Pinch or not

[Karen999]

So I'm using a pen insulin and the DN said not to pinch the skin what's the general consensus on this

 

[mashedupmatt]

If your needle size is correct there is no need to pinch the skin - most people are fine with 4mm needles

 

[rebrascora]

Personally as an older person whose skin is not as taut and smooth as it was when I was younger, I find it helps the needle to glide through the skin more easily and smoothly and less painfully, if the skin is stretched smooth. Pinching will usually achieve this as will putting your fingers and thumb across the site and pushing them apart, tensioning the skin in that way, which is what I do.

If you are not carrying much subcutaneous fat, I think pinching is probably still helpful and I really don't understand why they have started advising people not to pinch up unless people were being unduly aggressive with the pinching or pinching up was limiting where people injected. I think the modern 4mm needles mean that very few people actually need to pinch in order to hit fat, but as I say, for me tensioning the skin is also beneficial for less painful injecting and for that reason I would continue pinching if that is what you currently do, assuming you are not pinching so hard as to bruise yourself with your fingers and not always injecting into the same sites which are easy to pinch.

 

[helli]

It depends how much fat you have.
Most people do not need to pinch but if you find you are bruising when you inject, you may not have enough fat and will need to pinch.
I need to pinch.
This is not spreading my finger and thumb apart tensioning your skin - it is the opposite, it is pinching my finger and thumb together to lift up the fat.

 

[rebrascora]

Did the nurse give a reason for not pinching up?

Bruising/bleeding from the injection site does not mean you don't have enough fat, it just means you nicked a capillary. I certainly have enough fat but still get bruising occasionally or the odd one that bleeds a tiny drop of blood when I withdraw the needle. Thighs seem to be particularly prone to that.

 

[Karen999]

No she never said why, I will ask, there was a lot to take in.

 

[Inka]

I always pinch - for pen injections and for pump cannulas. I insert my pump cannulas by hand, but I know it’s not as easy to pinch if you use an inserter. When I take a pump break, it does take a few days to feel completely used to the pens.

 

[everydayupsanddowns]

I started on 12mm harpoons as the ‘short’ ones, so I always pinched.

As long as you are gentle, and not squeezing hard, I’ve never had a problem doing it. I’ll be interested to hear what you find out from your nurse @Karen999

I think with the new extra short needles (4mm ?) it’s probably not needed any more, but I’d probably still pinch as the hypodermics I have are 8mm.

 

[trophywench]

Always managed better stretching taut since we've had shorter needles and same for pump cannulas, but not quite as taut as with pen needles.