Tips for Lessening the Pain of Injections?

[Bastian]

Hey guys, it's been a long time!

I'm now, what, 3 years into being on T? I'm finally seeing the results i've wanted all along. I started off on dermogel for the first 2.5 years and for the last 1.5 years, switched to injections (which is when I really started seeing changes). I inject once a week with a reduced amount of T to keep my levels more regular and this was going well.

However in september I started in a new career field. Since then I have dropped 33 pounds (still reducing) of fat and have bulked up just from the hard work involved with every day. This isn't boasting, but it seems to actually be a problem now. Since my body has changed so much, I now find injecting to be almost unbearably painful. I think it has to do with the reduced fat layer on my legs, so now I have the full 1 1/2" of the needle in my muscle as opposed to maybe only having 1" in my muscle because the other portion is in a layer of fat. This had made it a very painful process for me... I'm injecting in the same location I always have (thigh) but now instead of being able to just push it in and inject in like 5 minutes (if I took my time), it now can take me up to 30 minutes to a) find a location where my skin doesn't scream the second I start to push the needle against it b) I can actually even psych myself up to put it in because it's become so painful in the past few months c) I can actually get all 1 1/2" into my leg. I usually end up having to stop around 1" because I hit something in my leg that is just too painful that I can't get myself to push the needle in anymore, or if I do continue pushing, the pain just builds.

I always sit on the floor with my back to a wall and my ankle against something so my thigh is very relaxed and I always find the middle of my thigh by going from my knee to my pelvis and finding the halfway point and then I inject slightly to the outside of that line. It used to be really easily like I said, I actually found before that if I got it in the right spot my body actually seemed to sort of suck the needle in, that's when I knew I had the right spot and it wouldn't hurt. If I didn't get that feeling right away I would just try another spot. Now I'll poke myself maybe 10 times trying to just find a spot that doesn't hurt when it's poked.

I'm getting really bad anxiety about injecting and I have found I have begun putting it off... Like this week, I usually inject on Fridays but I waited till Monday because I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't want to go back onto gel or anything like that, I have gotten so much more out of the injections then any of the other methods. I've thought of switching to a two week injection cycle so I have to do it less frequently, but it seems like so much T to inject at once...
I know a lot of people might say "suck it up" or injections "come with pain". But I know this isn't true because it used to be so easy. Now, the pain level is easily a 6 or 7 for me on my scale during injecting and I just can't handle that. I don't have a significant other or anyone I trust to inject me either (so as to possibly get over the anxiety and mental stuff i've developed from having it hurt every time).

So yeah, does anyone have any tips to stopping/lessening the pain? Maybe if some guys who have very muscular legs without much fat layer could offer some help? Because like I said, I didn't struggle like this before the weight loss. Has anyone else had this problem?

Thanks guys

[Alexthecat]

Perhaps switch to a subcutaneous injection which doesn't go into the muscle at all.

[kittenpower]

Have you considered pellet therapy; if injections are causing as much pain as you described, it would definitely be worth looking in to.

[Dex]

It surprises me that the needle is so long for your thigh. I had heard that thigh injections were done with a smaller needle vs the glute.  I inject in the glute and have a 1.5 inch needle. I have almost no pain but there is more fat there as well. I would check with your doctor and see if you could get a smaller needle for your injections or potentially change your injection site (sub-q or glute, though I've heard less and less people are doing the glute)

[Tysilio]

That sucks -- I'm sorry you're having this problem.

A smaller needle would probably help. I use a 25 ga., 1" needle to do IM injections, and there's no pain to speak of. Also, how much do you vary the injection site? I assume you alternate thighs, but do you also vary the location on each thigh from week to week? If you always inject in roughly the same spot, you may have some scar tissue there.

Other than that, you probably would do well to talk with your doctor about switching to one of the forms of T which is given as a pellet or injection every three months or so.

[Bastian]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies. I will definitely be looking into subQ or pellet in the future. Right now I am away from home for school, and therefore also away from my doctor, so I needed some tips on how to deal with the pain right now. i won't be home for another two months. But once I get home I can look into changing my prescription.

I'm very nervous about doing my glutes because of the angle, it seems very difficult to me haha. I'm also not sure I should change the location as i've never injected into my glute before? Is it easy to mess up the location or is it pretty easy?

