How to Inject Insulin

By Julia Hanf in Diabetes on April 11th, 2008

-->

by Julia Hanf

The word injection sends chills running up and down one’s spine as visions of long sharp needles fill the eye. However, it can become less frightening and much easier the more familiar you become with how to correctly inject insulin.

The most common way to inject insulin is with a plunger and needle (though there is an insulin pen available to the public). You pull insulin out of a bottle and into a plunger; then introduce the medicine underneath your skin where it’s drawn into your bloodstream.

Insulin may be injected into several areas of your body where there is a deposit of fatty tissue present and where large blood vessels, nerves, muscles and bones are not too near to the surface.

Belly is the only area of human body where there is rapid and reliable absorption which is why insulin is often injected in there. The two inch ring around the navel does not absorb and hence insulin is not injected there. Illustration shows the rotation of the injection. Back of your upper arms, thighs or buttocks are some of the areas which your physician may suggest you getting injected.

Several of the sterile practices that health care professionals used to recommend for insulin injections have been effectively proven as needless. Diabetics have been observed for a long time injecting their insulin through their clothes. A study was developed to establish the safety and professed benefits of giving insulin injections in this manner. The participants injected through a single layer of fabric, which varied from nylon to denim. None of the subjects experienced erythema, induration, or abscess at injection locations. Neither the glycated hemoglobin levels nor the leukocyte counts varied between the conventional and experimental programs. In the injection-through-clothing phase of the study, only trivial problems, such as blood stains on clothing and bruising, possibly due to the slight extra force needed to get the needle through the layer of cloth, were documented. The test subjects stated that injection through their clothing offered benefits such as ease and saving time. It was concluded that it is safe to inject insulin through ones clothing.

The term given to injecting insulin through inserting syringe into the skin is known as ‘insulin injection technique’. This is done in order to inject a proper dose of insulin into the patients’ body. For the purpose of making insulin injection treatment a success for yourself, your physician or a member of their team can assist you in learning this technique.

Injecting at the correct depth is a vital part of a good injection technique. Most physicians will counsel that insulin be injected in the subcutaneous fat, (the layer of fat just below the skin).

If you inject too deeply, the insulin could go into muscle, where it’s absorbed more rapidly but may not last as long; besides, injecting insulin into a muscle can hurt. If you do not inject deep enough, the insulin just goes into the skin. This affects the beginning and time period that insulin is affective.

To get the proper depth most people will pinch up a fold of skin and insert the needle at a 90 angle to the skin fold. If you are injecting into an area that does not contain a lot of fat tissue, you may need to adjust the angle to 45 for comfort.

Follow your doctor’s advice for taking insulin. Giving yourself insulin does not have to be hard. Contact your physician, their aide or nurse, if you are in doubt regarding your insulin treatment program. By getting at ease with giving yourself injections and keeping away from ordinary problems, taking insulin will develop into part of your habit that helps you stay on top of things regarding your diabetes

About the Author:

Julia Hanf author of the book How To Play the Diabetes Diet Game and Win Through a real life crisis Julia figured out how to live diabetes free. Visit www.yourdiabetescure.com and learn more about your solution for diabetes.