Crossing over the catheter

Has anyone noticed that if you loop and tape your catheter across itself it will not fill or drain properly. I think this is what has been my problem when I get woke-up from the cycler beeping. If I taped the catheter at all close to this I get the alarms all night. I have had to get up in the middle of the night and retaped it. I do not recall anyone going over something like this in training. Is this the problem or am I just imagining this.

Most catheters have a stripe in them which acts as a stiffener that helps the catheter maintain its straight shape…anytime that you bend, twist or tangle the catheter, it will resist and try to return to a straight line. This is to prevent tangling, kinking and potential damage to the catheter - and they will all drain better if they are not distorted.

When you cross over, you may be twisting or bending the cath and thereby crimping it a bit which will slow your flow. Whenever you loop and tape, be sure the catheter is “comfortable” in that position, the stripe is not twisted and it is not resisting the shape or curve you are trying to tape it into. Just like any other straw - if you crimp it, you’ll slow down or prevent flow. Also, the last thing you want to do is stress your catheter - they are durable, but if you bend it too much it may develop small micro-cracks and then it must be replaced (you are probably crimping the extension itself which should be replaced every six months anyway).

Hope this helps…I tape left most of the time :slight_smile: