How To Give A Painless Injection
How to give a painless injection? Theres a simple technique to make injecting yourself with insulin easy and pain-free. The basic steps are to locate a fatty site so that you can inject the insulin into a layer of fat under the skin hold the needle like a dart and pierce the skin rapidly speed is key!
If you have Type 2 diabetes, sooner or later you may require insulin injections, either temporarily or permanently. This is nothing to be afraid of, even though many people with long-standing Type 2 diabetes literally spend years worrying about it. I usually teach all my patients how to inject themselves at our first or second meeting, before theres any urgency. Once they give themselves a sample injection of sterile saline , they find out how easy and painless it can be, and they are spared years of anxiety.
If youre anxious about injections, after you read this section, please ask your physician or diabetes educator to allow you to try a self-administered injection.
Insulin is usually injected subcutaneously.
To show you how painless a shot can be, your teacher should give himself or herself a shot and leave the syringe dangling in place, illustrating that no pain is felt. Your teacher should next give you a shot of saline to prove the point.
Now its time for you to give yourself an injection, using a syringe thats been partly filled for you with about 5 units of saline.
How to give a painless injection step by step
Signs Of A Low Blood Sugar Are:
- Shakiness
General Tips For Administering An Insulin Shot
- Allow the insulin to come to room temperature before injecting, to avoid pain.
- Always use a new syringe and needle or pen needle.
- Always remove the needle before storing your insulin pen.
- Keep your insulin away from extreme hot or cold temperatures and store according to the manufacturers recommendations.
- Check your insulin vial for particles or anything that doesnt look right.
- Dispose of used needles safely.
- Create a plan for rotating injection sites.
Dont:
- Inject close to your belly button, near bony areas, or where you have a mole, scar, or wound.
- Use the same exact spot repeatedly to inject insulin.
- Let yourself run out of supplies. Always bring extra when traveling.
- Try to use expired insulin, as it may not work effectively.
- Forget to wear a medic alert ID in case you have a hypoglycemic event and cant speak for yourself.
- Forget to carry a rapid source of glucose.
Since insulin is a glucose-lowering medication, you should always be prepared in the event you need to treat a low blood sugar by carrying a rapid acting source of glucose with you, like a juice box, glucose tabs, or hard candy.
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Where Do You Give Yourself A Hormone Injection
Your muscles are located under a layer of insulating fat that lies beneath your skin. While giving yourself injections can seem overwhelming at first, preparation and practice can make the process of injecting your hormone treatments relatively quick and painless. There are four sites you can use to give yourself an intramuscular injection.
Change Injection Sites Regularly
When injecting insulin, you need to move injection sites so your skin doesn’t get lumpy. Lumpy skin is a build-up of fat under your skin caused by injecting into the same site. Lumpy skin can affect how your body absorbs insulin and can lead to different blood glucose levels. Also do not inject insulin on any damaged or scarred skin because this can affect the way insulin is absorbed.Different injection sites have different absorption rates. It’s best not to move injection sites daily from one part of your body to another. Instead go to different places within the area being used. Here are some examples of how to change insulin injection sites.
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The 4 Main Areas On The Body That Are Best To Give Insulin Shots Are The:
Do not give yourself insulin in the same spot each time. Use different spots in each area. Giving a shot in the same spot each time causes hard lumps in skin. Insulin will not absorb as well in hard lumps, and blood sugar can go too high.
Where Is The Best Place To Inject Testosterone
The third reason for intramuscular injection of testosterone is that this method allows the drug to disperse from the injection site at a timed, precise rate. The most common areas used for intramuscular injections are the buttocks, the side of the thigh, and the deltoid region . Why these areas? Because these muscles are dense.
Locate the middle of the muscle by measuring your palm above the knee, then below the greater trochanter. The central area is your injection site. Heres another way to find the right injection site for the thigh. Divide your thigh into three equal parts, and your injection area is in the outer, middle third.
