I have a question

[Sara Grice]

I have a qusstion I kinda need explained to me in simple terms if I should be worried or not. I have recently decided to switch from my abdomen back to my thighs for my injection (can't realy do it in my arms its to awrkward due to my size) becuase I was getting alot of bruising so i took that as a sign its time to rotate...

,i dont know why it happens so much, i never reuse needles and I am not lacking for body fat to use. i guess I'm just unlucky and keep hitting little blood vessels..but I cant help but be alittle scared every time it happens.. is it anything that I should be worried about cos surely if I inject it into blood it would be taking effect quicker..right? When it happens should I maybe cut down on the time between when I inject and when I eat? It's normal 15 minutes for me....or am I overthinking things again?

I ask because my theighs have been good for the past day or so with it just going into fat and no blood or bruising...but about half an hour ago I Injected into the outside of my right theigh and I got a moderate spot of blood and can already see a black bruise forming.

I understand it's something that's unavailable getting a blood vessels..but do I need to do anything differently if it happens? Thanks

 

[Sara Grice]

I'm gonna show a photo of my bruise, I Injected it at 2 oclock and it appeared almost instantly. Cos I noticed the area around the injection sight was already slightly dark just after pulling the needle out...the needle didn't hurt more than usual..

The bruise I'm talking is in the circle, I added the arrow to point out the shadow of my phone so no one would think that was another bruise

 

[helli]

Sorry you are getting bruising and hitting blood vessels.
This was common for me when I was injecting and my DSN was unconcerned so I don't think it is a problem with regards to getting insulin directly into your blood.
With regards to doing anything differently, do you pinch your skin before you inject? This used to be the advise when needles were longer but when 4mm needles became more common it was felt this wasn't necessary. However, I too have little fat and found that a pinch reduces the chance of bruising. I see it as raising the skin up a bit so I don't inject as deep. This does not affect the absorption or anything. It just makes it more comfortable to inject when you have little fat to inject into.
I just "pinch up" the area I want to inject with my finger and thumb of the hand not holding the pen and then inject into that bit of flesh.
(Not sure if I described that very well - Sorry.)

 

[Robin]

I have a qusstion I kinda need explained to me in simple terms if I should be worried or not. I have recently decided to switch from my abdomen back to my thighs for my injection (can't realy do it in my arms its to awrkward due to my size) becuase I was getting alot of bruising so i took that as a sign its time to rotate...

,i dont know why it happens so much, i never reuse needles and I am not lacking for body fat to use. i guess I'm just unlucky and keep hitting little blood vessels..but I cant help but be alittle scared every time it happens.. is it anything that I should be worried about cos surely if I inject it into blood it would be taking effect quicker..right? When it happens should I maybe cut down on the time between when I inject and when I eat? It's normal 15 minutes for me....or am I overthinking things again?

I ask because my theighs have been good for the past day or so with it just going into fat and no blood or bruising...but about half an hour ago I Injected into the outside of my right theigh and I got a moderate spot of blood and can already see a black bruise forming.

I understand it's something that's unavailable getting a blood vessels..but do I need to do anything differently if it happens? Thanks

If you see blood when you inject, it’ll be from one of the tiny capillaries, and isn’t likely to affect the absorption rate. You won’t have injected into a vein. (As an aside, you may find that different parts of the body absorb at different rates, though, I was always told abdomen would be faster than thighs, but I really don’t notice much difference.)

 

[rebrascora]

Those small capillary blood vessels are not the same as injecting into a more major blood vessel and in reality you are nicking the capillary and causing it to bleed rather than injecting into it because they are so small. As you say it is the luck of the draw if you hit one but as with all things diabetes related, it will be individual as to how many of those capillaries you have. Ultimately it is those capillaries which are going to absorb the insulin and carry it around the body and in some respects the bleeding from it will slow the absorption rather than speed it up because the blood is leaking out.
Personally, I don't do anything different if I hit one and I have never read of anyone being told to do anything different. The bruises should fade in a couple of days. Sometimes I get a bleb where it has bled under the skin and formed a little pocket of blood rather than a normal bruise but again the body reabsorbs that pocket of leaked blood in a day or two.

Basically I would say, don't worry about it. It happens to all of us to a greater or lesser extent. The only thing to maybe look at is what length needles you are using. If they are 4mm 32guage which is standard then I would say there is nothing more you can do, but if they are longer (more than 4mm or thicker (a lower number than 32 then you could ask for smaller needles to try to see if that improves the situation.

