop system that I wear it only I. Approved areas due to all of the bad experiences that I have had. I have been told I over calibrate, I don’t enter enough bg readings, I enter too many bg readings, that there are issues with pretty much everything. I only use the sensor as specified due to fear that they not only won’t cover it, but that they won’t help if I don’t.
I wear my Dexcom on my upper abdomen. I tried my upper arm and my thigh, but found that the abdomen works best for me.
Recently had to use my abdomen after shoulder surgery restricted my reach. There’s just not enough real estate on my belly for the sensor and the infusion sets to be adequately rotated. So happy that I can now once again reach my upper glutes to put the sensors where I have preferred to have them for years. The closer to mid-line I can get them, the fewer the compression lows.