If you happen to stay with insulin-dependent diabetes and handle your blood sugars with an insulin pen or syringe, you’re most certainly taking 2 or extra insulin photographs a day.
That’s a minimal of 730 occasions a yr that you just’re piercing your pores and skin with a needle to do an injection.
I do much more than 2 injections a day. I’m nearer to 7 doses a day, which isn’t uncommon for folks dwelling with diabetes. That’s 2,555 injections a yr!
I don’t thoughts and it doesn’t harm. However one of many predominant causes it doesn’t harm is that I exploit the appropriate needle, the appropriate injection approach, and I alter my needles regularly.
On this article, you’ll learn to select the needle or syringe dimension that’s best for you to attenuate ache, keep away from scar tissue buildup, and be certain that a full dose is obtained each time you inject.
What’s a pen needle?
Pen needles are needles that you just connect to a prefilled or sturdy pen so that you could inject the remedy.
Widespread kinds of pen needles embody customary pen needles and security pen needles, with most individuals utilizing an ordinary pen needle.
You’ll be able to watch this 1-minute video to see precisely what a pen needle is:
An ordinary pen needle has an outer cowl and a detachable inside needle cowl. Each should be eliminated earlier than insulin flows.
Sadly, attributable to poor coaching, not everybody has been taught that you’ll want to take away each covers. In keeping with the FDA, this has led to folks ending up with severely elevated blood sugars and even hospitalizations. So bear in mind to take away each covers and visually be certain that insulin is flowing.
The protection needle is a bit totally different. It has an outer cowl that’s eliminated earlier than injections, however the inside cowl isn’t eliminated. Once you push the protection needle into your pores and skin, the inside cowl slides again to disclose the needle.
As a result of the inside cowl isn’t eliminated, it protects you in opposition to by chance poking your self with the needle.
Such a needle is right in the event you’re afraid of needles (as you’ll by no means see the precise needle) or if there’s a concern that you just’ll by chance poke your self with the needle.
Pen needle sizes
Insulin pen needles can be found in several sizes from 4 mm to 12.7 mm in size (5/32 inch to ½ inch).
Typically, the medical group leans in direction of using shorter needles, however you in the end have to determine which needle dimension is best for you.
Being prescribed an extended needle could make that preliminary insulin injection considerably daunting and may even impression your want to take your injections as prescribed.
If that’s the case, please attain out to your physician and request a special needle, or in the event you’re in a state that doesn’t require a prescription (extra on that later), buy a dimension that fits you on-line or at your native pharmacy.
How have you learnt what dimension insulin needle to make use of?
Insulin and GLP-1s should be injected subcutaneously (into the fats between your pores and skin and your muscle) so it’s best to select a needle that permits you to do this the simplest.
On common, human pores and skin is 1.9–2.4 mm thick no matter physique dimension, gender, ethnicity, and BMI. Because of this a brief 4- or 5-mm needle must be efficient for all physique varieties.
The Worldwide Scientific Advisory Board states that there is no such thing as a medical motive to advocate a needle size longer than 8 mm. The board recommends 4-, 5-, and 6-mm needles for all grownup sufferers no matter their BMI.
That doesn’t imply you possibly can’t use an extended needle, however utilizing an extended needle can improve the probabilities of bruising, bleeding, and ache.
When utilizing an extended needle, you additionally danger injecting your insulin into the muscle (known as an intramuscular shot). If insulin is injected into the muscle as a substitute of the fatty tissue, absorption might be too fast which may result in low blood sugars.
Though shorter needles are usually advisable, there are specific circumstances the place an extended needle could also be a greater possibility.
For instance, you could profit from utilizing an extended needle In case you have coordination challenges from situations akin to arthritis or Parkinson’s illness.
Needle thickness – What’s the deal?
Needle thickness is measured in gauge (G) fairly than millimeters or inches. Pen needles are available 29 G to 32 G, and the upper the gauge, the thinner the needle.
