Si needles

[SarahFerguson]

I'm doubting the needles I'm using as to whether long enough. I ordered from Medicare. Can anyone adv.? I used one today for my first sI into thigh.

[Penni]

Like you I purchased my needles from medisave. I bought 1ml insulin syringes, these are ok but next time will get the 2 ml as I can't get a full ampule into 1 syringe

[SarahFerguson in reply to Penni]

I can get a full ampule, just not sure if they will go deep enough for IM into thigh?

[Gambit62 Administrator]

if it is an insulin needle then it won't do IM - it doesn sub-cutaneous - into the layer of fat below the skin rather than into the muscle. There is no real problem with doing subQ - its the method I use when I iinject - what studies there are out there suggest that there isn't much overall difference.

[roddogsbody]

Hi

I use 23g 0.6 x 30mm (blue). Wife has been a registered nurse for over 40 years, says 30 mm is fine for intramuscular but she would be happy with 40mm length too. Needs to be inserted the full length into the muscle. She puts it in quickly like a dart throwing action. Hardly feel it, that is 40 years nursing experience for you. I buy mine on eBay 100 at a time.

Best luck

Rod

[Marymary7 in reply to roddogsbody]

Is 23 gauge finer than 25 please? I would like to find things that make this less painful for my brother who I have to inject as his one hand doesn't work thanks to this being untreated.

I notice that since we swapped from Methyl to Hydroxy he feels pain now?

Thanks.

[roddogsbody in reply to Marymary7]

No the 25 gauge is very slightly thinner than a 23, but there is really nothing in it. I have only ever used hydroxycobalamin and not methyl. Hydroxy is known not to be the most comfortable of jabs to have, but the benefits by far outweigh the minor and short lived discomfort. Encourage your brother to relax his muscle before darting the needle in and inject the fluid slowly to give the muscle a few seconds to cope with it (that works best for me anyway). Best luck, don't give up and make sure he gets all the other all important vitamins and iron so that he maximises what the hydroxy can do and be patient, recovery is a long slow process, certainly months, possibly years.

Best luck

Rod

[roddogsbody in reply to roddogsbody]

Further to my last:

The wife says use 1 needle to fill the syringe then chuck it and put a new one on for the actual jab. Reason is that it is so easy to take the sharp edge off the needle as you touch the bottom of the glass phial when filling. Even the slightest blunting of the needle will be likely to make the jab a bit more uncomfortable than it needs to be.

Best

Rod

[Marymary7 in reply to roddogsbody]

Thank you Rod,

And your wife. Yes I do use a longer needle to draw up and one and half inch 25g to jab. I do dart it in after watching films online and warm the fluid and do it slowly, my brother said I did it painlessly but that was before we switched to Hydroxy due to costs. Now it seems to pain him.... I keep telling him this is long term but he loses heart as he is so poorly and disabled from nerve damage over many years of neglect....all being put down to M.S.

Thanks for advice.

Mary