Living with Kidney Disease: How to Take Care of Your Dialysis Access
Your Dialysis Access Is Your Lifeline
If you’re on hemodialysis, your vascular access — whether it’s an AV fistula or an AV graft — is the single most important piece of your treatment. It’s the connection that allows the dialysis machine to clean your blood effectively. Taking good care of it can help it last longer, reduce complications, and keep your dialysis treatments running smoothly.
Here are practical steps you can take every day to protect your access.
Check Your Access Daily
Get into the habit of checking your access each morning. Place your fingers gently over the access site and feel for the thrill — a buzzing or vibrating sensation that tells you blood is flowing through properly. You can also listen for a bruit (a whooshing sound) by holding the access site near your ear.
If the thrill feels weaker than usual, changes in character, or disappears entirely, contact your vascular team or dialysis center right away. A loss of thrill can indicate clotting, which requires prompt treatment — often a thrombectomy procedure — to restore flow before your next dialysis session.
Keep the Area Clean
Wash the skin over your access site with soap and water before every dialysis treatment. Keeping the area clean reduces the risk of infection, which is one of the most common and preventable complications. Avoid scratching or picking at the access site, even if it itches.
Watch for signs of infection: redness, warmth, swelling, tenderness, or any discharge from the access site. If you notice any of these, notify your dialysis nurse and vascular specialist immediately.
Protect Your Access Arm
Your access arm needs special attention in daily life. Avoid carrying heavy objects, wearing tight sleeves or jewelry, or sleeping on the access arm, as pressure can restrict blood flow. Don’t allow anyone to take blood pressure readings, draw blood, or start an IV in your access arm — always remind healthcare workers which arm has your access.
Avoid extreme temperatures on the access area. Very hot water, heating pads, and ice packs can all affect blood flow through the access.
Stay Active, Stay Healthy
Light exercise is good for your overall circulation and can help your access function well. Walking, light stretching, and gentle squeezing exercises with a rubber ball can promote blood flow. However, avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activity with your access arm, and always check with your vascular team before starting a new exercise routine.
Managing your overall health — including controlling blood pressure, blood sugar (if you have diabetes), and cholesterol — also supports the long-term health of your vascular access.
Know When to Seek Help
Contact your vascular specialist or dialysis center promptly if you notice any of the following: loss or weakening of the thrill in your access, swelling in your access arm or hand, signs of infection at the access site, prolonged bleeding after dialysis needle removal (more than 20 minutes of pressure), or any numbness, tingling, or color changes in your hand or fingers.
Catching problems early is critical. A minor issue — like early narrowing detected during dialysis — can often be corrected with a simple outpatient angioplasty before it progresses to clotting or access failure.
Your Vascular Team Is Here for You
At B&B Medical Group, we provide complete dialysis access management — from fistula creation through ongoing maintenance procedures like angioplasty, stenting, and thrombectomy. Our center in Bellflower is open Monday through Saturday, and we prioritize urgent access issues to keep your dialysis schedule on track.
If you have concerns about your dialysis access, contact us or call (562) 888-8961.