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What Is The Best Injection Site For Insulin
The best injection site for insulin is the abdomen. Injecting insulin on the stomach will ensure the insulin reaches your bloodstream quickly since there is no fatty tissue in that area to slow down absorption. You can also inject insulin in your thigh or buttocks, but these areas of the body may not absorb as quickly as the stomach or arm. However, injecting insulin in these areas can give you a sense of comfort since you’ll be able to see the needle before it goes into your skin. If you feel more comfortable with a particular site, then stick with that one. It’s important to inject into all areas of your body, but be aware that injections in some sites may require more force and pressure than others.
How To Use The Lantus Solostar Insulin Pen
Now that you and your doctor have decided Lantus is right for you, watch this step-by-step video to learn how to use the Lantus SoloStar pen. But always follow your healthcare providers instructions.
Rotate your injection sites as instructed by your healthcare provider to reduce your risk of getting lipodystrophy and localized cutaneous amyloidosis . Do not use the same spot for each injection or inject where the skin is pitted, thickened, lumpy, tender, bruised, scaly, hard, scarred or damaged.
- Removing and discarding the needle
Super: WHAT WELL COVER:
Step One: Inject the insulin
Step Two: Attach the Needle
Step Three: Perform a Safety Test
Step Four: Select the Dose
Step Five: Inject the Dose
Step Six: Remove and Discard Needle
It is important that you go over these instructions carefully before you using your SoloStar pen.
Step one: check the insulin.
SUPER: An unopened SoloSTAR® Pen should be refrigerated until first use. Do not store an opened SoloSTAR® pen in a refrigerator.
Laura: If your SoloSTAR® pen is in cool storage, take it out 1 to 2 hours before you inject to allow it to warm up. Cold insulin may be painful to inject.
SUPER: Check the label on your SoloSTAR® pen.
Laura: First, check the label on your SoloSTAR® pen to make sure you have the correct pen and insulin. The Lantus® SoloSTAR® pen is gray with a purple injection button.
Check the expiration date on the label of your pen. Do not use a SoloSTAR® pen after the expiration date.
Storing your pen.
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Important Tips To Remember About Using An Insulin Pen:
- Always check your medicine type and the expiration date printed on the box before you leave the pharmacy.
- Store unopened pens in the refrigerator. They will be good until the expiration date printed on the box. Write the date on the insulin pen when you first open it.
- Store open insulin pens at room temperature. Avoid temperatures that are too hot or too cold. This can change how the insulin works.
- Most pens are good for 28 days once opened. Check with your pharmacist or read the drug insert for exact instructions.
- Do not use insulin pens that have lumps, are discolored or have been frozen.
- Place used pen needles and lancets for blood sugar testing in a hard plastic or metal container with a screw-on or tight lid, or a commercial sharps container.
- If you have questions about the subcutaneous injection procedure, please ask your healthcare providers.
- The most common side effect of insulin is low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar happens when the level of sugar in the blood falls below 70 mg/dl. Symptoms include sleepiness, shaking, sweating, dizziness and hunger. Be sure you know how to treat low blood sugar before you start using insulin.
What Happens If You Don’t Rotate Insulin Injection Sites
If you often inject insulin in the same place, a thickening can develop under the skin. This creates scar tissue, as it were, often palpable as a small bump, sometimes also visible. Because the subcutaneous tissue is damaged, the insulin is not absorbed properly or very unpredictably. This usually increases the insulin requirement. These subcutaneous thickenings are referred to by the following names: injection site, injection infiltrate, lipodystrophy, lipoatrophy, or in short lipos.
To prevent thickenings at the injection site, you are advised to change the injection site each time, both between the left and right side of the body and between the abdomen, thighs, flanks, and buttocks. Within an injection site, for example, the left side of the abdomen, you can give each injection with a finger width difference from the previous one. It is also good to use a new needle with each injection.
