Just curious.
I have only done around 50 IM thigh injections now so still a bit of a novice. Ive not changed technique since day one. I use 1 1/4 inch needles and think I take it pretty easy - about 3 seconds to push the needle in then about 5 to 8 seconds (depending on resistance) on the plunger to inject the 1ml.
This suits me for now but wondered if others are doing it much quicker? Or maybe even slower?
Hi ManCave,I think the best thing to do is what suits you.
You know how it feels. As long as you are managing it's okay .The nurses do my IM ones some I really havent felt some. Some have been extremely painful. ??
I do Sc and it's been fine. I change speed without thinking at times as you csn feel whars happening. I do seem to bruise though
I do it much slower, especially putting the needle in. Sometimes I pause midway, relax then go again.
I guess everyone will be different. I was imagining some might have the whole thing over in seconds and that I was I bit slow. I don’t suffer pain as such, a little sting from time to time so I must be doing something right. Only bruised and bled once when I must have hit a little vein but I’ll just keep doing it the way I am used to. Thank you,
The sting can be a couple of things:If you use alcohol pre-injection swabs - you need to wait for the swab site to dry out before injecting.
If you have a droplet of B12 at the needle tip after getting rid of air-bubbles - you need to flick syringe to get rid of droplet first.
Occasional bleeds an occupational hazard, but if you do feel any pain, you can withdraw needle and choose another location- one bonus to taking it slowly !
Thanks. Yes I’m wise to the swab and droplet sting now. The bleed was a scary one though but as it turned out, nothing to worry about. Just a nice black bruise for a few days!
I once made the mistake, early on. of showing my partner how simple and pain-free self injecting is . Everything went well until I pulled the needle out and a spurt of blood suddenly arced out and splattered down on the duvet !Luckily, only lasted a short while -but quite a dramatic finale to my demonstration .
Haha, I thought exactly the same might happen to me - but luckily my demo went without dramatic incident. I can picture your experience!
Still no injection 
B12 injection appointment
Injection sites
B12 injection 
