• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

Does it hurt?

S

SophiaW

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,015
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Pump
Does it hurt when you insert the cannula/infusion set? How does it compare to ordinary insulin pen injections? I've read quite a bit on the internet about children with pumps and many people recommend using a numbing cream for the first time. I'd like to do that but my daughter in the past has had a reaction to the creams used, coming out in an angry looking red patch where the cream was put and this made the blood taking far more uncomfortable for her. Now when they need bloods taken she has no numbing cream and although she's very brave she doesn't enjoy the experience very much at all. Will inserting the infusion set be a similar amount of discomfort as when they stick a needle in your arm for taking bloods? Or it is better or worse? Does anyone know if there are alternative hypoallergenic numbing creams that I can try to see if she can tolerate these? If I can find a numbing cream that she doesn't react to then I'd be able to use this for her blood taking each year too. Any other ideas for making the first infusion set painless. I'm concerned that if it hurts the first time she'll be reluctant to have it done again, I want this whole experience with using a pump to be a positive one for her.
 
It's difficult for me to say as I self insert my cannulars but they are painless to self insert I find it no different that injecting with a pen or syringe.. The sound of the inserter firing really put me off this method...

But ask the nurse to allow you to insert one into yourself, then you will know what sensation your daughter is likely to feel, then you be able to gauge which might be best way of tackling the first one..

But reasure her that it only has to be done every 2-3 days depending on which you use, or if you have a problem and it needs resiting for any reason..

The only non-allergic thing I can think of to numb the area, is a good old fashioned icecube, in a poly bag so that the area is kept dry!
 
Thanks Jo. I popped into the pharmacy at Tesco today whilst I was doing the shopping to see how many different types of numbing cream they sell. The lady gave me names of two, Emla and Lidocaine, so I might buy one of each and have a patch test to see if she can cope with one of them. If she can't use the creams then the ice cube idea might help.

gulp!! at your idea of me trying the insertion myself, I'm a baby when it comes to pricks! But I will try, it's only fair so that I know what she's going to put up with. We have an insulin pen PenMate which we tried way back when Jess first started doing the injections herself. She didn't like the "clunk" sound it made as it inserted the needle so I suspect she may be similar to you and prefer doing it manually. We'll try everything possible and I'm sure we'll find a method that works for her and which she's comfortable with. She is a brave little thing, much braver than me!
 
Sophie

Putting an infusion set in with an inserter is no more painful than injecting insulin in tummy with a pen needle. Have a go at pinging a sharp thumbnail against your daughter's tummy as that will be virtually all that she will feel. Sets fired in by an inserter go in so fast that its all over and done with within 2 or 3 secs. There are more people using inserters than people who don't.
 
Thanks, that's good to know. She has no problem with injecting insulin now so hopefully this will be the same
 
Hi
My 5 year old daughter has a pump. I've not tried it out on myself but was told that it would be the same as being injected. Unfortunately though, Amalia freaked out the first time we had to change the site at home. I think it was just because it was something different and also she didn't like the sound of it. And she's a brave little soldier usually too! We do now use Emla cream but we also get her to blow bubbles when changing the site. We do this because it adds a distraction but also because if you exhale then you can't tense up. She had been tensing up so much that even with the Emla cream she was crying out. This is now working great! In fact I'm pretty sure we could scrap the cream and just use bubbles but I won't try that out for a while yet! Also, if you can't use the cream then when she was on injections we used to tickle the site - tickling can create a numbing feeling.
Good luck!
x
 
Thanks Vikki, bubbles sound like fun. It's useful to know other people's experiences and how they've worked around any problems. I want to have lots of ideas up my sleeve incase we run into any difficulty.
 
My daughter is on CGM, which is a much bigger needle so the infusion sets are a breeze to her. We try to do relaxation techniques with her; Darkened room, soothing words, comfy sofa/pillows etc. Some days she says it was painless, other days it stings for ages. But we keep coming back to it being far better than 4/5 injections a day to 1 every 2/3 days (unless we are changing the sensor which tends to get out of step with her infusion set). Taking their mind off it is better that using creams and sprays IMHO.

It still hurts me (emotionally) more than her when it does sting though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Menu
Log in
Register
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…