May I ask why..

[Ritchie1268]

Sorry to be a pain but, may I ask why, when we have injections of B12 at Dr's that they always alternate sides?

I'm right handed & find it way easier to SI into my right upper leg muscle than my left. There is no way I can inject into my arm as the nurse at surgery does.

Just thought I'd ask as I'm currently SI daily in my right upper leg.

Daft as it sounds, my legs have no fat at all as I used to play football loads, just find my right leg easier & wondered why nurse alternates. Can it cause muscle damage?

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Ritchie1268 personally and for the past 46 years I always have my inter-muscular B12 injection in my left upper arm. Mind you they are done by a nurse every three weeks and she always records which side is done for her record's sake, Injecting into the muscle appears to be the preferred choice and I guess self injecting daily, alternating might be a good idea to give the site chance to heal but I don't think there is any medical reason for doing so.

[Ritchie1268 in reply to clivealive]

Thank you Clive.

Just thought I'd ask as I wondered why the nurse alternates even after 3 months.

I find it awkward to inject in my left leg being right handed so just find it much easier to do it in my right leg.

👍

[Gambit62 Administrator]

injection sites tend to be 'rotated' to avoid causing damage to the skin making it thicken. There are set rules for rotation where the injections happen frequently - eg diabetics.

The nurse that does mine agrees with me that 2 monthly injections are unlikely to make any difference - 2 months should be more than enough for the skin to heal so no realy risk of thickening. However, the rules she's told to follow are to change it each time.

Rotating doesn't necessarily mean using different legs - just vary the sight on the leg.

I think the pattern for diabetics has about 16 different sites - which would mean that rotation is taking 1-2 weeks.

[Ritchie1268 in reply to Gambit62]

Thank you Gambit62, yet again! 👍

[Miss-guineapig]

As a nurse, we are taught that any regular injections should have their site alternated, it's just to prevent any scar tissue building over the years. I think personally, with the weeks normally between VitB12 it's not a big issue. I think that practice is just said routinely but it's important for diabetics for example who inject every single day to change site. I just give my VitB12 wherever I feel comfortable, never been a problem for me. Good luck xx

[Ritchie1268 in reply to Miss-guineapig]

Thank you.

With me doing it more often now I thought I would ask as I can only seem to manage to inject into my right leg, being right handed.

Thank you 👍

[imeldababyshoes in reply to Miss-guineapig]

great informative reply, thank you.

[Miss-guineapig]

Your doing good. Just stick with right leg and choose a different spot just as another person said too xx

[Ritchie1268 in reply to Miss-guineapig]

Thank you again, appreciate it 👍