Help! Cant find a supplier for needles for my b12 injections

[Mogwa]

Im in the UK, & struggling to find the needles for my injections of b12. These my normal needles are Braun Sterican .80×40mm

Does anyone know of a good reliable supplier?

Thank you!

[wedgewood]

I use medisave.co.uk. For needles , syringes , swabs etc .Also exchangesupplies.org for needles and syringes

Also medisupplies.co.uk.

I don’t know that format that you use for hypodermic needles . I’ve always had to quote a needle size with a G number , and then the length in inches or millimetres .

A usual size for I.M. Injections is 25G x 1 inch . Hope that this helps .

[Mogwa in reply to wedgewood]

Thank you - I use Braun sterican 20g × 40mm

[wedgewood in reply to Mogwa]

Wow , that’s quite a fat needle ! Wouldn't you be more comfortable with a higher number gauge needle ? i.e. 27G x 40mm . B12 is water-based and would pass easily through a very fine needle ! (The higher the G number , the finer the needle )

[Mogwa in reply to wedgewood]

Its a lit finer than the needle my gp used to use. They injected in my upper arms- very painful as ive had muscle biopsies taken from there! So I learnt to self inject- in my upper thigh, much bettet!

Ill look into a finer gauge - thank you

[clivealive Forum Support in reply to Mogwa]

Are you sure your surgery doesn't use knitting needle sizes Mogwa ?

[deniseinmilden in reply to clivealive]

😁😁

[Mogwa in reply to clivealive]

Hmmm.... certainly felt that way!

[Nackapan in reply to Mogwa]

Most Gp surgeries uses 23G blue needles . In their policies

[wedgewood in reply to Nackapan]

I think they choose that size needle , because it is suitable for oily , more viscous injection material as well . Then they only need to keep one size of needle for both viscous and water-based injections . We can use a higher gauge needle because B12 is water-based and passes easily through a finer needle , and is definitely less painful and less stressful on the skin/flesh .

[Nackapan in reply to wedgewood]

Oh yes . Much better to uses a finer needle. I wad referring to such a big size needle used at the posters surgery.

I thought if odd as ive never known thst size to be used fir injecting only for drawing up.

[deniseinmilden in reply to wedgewood]

And the star does her fab magic again! Thanks you! x

[FlipperTD in reply to wedgewood]

Can't resist a bit of input, sorry!

Needle sizes are given in SWG [Standard Wire Gauge] which is an old UK industry standard. When you use a smaller size the flow rate decreases, and in a crude experiment in the lab I showed that through 19, 21, 23 to 25 gauge, the flow rate halved at each step.

For phlebotomy, I always promoted the 'the bigger the better' approach as it reduced the duration of the discomfort, and generally, it worked. [When I was sticking them into someone else, of course.]

Colleagues who tried to use smaller needles to reduce the trauma on their patients eventually learned that they were generally likely to create more trauma, as the process took longer, and often required a repeat sample.

Injecting small volumes of low viscosity aqueous solutions is far less of an issue. Plus they're all very, very sharp indeed, thank goodness.

[wedgewood in reply to FlipperTD]

Always pleased to hear from you FlipperTD ! It’s great to have a scientist onboard . Thanks very much for the information. I can only guess at many things i.e. needle sizes. I do know the effects of fat and thin needles , and i prefer thin ones ! 27 G is great for B12 ! Yes , blood is thicker than B12 , and would require a fatter needle fir speedy removal .👍

[wedgewood]

I agree 100% that the thighs are the better place ! Just checked for those 27G x 1 1/2 “ needles . Out of stock at Medisave , but available at exchange supplies .

[deniseinmilden]

Ouch!

I usually use smaller bore ones (21G or smaller) than that in sheep, where the risk of bending one is much greater!

I'm staggered that Dr's are so ignorant of good practice! Poor you and the other patients.

I use 26G x 1" needles in my thighs - finer than the 23G NHS recommended ones but I can't imagine I would bend or break one.

I can use these as draw-up and injection needles. I usually swap between draw-up and jab but not always if I've been very careful and the tip of the needle is OK.

The needles they use for vaccines are tiny - something like 30G - and they don't worry about them breaking!

I use Exchange Supplies, as per Wedgwood's link.

[Nackapan in reply to deniseinmilden]

I think the ones used fir vaccines alot shorter and far less fluid .I'm only going on observation and assisting at huge vaccination programmes in schools.

Of course in nursing practuce the one size fits all scenario steps in .

Safety.

Much more variation csn be achieved on an individual basis as we know .

Yes I'm aware suprised how aliot of animals dont seem to notice.

My cats don't !

[deniseinmilden in reply to Nackapan]

Cor, my 🐈🐈 do!Oh my goodness - the bad language!! I didn't think they knew those sorts of words: I can't think where they learnt them! 👀 😂😂😂 XX

[Hidden in reply to deniseinmilden]

Umm let me think about this! (Maybe a parrot)

😜

[deniseinmilden in reply to Hidden]

😂 😂 😂 😂 XX

[Nackapan in reply to deniseinmilden]

Oh dear 😳

[Mogwa]

Thank you peoples! I do believe I'm going to go for a finer needle 😁🙌