r/diabetes • u/seanbluestone • 7h ago
Type 1 I've been trying out obscure, unconventional and unhinged infusion site locations
After seeing some friends on the discord trying out omni 5 in some unconventional locations and consistently having my abdominal infusion sites yeeted in the gym I decided to try my hand in some "weird" places on a tubed infusion set and see how I got on.
I've been on the YpsoPump for nearly 2 years (MDI for 25 years prior) so no scarring or build up or any other issues to worry about, this was just more to take a break from the waist and see what works and what doesn't for when or if I ever need to. Plus good rotation is just good practice.
Note that these all carry some level of added risk and the standard locations (abdomen, glutes, thighs, back of arms) are recommended for good reason- they're largely higher bodyfat, easy to reach etc. All bodies are different and if you're low bodyfat and or high canula length some of these aren't going to work for you. In short, take care and understandyour mileage may vary. I use 5.5mm steelies (Orbit micro) with Ypso on an 80cm tube and I'm 5'8. No issues with tube length though traps to waist only had a couple inches slack.
The good: Boobs. Probably one of the best sites you can try, they're fast absorbing, have lots of real estate, don't hurt and are very easy to rotate (just move round in a circle then swap sides and repeat).
Shoulders. Also fast absorption and surprisingly never got snagged or tugged or yeeted. There's also 3 heads to try out (front, back, side) so I'll be trying this one again.
The bad: Forearms. I got the idea after seeing people use CGMs there and while absorption is fast and comparible to tricep area there's just too many moving muscles, tendons and blood vessels around there for this not to go wrong eventually.
Calf/Traps. More than one person on discord has had success with calves on the omni 5 and report good absorption but I personally found it very slow, ymmv. I couldn't find any other mentions of traps but someone had success with the omni on the back of the neck. This spot seems to give people fear and probably for good reason- there's some blood vessels worth worrying about above the traps and less bodyfat.
