Site Bruises

[BriOnH]

The weather is getting hot and I have seen some pumpers stomachs lately and it has not been a pretty site. Very odd, painful looking red blotches were all over the stomach from the tubing (cathadore?) of previous sites. One person in particular REALLY looked bad, painful, and possibly infected in some prior sites. The area around the center of the insertion points looked deformed as well.

Pumpers, does your stomach look like that? How fast does a previous site heal for you? For those of you that know me I personally do not like the pump for myself. Seeing these recent stomachs just chalked up another mark for the MDI side and hope to read that this isn't common.

[JediSkipdogg]

When I remove an infusion set I have a circle mark for about a day (where the tape stuck) and then for about a month (or two on occasion) after that I have a small red dot where the infusion set went in. They are all confined to my stomach area since that's all I use for infusion sets.

While on MDI, I use to have the same problem. Except there it was always visible on my arms and legs since I didn't use my stomach till pumping. I use to have ALOT more "mark" problems on MDI as there would probably be a bruise mark left after each 4th shot. So, Ialso had red dots plus bruises on my arms and legs, not a pretty site.

[BriOnH]

Did the bruises from MDI last as long?

As a single male I am a tiny bit vain. MDI rarely ever leaves a bruise and I take about 8 jabs a day on average. I try to avoid injecting in the love handle regions as it seems to puff em up more when I inject there.

[xMenace]

I've had very very little bruising while pumping. I suspect these poeple are stayng in the pool too long.

I'd gat one or two nasty bruises a month mdi'ing, real bruises.

[JediSkipdogg]

Did the bruises from MDI last as long?

The needle "holes" went away pretty fast. However, since I had bruising from hitting other stuff that took a while to go away, although, it did go away faster. I just seem to hit blood and/or muscle alot more on shots than on pumping. And nobody sees my stomach, so I don't care what it looks like.

[jeggeman31]

My little red dots from pumping will last about 2 to 3 weeks before going away. However I still have a large amount of bruising on my stomach from my last round of MDI I did. Seemed that 6 out of 8 jabs drew blood for me this time around. I don't know why, because I never drew blood like that before the pump. I used the shortest pen needle needle I could. Now stick my insert in the same place I jabbed myself for MDI and I never bleed.

[GrammyByer]

Even though I have some bruises from the pump site, when I was doing MDI I looked like a living pin cushion with bruises everywhere and lots of them. So pumping will only leave 1 bruise every 3 days, and many times no bruises at all. I like pumping much better!

[cheryl]

I have had two bruises since pumping but I got bruises from shots too, and these from the pump aren't half as ugly, in my opinion......so far my sites clear up really fast, when i take it out it kind of looks like a mosiquito bite mark for a few hours and then just a little dot for a couple of weeks.

Plus I am not vain about the belly even before I had kids, if some guy thought i was like nasty cause i had a bruise he wasn' worth my time.....LOL....sorry I just liked your last comment, I have always been more concerned about my face and figure not little marks LOL....just messing with ya.....


Cheryl

[notme]

Usually after I remove a site, I will have a small red dot for about two days. After those two days, I will have a little lump that is barely visible for about two weeks. I avoid using any skin near those sites until they are completely gone. I have never had any bruising from pumping. I don't have any scars at all. When I tried the sils, this was a different story. I had a scar for about four months.

When I was on MDI, I had a lot of bruising. Usually, the bruises were on my legs as I constantly hit a vein when I injected. I had bruises on my arms also.

I would say the marks last longer when pumping. But, no bruises. I have also seen a friend (who is now NOT diabetic) stomach when she pumped and it was a nightmare of marks and scars. My stomach didn't look anything like hers. She had a kidney/pancreas transplant and is not insulin free. I am jealous.

I think it really depends on the person. Some people just scar easier than others.

[Cyborg]

I'll occasionally get a bruise from an infusion set, but usually not. I do have little marks on my stomach that take up to a few weeks to disappear. I am starting to move my infusion sets up farther from my waistline as I believe I'm starting to have absorption problems from using the same areas for 16 months. If I were to go shirtless, you could tell something ain't quite kosher, but I've never had any infections or deformities.

[Scratch]

I've never had too much trouble with bruising and using needles. It still happens sometimes, although I've noticed as I've become more physically active, the bruises seem to clean up quicker. If that is true, it may be that physical activity encourages regeneration of tissue throughout the body with the improved circulation.

[dmbfan_21]

I am sorry, but what is MDI?

My pump infusion sites don't bruise that often. Maybe once or twice a month. The little red dot from the tube is visible for about a week. I change the sites about every 3 days. I think the bruises happen when I hit a nerve or other vessel.

[Scratch]

MDI is an abbreviation for Multiple Daily Injections to handle the basl-bolus system of insulin.

[dmbfan_21]

Thank you. I knew it was something easy. Now the other posts make more sense to me. Thanks again!

[jenet]

I've only had one bruise from a pump site since I started - bigger than the palm of my hand and very dark purple. I think I must have nicked a blood vessel or something. Otherwise, my pump site marks are very fleeting - maybe a couple of hours. I usually can't find them the next day. No red dots, no puffiness, certainly no deformities - no nothing.

Now the MM CGMS is a different story entirely - I can see marks from every last one of them that I have worn since May 4 (roughly six or seven, but I'm not looking at my tummy right now to count).

I think my body likes the Animas Insets better than the MM sensors. ;) YMMV.

cheers,
j

[sleepy_hound]

I'm the poster child for sensitive skin, so when I remove the adhesive from a site, I have an outline of where the adhesive touched my skin...the outline is red and bumpy. The bumpiness goes away after one day but the redness stays for about 2 weeks. The little hole from the insertion stays for about a week...I always put Neosporin on the whole thing right after I take the set off.

But when I was on MDIs, I would inject and end up with a huge bruise (the purple-blue kind) that would stay with me for at least 2 weeks. That would happen about once a week, so I looked like I'd been kicked in the stomach. I'm now inserting the pump sets into the top of my thighs, without issues other than stated above. So far, no bruises, no gushers!

[camjen1]

Although I don't get bruises from infusion sets I do get the red bumps after I take out each set and for me they seem to stick around forever. My stomach IMO is a war zone. I took a break from the pump for about 3 months and in that time my stomach went back to normal and now.....well ICK would be the word.

[Funnygrl]

I have a few red dots, but no bruises or infections.