Is anyone else here allergic to, or irritated by, the paper tape that the dialysis lab technicians place on your arm during treatment?
I get terrible red, itchy, painful, crusty rashes on the part of my arm where the tape adheres to.
The clinic says they will try to special order silk tape for me in hopes that it won't cause a rash.
Any input will be appreciated.
Yes, I use a blue tape which is supposed to hypoallergenic. See if that will work.
Yes. I am allergic to some of the surgical tape used. Would get horribly itchy skin. Try tegaderm. That is what works best for me. I request it for IVs, surgeries, even bandaids. Good luck.
bring in your own 3m micropore. No reactions to this one.
Yes very common problem in our unit. When this happens they use blue tape.
When I did PD the tape I had from the clinic irritated me and caused a horrible rash. I found silicone tape on Amazon and use that. So far doing hemo with my Graft the tape isn't causing a rash on my arm. If it does I'll bring in the silicone tape as I still have a LOT.
My only issue with the tape used is, peeling that stuff off of the sensitive skin under my arm. My fistula is just above my elbow, so the tape wraps around under my arm. Six hours after I am done with my session, I peel the covering bandage off. I usually grin and bear it, but my wife hates to watch.
On some days, when I rip the tape off and hope it doesn’t squirt a foot. lol, true story but I digress. I just want to scratch it with a hair brush after pulling tape. I only run 3.5-4 hours. I truly think the irritation is body sweat.
I've been very sensitive to all adhesives and tape. Silicone works somewhat, short term. It may not adhere well enough to function for the cannulation. Medipore was finally the one that I could barely tolerate. Also chlorhexidine is very irritating for me (and many others) so check that out. It is used to clean the area before treatment. You can use Cetylpyridinium chloride -Asept - instead, or hypochlorous, they are not irritating to me.
I just found the best thing, it is a silicone film used for fading scars. There is a product Scar Away but it can be expensive. There is the same product on a long roll on Amazon, check for that. It is very thin, it adheres, and it can stay on for lenthy times, fades scars . I use it as a barrier on the skin surrounding the cannulation site. I put it on before the procedure and the tape for the procedure can stick to it instead of directly on my skin. I can take it off later and reuse it or put on fresh. It's a life saver!
Best wishes!
I have terrible reactions to tegaderm anywhere on my body. I guess sensitivity is individual,
Another cause of irritation is the anesthetic cream, lidocaine/pirocaine. Skin very reactive for me. I switched to using freezing spray (ethyl chloride). Works great and no reaction. Just have to do small sequential sprays until it gets cold deeper and then go for the white appearing on the surface for full numbness. Amazon has it including a prescription version as well as OTC.
Yes, this happened to me. I use the silk tape now and it slowly got better. My rash was so bad on my graft I had to get special cream to use twice a day to get it under control. Give the silk tape a try. I hope it works better for you.
Baxter offers cloth and plastic tape products in your supply ordering. Also you can get "Nexcare Sensitive Skin Low Trauma Tape" on Amazon.
My first day of training on pd dialysis 
Are chest pains normal during dialysis?