The pen needle thickness is principally related in the event you inject a considerable amount of insulin at a time, as you may want a needle with a decrease gauge that can permit extra insulin to stream via quicker.
When to pinch the pores and skin
There are alternative ways of efficiently doing a subcutaneous injection and the appropriate approach comes all the way down to what size of needle you select.
In case your needle is 4 mm or 5 mm, you are able to do the injection at a 90-degree angle. Which means you don’t have to pinch the pores and skin, and you are able to do the injection one-handed in the event you like. This may be sensible in the event you’re injecting into the arm, decrease again, or glutes.
Youngsters from 2 to six years outdated or extraordinarily lean adults may have to make use of a pinch-up approach no matter needle size.
If you happen to go for a needle longer than 5 mm, you’ll want to do the injection with a pinched-up skinfold or a 45-degree angle to keep away from intramuscular injection of insulin.
What about leakage issues associated to shorter needles?
Some folks have raised the priority that quick needles will result in leakage (insulin not being totally injected) or that they aren’t appropriate for folks with bigger our bodies.
That concern has been debunked and analysis has proven that shorter needles work for many physique varieties, with no extra leakage.
However in the event you really feel extra comfy utilizing an extended needle, then it’s best to completely do this.
The right way to get your pen needles or syringes
You may surprise if you should buy pen needles over-the-counter, and the quick reply is that it relies upon.
In the USA, prescription guidelines differ from state to state and in some states, you don’t want a prescription to purchase pen needles.
Nonetheless, in the event you use your insurance coverage to pay to your needles, they may require a prescription. Attain out to your insurance coverage firm to be taught in the event you want a prescription and in that case, how a lot your co-pay is.
There are additionally choices to purchase pen needles on-line with out a prescription, however which answer is most cost-effective for you’ll rely in your insurance coverage.
How to decide on the appropriate insulin syringe?
Utilizing a syringe to your insulin injections continues to be essentially the most broadly used method of delivering insulin in the USA.
A syringe is a hole plastic tube with a plunger inside and a brief skinny needle hooked up. You need to use the syringe to attract the insulin out of a vial after which inject it.
You need to select the appropriate syringe for the kind of insulin that you just use, and the very first thing to test is that if the focus of your insulin matches the syringe.
It’s indicated on the syringe (in addition to on the packaging) what insulin focus the syringe is for. Insulin focus is measured in Models/mL and indicated as U-100, U-200, or U-500.
Be sure that your syringe matches your insulin focus otherwise you may find yourself injecting the incorrect quantity of insulin.
Secondly, you need to select the syringe dimension that’s acceptable for you. If you happen to use giant quantities of insulin at a time, you’ll need to select a bigger syringe so that you just don’t have to chop your doses up into smaller quantities.
- 0.3 mL syringes are for doses underneath 30 models of insulin and are numbered at 1-unit intervals.
- 0.5 mL syringes are for doses of 30 to 50 models of insulin and are numbered at 1-unit intervals.
- 1.0 mL syringes are for doses of greater than 50 models of insulin and are numbered at 2-unit intervals.
Lastly, you need to think about which dimension needle is suitable for you. Simply as with pen needles, shorter needle sizes are usually advisable.
You will get syringes with needles so long as 12.7 mm (1/2”) lengthy however the shortest syringe needle size out there is 6 mm (15/64”) x 31G.
Good injection follows
Selecting the needle or syringe that works for you is necessary, however injections will likely be extra comfy with much less danger of ache or leakage in the event you additionally bear in mind to:
- Change the needle each time.
- Select the appropriate injection web site and rotate your websites.
- Don’t jab the needle in
- Maintain it in for five to 10 seconds to cut back the danger of leakage.
If you happen to select the appropriate needle dimension and observe good injection practices, injecting insulin ought to not often be painful. When you’re performed together with your pen needle or syringe, please bear in mind to eliminate them safely.
