Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Yesterday I administered my third T injection by myself. It was my first time doing it. I injected in the top of my left thigh where there's plenty of muscles. Yesterday evening and today there's redness at the injection site, it's sore, and the muscle is hard. The area is roughly 2 inches in diameter. Any idea what's going on? =/

I had that happen as well. Heat and massage worked to get the lump to go down and it stopped hurting. I used a heating pad and massaged the injection site for maybe twenty minutes or so. The swelling had gone down the next day.

Could be you were tense and didn't realize it. Could be testosterone that didn't absorb into the muscle all the way. Those are the possible answers I got and found when I had the same issue.

Have you been rotating your sites properly?

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nmp/sonet/rlos/placs/nctl178-injection-sites/index.html (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/nmp/sonet/rlos/placs/nctl178-injection-sites/index.html)

I have been rotating my injection sites properly, so that's not an issue. I think Andrew Scott may have it right in saying that perhaps all the T didn't get absorbed into the muscle, because when I pulled the needle out I saw a clear droplet and then the little dot of blood. So perhaps not all of the T got into the muscle. Is the T less effective when that happens? I'm all worried now. :(

I think you have to worry/seek dr. if you have inflamation, the skin is warm to touch and/or get a fever - signs of an infection brewing.

Otherwise, just sounds like an 'imperfect' injection that caused some trauma to the area.

Warming up the testosterone prior to injecting will help keep this from happening also.  Because it is so viscous, sometimes the t just sits there and doesn't disperse like it should.  I fill a small dixie cup up with very hot water and let the vial sit in the water upright for about 5 to 10 minutes.

The only time I've gotten a bad lump is when I didn't warm it first.  I then used warm compresses to the area and that helped a lot.

Good luck

Junior, do you think warming up the T would help with overall soreness too?  I usually have a pretty sore shot site. 

I was sore for a while as well. It went away with time.

Hey Heath, did the swelling go down? Wish I could help with your question about not getting all the T in your system or it being less effective but I'm not sure really.

I had similar experiences when I used to inject it on my thighs. The soreness made walking hard and it would go on days. But no such problems since I've switched  the injection site to my butt. The soreness goes away overnight. I don't warm up the area or T.

The swelling and redness went away on the third day. I think I may switch the injection site to my rear if it happens with the next injection on my thigh. Thanks to everyone who replied, there were some helpful suggestions here for the future!

Well, I got my next injection, this time in my right leg and no problems with swelling and redness.  The muscle is a bit sore, sure, but no problems.  The nurse said most likely what happened is I didn't stab the needle in fast enough the last time.  I also grabbed a big chunk of leg and squeezed upward because I heard that helps as well.

So, now I think I know where I went wrong.  Good also to know that I don't have to switch the injection site to my rear!

That's strange, my 3rd shot was the only shot I've had that gave me a reaction similar to what you've described.  For me it was painful, stiff, and warm to the touch.  It went away after the third day as well.  Since then, I haven't had any problems at all when I inject -- in fact, I don't have pain anymore, either, and that stopped altogether after the fourth shot or maybe even the third.  Glad to hear it all went well.  :)