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Can Insulin Injection Go Wrong
You may give your dog an extra dose of insulin. This can cause hypoglycemia, which is a sudden decrease in blood glucose levels. In hypoglycemia, your dog may show symptoms of
- Panting
- Seizures and even
- Death
To treat hypoglycemia, urgently rub honey or corn syrup to your dogs gums. If the condition does not get better, contact your vet for further instructions.
Can I Reuse My Syringe
If you use your needle or syringe multiple times, there are the following risks:
- The tip of the needle becomes blunt after just one use, the sliding layer on the tip may become worn and the tip of the needle may be deformed:
- injections hurt more.
- very small skin lesions or bruising may occur.
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Where To Inject Insulin And Glp
The clinical evidence over the past couple of years has broadened our knowledge around skin, how it is layered and the best place for the insulin or GLP-1 to be absorbed.
This page will provide a more indepth insight into the skin, its make up, common injection sites as well as site rotation.
Injection in the Subcutaneous Layer
The preferred tissue space for insulin injection is the subcutaneous layer, which is the fat layer just below the dermis and above the muscle1 it offers slow, stable and predictable absorption, whatever the fat tissue depth2. Stable and predictable absorption of insulin will support optimal blood glucose control. Injections into subcutaneous tissue space are known to be less painful than injections into the dermis or muscle tissue spaces.
How To Inject Insulin
Before injecting insulin, be sure to check its quality. If it was refrigerated, allow your insulin to come to room temperature. If the insulin is cloudy, mix the contents by rolling the vial between your hands for a few seconds. Be careful not to shake the vial. Short-acting insulin that isnt mixed with other insulin shouldnt be cloudy. Dont use insulin that is grainy, thickened, or discolored.
Follow these steps for safe and proper injection:
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Tips For Keeping Track Of Where You Injected Last Time
A great way to rotate sites and keep track of where you injected last is to set up a cycle. You can start from left-to-right or follow the pattern of a clock, giving yourself a 12 day cycle. Using a 12 day cycle gives sites about 24 days to recover before being used again. Make sure to move a few inches from your last site.
You may also want to download an insulin injection chart and make note of the areas you are using so that you can keep track and rotate accordingly.
Injecting Insulin In Your Cat
If you are new to the topic of diabetic cat health, and are unsure of why the vet prescribed insulin for your diabetic cat, then let us educate you a bit.
When your cat has diabetes, its pancreas stops producing insulin. Insulin is a chemical that is required to break down the glucose from the blood into energy, so it can be transported around the cats body for function.
Now because your diabetic cats body cant make its own insulin anymore, it has to be externally injected so it can perform its function in the body.
The process of insulin injection can be hurtful to your cat, so you need to make sure that you choose a proper injection site.
If you randomly try to inject the needle from any area of the cats skin, then the fluid can leak out of the body and cause further internal complications in your cat.
So how do you go about choosing a proper insulin injection site for your cat?
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Injecting Insulin With An Insulin Pen:
Important Safety Information For Lantus Solostar
Lantus SoloSTAR is a disposable single-patient-use prefilled insulin pen. Please talk to your healthcare provider about proper injection technique and follow instructions in the Instruction Leaflet that accompanies the pen.
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What Are The Best Insulin Injection Sites
One of the best insulin injection sites is the abdomen, as it usually has a layer of fat and absorbs the insulin into the body well. Some people may have very thin abdominal areas, though. Other parts of the body, such as the thighs, backs of the upper arms, and buttocks, are also good sites. People who need to receive more than one shot of insulin a day may find that injecting into several different sites throughout the day works best.
The best insulin injection sites have a layer of fatty tissue just below the surface of the skin. Insulin is absorbed into the body best through fat. The best injection sites also do not have many nerve endings, so receiving a shot in those areas is not as painful as receiving a shot elsewhere on the body.
On most people, the best insulin injection sites do not have any scar tissue, such as from a surgery or other injury. Insulin will also not be absorbed into the body if injected into a mole or near or into the belly button. At the best insulin injection sites, the patient should be able to pinch at least an inch of fat to ensure proper absorption.