For the past probably month or so, a couple days after I've done my T shot, I'll notice a small, yellow to light brown bruise on the same leg, though not at the injection site. It never hurts at all, even when pressed, but persists for the next week or two. I tried looking up "bruise without pain" on Google, but found nothing. Anyone else ever have this problem? I'm afraid I may be damaging blood vessels when I inject or something, but can't find any evidence as to what this might be.
SD
I'll get bruising at the injection site sometimes, but any other bruising on my legs come from something else. Are you perhaps just hitting your legs on a table or desk? I do that all the time and don't realize it until someone tells me. Then I wonder where bruises come from. ::)
Radar--- I doubt I am, because these bruises don't hurt at all. Whenever I've randomly hit myself on something and bruised, the bruises typically hurt.
Kvall--- yeah, I started out using 1 1/2- inch long needles, but switched to 1-inch about 8 months ago. I started noticing the bruises once in awhile after that, so it's quite possible that's the cause. They've just been a little more frequent lately... or perhaps I've only just taken note of them more recently. I haven't noticed anything but maybe a drop of blood once in awhile right after a shot... never had it bleed profusely.
SD
Should you be using one-inch needles? I've heard that one and a quarter is ideal, but I'm stuck with one and a half. Never get bruising, but I inject in my butt.
Which reminds me, I need to take in my new scrip and pick up extra needles on my old scrip. I'm going to go to a different pharmacy. The pharmacist at the old one was hassling me about the amount of T in the bottle...I sure as heck don't want to go back to him.
Ahem. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack.
Quote from: Kvall on October 25, 2009, 11:52:22 PM
Now I have 1 1/2 inch needles, but I only go 1 inch in because, without fail, I get this funny sort of pain as soon as I go past that.
That's exactly why I switched to the 1 inch. More often than not, with the 1 1/2 I'd end up having a muscle spasm once it got in past 1 1/4. With the 1 inch, I push the needle all the way in. I tried just going in 1 inch on the longer needles, but I'd invariably move the syringe slightly while injecting and hurt myself.
I've never heard anyone say that they'd noticed any difference in effectiveness between IM and subcutaneous shots... my original doctor told me to do IM in my upper leg, but no one since has had any input. So, I figure as long as I'm not doing myself a disservice by doing shots the way I am, I guess I'm okay. Of course, if it's causing the bruises, that might not be the best thing.
Arch... I could say too many really funny and inappropriate things about the fact that you inject in your rear end. I'll try to politely refrain.
SD
The bruises tend to be anywhere from 4-8 inches, roughly, from the injection site. They're always on the top of my thigh, though, where I inject.
Too shallow seems to result in a bruise, not fun. Now, I use my leg, I have large muscles on my legs plus a layer of fat on there. So, I used 1-1/2 inch needles, and try to get it in 1-1/4 at least - today's shot was a bit more than that and it went well. I use #22 needles so yeah they hurt a little, but basically there are "layers" in there and so there's a little feeling of going through each layer. Really not a biggie.
Some things that help me: (1) Put a pot of coffee on, that delicious smell = the reward I get when my shot's done. (2) Talk back to or with whatever show or commercial is on the radio to distract myself a bit. And, (3) DON'T WATCH the shot go in, once I look where I'm placing the tip of the needle, I don't look. There's no need to watch the needle go in, other than just checking to see how deep it's in, then I push the stuff in slowly (do it quickly and you'll get it leaking out the hole when you pull the needle out) and then when it's pushed in, I let the needle sit for maybe 10-15 seconds then pull out. Then just hold the alcohol pad on there with a little pressure, because it can start bleeding a bit sometimes.
Once I got more than the usual blood, I probably hit a capillary or something, fairly near the surface.
Yeah, try going for deeper injections. You'll still feel like you got punched in the thigh, but it'll look a lot better.
Also, alternate which leg you shoot yourself in.
I alternate legs, and I do get a little soreness the next day but nothing like being punched in the leg. More like a kid gave me a "frog" on the leg (frog = you raise your middle knuckle and do a little jab-punch with that) lol.
Quote from: Sebastien on October 26, 2009, 12:19:11 AM
Arch... I could say too many really funny and inappropriate things about the fact that you inject in your rear end. I'll try to politely refrain.
Aw, nuts. And I was so looking forward to your wit...it's one of the things that I like about you.
Post Merge: October 26, 2009, 03:12:39 AM
Quote from: Alex_C on October 26, 2009, 02:47:56 AM
I use #22 needles so yeah they hurt a little, but basically there are "layers" in there and so there's a little feeling of going through each layer.
Huh. I use #21 and felt a little poke when I first started out, but now I feel absolutely nothing at all. Could it be the oily little drop of T at the tip of the needle? I have a friend who insists that the oil makes the needle slide in like a knife through butter...anyway, I do leave a drop there and don't feel a thing. It's grand.
I think the needle just slides in because it's smooth, and I probably slide it in too slow which is why I feel the "layers".
Although, in the butt is supposed to be more pain free than in the leg.
for me, it rarely hurts in my butt, but it seems to leak more, so i do it in my leg.
Quote from: Josh on October 26, 2009, 04:40:03 AM
for me, it rarely hurts in my butt, but it seems to leak more, so i do it in my leg.
What about one of those Z injections? That should stop any leakage...although I don't know if it's easy to do in the butt.
What's a Z injection?
z tracking method. if you google it, you can find a little diagram.
ive tried it (on my butt), but the angle makes it nearly ineffective. i do use it on my thigh. i like it a lot.
I noticed the bruising quite a bit more while I was doing z-tracking. I stopped a couple shots ago, and on this week's shot, at least, I didn't notice a bruise. As for using longer needles, as a couple guys suggested, it's not pain that's an issue for me, it's the muscle spasms. I had one actually force the needle halfway out... and that was the last time I used one of the 1 1/2-inch needles. My legs are incredibly muscular, but I have no real way of knowing whether an inch-long needle is sufficient to get well into the muscle... if what I'm doing is subcutaneous injections, I'm not worried, as long as they work as well and aren't causing any other problems. My biggest concern is that the bruising might be related to some damage I'm doing myself via the shots... and I'd definitely like to know sooner rather than later should that be the case.
Arch... this site does not permit me to make some the lewd but clever comments I make. Sorry. One of these days, perhaps the rules will ease up. In my over 3 years on this site, however, I haven't noticed relaxation of any rules.
As for leaking... I had T leakage when I was just doing straight shots with the 1-inch needles. Mister (who seems to have disappeared, strangely enough) suggested at the time that I try z-tracking. The injections did leak slightly less with that, but like I said, about 2 shots ago I decided to try just straights injections to see if they'd resolve the bruising. If I just leave the needle in for about 30 seconds after injecting, I don't notice much leakage, really.
SD