I don't alternate my thighs very much because of the angle thing, I find it very difficult to get the needle to go in nice and straight. This is probably because I still use my right hand? I assume it would be easier if I used my left hand but I mentally can't get over the pain hurtle now. Just the idea of using my left hand (aka less steady and more likely to jab) starts triggering the anxiety... Ill give my other thigh a try the next injection, but I did try poking my left thigh last night (after 20 minutes of desperately trying to find a spot that didn't hurt on my right leg) and I found the same initial pain. I don't know why it's so painful, I'm usually really good with needles, i've had bloodwork done so much I don't even notice anymore, but the pain of even just the initial prick in my legs feels horrendous and i've been finding that even if I suck it up and just keep pushing the needle in, if I feel that pain right from the initial prick, it only gets worse the further in the needle goes. It's like my skin is on fire in that spot, and then of course I start tensing and that doesn't help either....

As far as varying location, I keep in in the rectangle of muscle you are supposed to inject into but I change the spot pretty frequently I feel, mostly because I can never remember where it didn't hurt. Early on I used to outline the general area on my leg with a marker whenever I found a spot that didn't hurt, so I knew kind of where it was, but now it all hurts.

Has anyone ever used ice on their leg first so the skin is numb and you can't feel the initial stab? I tried doing that whole 'miracle' no pain trick on youtube where you pull the skin really tight over the spot and then stab but i've found this does nothing and that it's still all about where you inject and if that spot is sensitive or not...

I know with the livestock we just put in the needle, then attach the syringe to that, I wonder if that would somehow help, like then the weight of the needle wouldn't be pulling on the muscle at all or something...? I don't know, it's just so awful, injection days have become such a source of anxiety for me which sucks since i'll be doing this for the rest of my life lol!

[Alexthecat]

I am assuming you mean you are at college. Colleges have registered nurses on site and they do flu shots and such. They could probably do your injection for you.

[FTMax]

I'm going through the same thing. I lost a little over 30lbs since October of last year and my body fat has dropped by around 8%. Before I didn't have many issues with the injections. I would get a little sore the day after, but it wasn't anything unbearable. Now, there's surface pain as the needle breaches skin (in and out), pain in the muscle that lasts longer than 24 hours, etc. I am pretty convinced it's because more of the needle is getting into the muscle.

What I've found helps:

- Ice pack for 5 minutes on the injection area before you inject
- Pressing or flicking on the skin where you want to inject to find a spot that feels good
- Scratch the opposite leg right before you inject as a distractor
- Ice pack for 5 minutes after you inject
- Massage the whole thigh for 10-15 minutes after the fact

Also, regarding needles: I use 1.5" needles and was told by the nurse that I only needed to get it about 3/4 of the way in. So maybe try not putting it in all the way?

[Bastian]

Thanks for the tips! I will give this a try next injection. I'm glad to hear someone else is having this problem. I definitely never manage to get the needle all the way in, probably only about 1" below its too painful and I just have to get it finished and over with so all good on that front haha. I will try ice, that seems like the best option. I always make sure i'm watching a funny youtube video or something to try to not focus on it but because of the anxiety thats not working so much anymore. I will try distracting myself by scratching my other thigh haha.
Thanks again for the tips.

Regarding the question about using a nurse here, the last nurse I had inject me hurt me when she stabbed me and it took my weeks of doing it myself to get over that anxiety so I don't really trust anyone else to do it, as I mentioned in my original post.

I'm going through the same thing. I lost a little over 30lbs since October of last year and my body fat has dropped by around 8%. Before I didn't have many issues with the injections. I would get a little sore the day after, but it wasn't anything unbearable. Now, there's surface pain as the needle breaches skin (in and out), pain in the muscle that lasts longer than 24 hours, etc. I am pretty convinced it's because more of the needle is getting into the muscle.

What I've found helps:

- Ice pack for 5 minutes on the injection area before you inject
- Pressing or flicking on the skin where you want to inject to find a spot that feels good
- Scratch the opposite leg right before you inject as a distractor
- Ice pack for 5 minutes after you inject
- Massage the whole thigh for 10-15 minutes after the fact

Also, regarding needles: I use 1.5" needles and was told by the nurse that I only needed to get it about 3/4 of the way in. So maybe try not putting it in all the way?

[Dex]

In regards to the glutes - it is a weird angle, but there is a decent area to work with. If you decide your cheek into 4 quadrants, you want the upper-outer quadrant on either cheek. That's kind of where you're aiming. It's not hard once you get the hang of it but it is a weird angle to reach behind you.
Instead of changing your whole routine, though, maybe try a couple of the things ftmax suggested. If that can get you through til you see your doc again, then you can talk to him about other methods and see if he has any suggestions as well.

[Ayden]

I second FTMax. I used ice on my leg for a while. It may be tmi but for a while when I was still new to injections I used to use a vibrator or massager on the site, sterilize and then inject.  It kind of scrambled the nerves and it hurt less.

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