FreeStyle Libre sensor placement for biceps and triceps workout

[corbanwolf]

Hi all
I have never really workout until recently. I decided to focus on my upper body like chest, shoulders, biceps and triceps. I was worried if this type of workout may irritate the sensor and cause any problems. And soon enough my worries came true. After 2 days of strong pain under my armpit and having limited movement because of the strong nerve like pain, I had to take the sensor out. When I checked the place it seemed most fatty, but I was never muscled. Even now to say I am muscled is an overstatement, but I guess the workout actually made the muscle more visible and the fatty part of the back of the arm wasn't muscle-free as before. I had to call in sick off work because the pain was unbearable. Today, around 12h after the sensor being removed I still feel severe pain and I am not sure if I will go to hospital/doctor, I guess I will have to wait and see if it gets better. Meantime I am using Deep Freeze gel which says is anti-inflammatory.

I am sharing a pic to show the placement of the sensor where it caused the pain and a new sensor placement.

To find the best fatty spot on the back of your upper arm is to actually go higher closer to the armpit. Try to extend your arm a bit, try to grab the armpit with the opposite hand, and go about 2 inches down the arm from the centre of the armpit, and then go outer direction of the arm 1inch. If you grab that spot you will see there is plenty of fat, much more fat than the centre of the back of the upper arm, the key is to go higher closer to the armpit.

It is the first time I am trying this spot, so far the application was painless like 99% of my applications and sleeping with it is good too, I feel no difference. I will resume workout after my arm has healed and will see if this spot in practice is good.

 

[Zhnyaka]

you can put the sensor on your stomach. There is always some fat in there to protect the internal organs from the cold.

 

[Ushthetaff]

Yep put it somewhere else I know Abbot say it can only be put in a relatively minuscule area of the human body , if you’re unsure check it with a finger prick ( remember not to use end of thumb ……. On a Thursday hehehe )the thing is this is the treatment of diabetes in a nutshell you HAVE to experiment other wise it can become a torture . I’ve been putting my sensor in different places for years good job too cause I can only use 1 arm now due to having a fistula for my dialysis so go on live a bit be a wee devil u never know u might like it . But in all seriousness it’s worth doing just to see if it works. I will say whenever I’ve had to renew a faulty sensor I’ve never been asked where I put my sensor . ive tried chest leg belly annd inside of bicep all within acceptable range of finger prick I did this first because I kept knocking sensor on door jams

 

[SimonP78]

View attachment 72014

To find the best fatty spot on the back of your upper arm is to actually go higher closer to the armpit. Try to extend your arm a bit, try to grab the armpit with the opposite hand, and go about 2 inches down the arm from the centre of the armpit, and then go outer direction of the arm 1inch. If you grab that spot you will see there is plenty of fat, much more fat than the centre of the back of the upper arm, the key is to go higher closer to the armpit.

Sorry to hear about your pain, I placed my first ever sensor where they recommend on the back of the deltoid and it just hurt the whole time. Where does the above recommendation come from? I'm just curious, the libre site shows a lady applying the sensor directly to the bottom of her deltoid, though she appears to have a decent layer of padding in that location so she should be fine!

When I came back to using the sensors I use the location you suggest above (which I would call the bingo wing location, though I don't have any wings myself!) Even then it can be rather hit or miss whether I get it in the right place (and it then works - if it goes near the muscle it either fails immediately, like this morning, or has very poor calibration.)

I think I may well try the stomach (I know it's not an officially accredited position) as having just had a day 0 failure, I've not really had any time to allow the very small regions (into which I can get a working sensor) to heal. I have a bit more fat on my tummy, though the downside there is needing to keep away from that location when doing boluses. C'est la vie.

 

[Jaylee]

What I’ve noticed over the years is if I inadvertently catch muscle tissue, the graph can go crazy using a handsaw with that arm?

Not suffered any pain or discomfort.
Though it might “twang” when fitting the sensor?

 

[corbanwolf]

Sorry to hear about your pain, I placed my first ever sensor where they recommend on the back of the deltoid and it just hurt the whole time. Where does the above recommendation come from? I'm just curious, the libre site shows a lady applying the sensor directly to the bottom of her deltoid, though she appears to have a decent layer of padding in that location so she should be fine!

When I came back to using the sensors I use the location you suggest above (which I would call the bingo wing location, though I don't have any wings myself!) Even then it can be rather hit or miss whether I get it in the right place (and it then works - if it goes near the muscle it either fails immediately, like this morning, or has very poor calibration.)

I think I may well try the stomach (I know it's not an officially accredited position) as having just had a day 0 failure, I've not really had any time to allow the very small regions (into which I can get a working sensor) to heal. I have a bit more fat on my tummy, though the downside there is needing to keep away from that location when doing boluses. C'est la vie.

I found this site: https://support.levels.com/article/...sor directly,river between tricep and deltoid.

It also shows a video and in some cases they apply the sensor quite high on the upper arm close to the armpit. I assume this is the preferable spot due to thicker fat tissue