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Needles - how often do you change them?

P

PatosDa

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
How often do you change your needles on your pens?

I often just keep the same needle on my pens until I need a new pen, Or if l get one that stings a bit after a few injections.

I seem to recall a nurse saying l should use a fresh needle after every injection, but when lm injecting 4 times a day at least, that seems a hell of a waste and costly to the NHS
 
@PatosDa I use a needle intermittently in a Blood Glucose machine. I thought it was wasteful changing the lancet each time and read on the forum that many members used the same lancet for months. I havent changed mine yet and it is 6 months old but I did go several months without using it and will change it soon.

However though you are described as type 2 you have referred to injections so it may refer to insulin which I do not use. I'm sure I have read posts from people who change daily rather than after each injection but I cannot offer realistic advice.
 
saffron15 said:
@PatosDa I use a needle intermittently in a Blood Glucose machine. I thought it was wasteful changing the lancet each time and read on the forum that many members used the same lancet for months. I havent changed mine yet and it is 6 months old but I did go several months without using it and will change it soon.

However though you are described as type 2 you have referred to injections so it may refer to insulin which I do not use. I'm sure I have read posts from people who change daily rather than after each injection but I cannot offer realistic advice.
Click to expand...
There is a big difference between changing needles used for injecting and lancets used for fingerpricks. The risk of reusing needles is about not damaging injection sites, and causing lypohypertrophy.

I am happy to reuse lancets for a very long time, but do my best to almost always change needles every time. (If the choice was reuse or don't inject then reuse would be the lesser evil.)
 
You should change your insulin pen needle every time - it helps to reduce pain when you inject (as the tips will go blunt and they are designed for single use) - it also reduces the risk of developing lipohypertrophy (fatty lumps under the skin due to multiple injections) - and it also ensures that you get the correct full dosage every time - in terms of a finger-pricking device I use an Accuchek Fast-Clix system which also uses a fresh lancet every time and are easily disposed of as they come in a cassette of 6 at a time
 
The official line is that you use a new needle every time you inject and many people here comply with that I believe. It is suggested that reusing needles damages your injection sites and the needles are coated in a special single use material which helps them glide through the skin easier. I have even had nurses tell me that using it more than once causes microscopic barbs to develop on the needle which damage the tissue, but I take this with a big pinch of salt.
All that said, I reuse my needles many times as Sunday and Wednesday are my needle change days and there are occasions when I inject 10 times a day, so we are looking at my bolus needle doing 20+ injections and basal gets off light with just 5-7 uses, before being disposed of. After 6 years of doing this, I don't see any signs of damage to my sites and it does concern me that the coating from new needles gets deposited in my tissue if it wears off after each use, so reusing needles to me seems potentially safer that introducing that needle coating into my body multiple times a day. It is personal choice. I hate the waste involved with all my diabetes paraphernalia and reduce it as much as possible where I can, plus as you say the cost to the NHS is a consideration to me too.
 
The cost of a box of 100 pen needles to the NHS is likely to be less than a fiver depending on what one is prescribed according to the latest NHS Drug Tariff so a box should last nearly a month based on 4 a day so not a massive cost in the grand scheme of things
 
I also change my needle almost every time - the exception being if I'm out and taking a split bolus; at those times it is frequently less fuss for me to reuse a needle twice. I think @helli sums it up perfectly. During a routine site check after almost 3 yrs on MDI, the DSN showed me my damaged sites, which I was until then blissfully unaware they existed. I stopped using those areas for several months, time that was needed for them to recover. This was all before my TIA and the now prescribed blood thinning Clopidogrel.
 
I change needles pretty much every time...unless i am doing a larger bolus and split it up into 2 injections that i take straight after each other
 
Every time, the odd split bolus excepted. I have been told that nowadays needles are so fine they can bend without this being obvious to the user, but it can still affect insulin delivery.

There are many more significant ways for the NHS to save money.
 
Liilys partner writing: My local surgery uses an pharmacist who in the early days of my partner's diabetes T1 journey the pharmacist (for the NHS CGT) suggested that needles a day was usual - well believe me it wasn't and my partner was using close to 150 per month. That's mostly resolved since she is now pumping insulin; but she pharmacist recently complained about being prescribed too much emergency use Glucose Gel for hypos.
Lilly complained to the doctor about the Glucose Gel packaging in tear top sachets, instead of the alternative ones packed as 3 x 25gramme twist top squeeze tubes the later which can actually be opened in a hypo situation when reduced mental acuity may also be a problem due to low blood sugar. The complaint about not being able to tear open the sachets the doctor found them difficult to tear when Lilly insisted the GP should try to open one. We had problems ordering these in the twist top version, and the local chemist suggested the GP should order by brand rather than generically.
What happened next when 'Gluco Gel 75g (3 x25g) was prescribed was that a 80 gramme screw top bottle but not a single known dose package and also totally in-appropriate as my wife carries the 25g Gel singly on her body 24/7 365 carried in a running belt; and they are a life saver when used. If she were to use the 80g bottle she would hardly be able to update the medtronic 780G pump with the correct amount of carbs.
 
saffron15 said:
I use a needle intermittently in a Blood Glucose machine.
Click to expand...
That’s a lancet not a needle. Needles are much finer than lancets and aren’t to be reused.
 
Can't say changed needle every time but using blunt needles time & time again will damage tissues under skin & could lead to absorption issues.
 
I change to a new needle every injection, less painful, more hygienic
plus
it helps me use up the seemingly endless supply of new needles, because usually without asking for them, someone at my GP surgery seems to keep requesting them, so I always seem too have plenty
 
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