 

[Sara Grice]

Sorry you are getting bruising and hitting blood vessels.
This was common for me when I was injecting and my DSN was unconcerned so I don't think it is a problem with regards to getting insulin directly into your blood.
With regards to doing anything differently, do you pinch your skin before you inject? This used to be the advise when needles were longer but when 4mm needles became more common it was felt this wasn't necessary. However, I too have little fat and found that a pinch reduces the chance of bruising. I see it as raising the skin up a bit so I don't inject as deep. This does not affect the absorption or anything. It just makes it more comfortable to inject when you have little fat to inject into.
I just "pinch up" the area I want to inject with my finger and thumb of the hand not holding the pen and then inject into that bit of flesh.
(Not sure if I described that very well - Sorry.)

No I've not heard of that pinching method, if your saying find it reduces bruising maybe I'll give it a try. Although it dosent sound awkward as I have to use both hands and that's hard for me as have small hands it's hard to hold the pen steady and then push down on the end with one hand

I will say you may have misunderstood me in terms of my body weight don't have to little body fat...proberly more like too much Lol

 

[Sara Grice]

Those small capillary blood vessels are not the same as injecting into a more major blood vessel and in reality you are nicking the capillary and causing it to bleed rather than injecting into it because they are so small. As you say it is the luck of the draw if you hit one but as with all things diabetes related, it will be individual as to how many of those capillaries you have. Ultimately it is those capillaries which are going to absorb the insulin and carry it around the body and in some respects the bleeding from it will slow the absorption rather than speed it up because the blood is leaking out.
Personally, I don't do anything different if I hit one and I have never read of anyone being told to do anything different. The bruises should fade in a couple of days. Sometimes I get a bleb where it has bled under the skin and formed a little pocket of blood rather than a normal bruise but again the body reabsorbs that pocket of leaked blood in a day or two.

Basically I would say, don't worry about it. It happens to all of us to a greater or lesser extent. The only thing to maybe look at is what length needles you are using. If they are 4mm 32guage which is standard then I would say there is nothing more you can do, but if they are longer (more than 4mm or thicker (a lower number than 32 then you could ask for smaller needles to try to see if that improves the situation.

Thank you, that's what i was thinking but I wasn't exactly sure.

I do notice no difference between my theighs and my abdomen I just like my abdomen better cos it's an easier place for me to inject and there is more room..I'm hoping to maybe go back in a few weeks once all the bruising there has stopped...as I've had no lumps or hard skin..just bruising.

It's funny you mention it slowing down absorption cos thays sort of worries me. The times I had bruised on my abdomen I notice I go higher than I normaly woud and then as if the insulin gets to my body all at one I have quite a harsh drop..never putting me in hypo range and it could just be my mind making things up from coincidences. This disease is so complicated and go much effects it it's it's so hard to figure out what if anything you should do differently

 

[rebrascora]

That bruising looks very normal for nicking a capillary. I probably currently have 4 or 5 on my stomach like that in various stages of healing from blue black through green to fading yellow. All part of the diabetes fun.... not! 🙄
Probably have some on my buttocks too as that is where I inject my basal insulin, but can't see them to count them.

 

[Sara Grice]

That bruising looks very normal for nicking a capillary. I probably currently have 4 or 5 on my stomach like that in various stages of healing from blue black through green to fading yellow. All part of the diabetes fun.... not! 🙄
Probably have some on my buttocks too as that is where I inject my basal insulin, but can't see them to count them.

It's amazing how little tiny veins can make bruises as big as a 50p coin (not the one I've shown but one on my stomach). Makes me wish we could just take insulin tablets or something but I know that's not how it works

 

[rebrascora]

Where on your thigh are you injecting? That looks like it is almost your hip on the side but I believe generally they recommend the front mid thigh, so if you were sitting down the part of your thigh that is facing upwards. That said, I bruise there too. At least if you bruise you can see where you have injected and avoid it.

 

[Sara Grice]

Where on your thigh are you injecting? That looks like it is almost your hip on the side but I believe generally they recommend the front mid thigh, so if you were sitting down the part of your thigh that is facing upwards. That said, I bruise there too. At least if you bruise you can see where you have injected and avoid it.

Huh...intresting, I was given a leaflet with this exact diagram on it, could be my (ill be honest undiagnosed but suspected) autism I tend to stick to instructions to a fault and to me it looked like the patches where more towards the outside of the leg? Not the front? Maybe I may have done it little high but it was definitely below my hip

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

Hope you are able to use the gentle pinch-up method to reduce the chances of bruises @Sara Grice

They are visible, but not really anything to worry about in terms of absorption. But if you can develop an injection technique where it happens more rarely - so much the better!

What length of needles have you been using?