I switched doctors and started injections a month ago, and just did my first one myself yesterday, so I'm pretty excited about that.  My question is where do you do them?  Your leg, or glute?  The first one I got was in my leg, and my muscle spasmed and it hurt a lot.  Then for the next 2 days, my whole leg down to my knee was very painful.  The next few times I got it in my glute, and the pain factor was much better.  I have a very physical job, so being in pain to the point of limping for 3 days makes work difficult.  Naturally, I'd like to do what hurts less, but my doctor said that I'm too thin to do them in my glute myself, because I was more likely to hit the sciatic nerve.  Does anybody here inject into their glute, and have you hit a nerve before?

Also, would needle size make a difference in how much it hurts?  The first two shots I got were with a 22G, 1 1/2" needle, and the next two were a 21G 1" needle.  Then yesterday they gave me some 21G and 25G, the bigger ones to draw with and the smaller ones to inject.  They can't seem to make up their minds about what needles I'm supposed to use.  Would smaller ones hurt less?  If so, I'm going to ask that they change my needle prescription to 25G before I go and fill it.

Congrats on switching docs, if I remember correctly you weren't satisfied with your first doc. (?)
Someone does mine in the glute and usually don't really feel anything. I've heard it can be more painful in the leg. My shots are done with a 18G needle and it's not painful, once I used 20G and it was pretty much the same "pain". But maybe you can feel more difference in your leg with smaller needles I don't know.

Leg is a horrible place for injection. I've had two shots to my leg and I was barely able to walk for couple days afterwards, I even had to take sick leave from work once because my job was very physical and included climbing on scaffolds which could've turned into a disaster if my leg suddenly gave in etc.
My fiancé does my shots to my glute. 18G for draw needle and 22G for injecting, and the only thing I basically feel is when the needle pierces the skin, that's all. For some reason, injecting to the left side hurt much more than the right...
But all in all, I've heard glute hurts less afterwards because it's a bigger muscle compared to leg. Of course, how fast T is injected is also a factor as I've noticed. Inject it too fast and you got the ouchies for the next couple days. Might depend on the "brand", though.

Of course I'm using E and I self inject,  I put my thumb at the top of my but cracking and my pointing finger towards my hip,  and find a spot between there points and a 22g needle and it's happy girl time ;-)

I'd be more inclined to think that the amount of pain could have something to do with how quickly you are injecting vs. the needle itself.  I do agree that somewhere such as your leg (or even shoulder) would be more likely to be painful than the glute.

I'm hella thin and inject in my glutes.  Well, my wife does it for me - but my GP told me that you'd have to be pretty clueless or drunk to hit the sciatic nerve if you follow the quadrant method.

I had my gf inject me for the first few months in the glute until I got up the nerve to self inject. I think the glute hurt a lot worse than the thigh. The very first time I self injected my leg was sore for days but I think that was because my hands were very shaky so I probably sliced everything up a little in there, lol.

Now I go slowly in my leg and use the "bounce" method. Barely any pain going in and no pain afterwards. Now I won't let anyone else inject me. Oh, and I use a 18G 1.5 inch to draw and a 21G 1.5 inch to inject.

Here is the video where I learned how to do the bounce method, if you're interested:

Hey.

I have had 2 shots so far both into the outer thigh part of my leg. The very first one was painless. Hurt less then getting blood drawn. The second one I felt A little more but wasn't anymore then an annoyance. I felt minor pain after the shot and the next day it's like it never even happened. I get my shots done for me as I am a newbie but I would say the pain scale was at a .5 out of 10 for me.

Had the nurse do them in my glute for a few weeks before I 'graduated' to self inject.

Now I do my thigh, alternating each week, with a 21 or 22g 1 inch. I'm a skinny guy. And I have to say...the thigh self inject doesn't hurt at all. Perhaps a little stiff the next day, but that's it. When the nurse did my glute, I always felt the jab.

Now, I know people have problems with self injecting, and that makes sense. When I asked my husband if he'd be comfortable sticking me, he told me flat out he couldn't do it, that he'd pass out.

Frankly, I enjoy the injection, savor it even, but I have a long history of self-harm that I think contributes to me getting a little 'high' off stabbing a needle into my leg. Not sure otherwise why I like it so much. So, the leg injection doesn't always hurt (I guess is my point, other than I might be a freak).

Also, I do believe smaller needles go in easier. I've done 21 and 22, and the 22 - didn't feel a thing, didn't even bleed. But - it does take awhile to push all the liquid out of the smaller needle, so if you aren't comfortable staring at the needle in your leg for 20+ seconds as you push the plunger...a larger size might be better.

Finally - I've found injecting to be infinitely more enjoyable with some good tunes blasting from my ipod. It helps

I self inject in alternating lateral thighs. Thigh hurts less than glute for a lot of people when you to the process right. No matter how you sit, you can often tense the glute. However, the best way to inject in the thigh is to hang your leg. This means either sitting on a counter or, like I do, sit on a few cushions so your leg is hanging with your foot not touching the ground. If you do this, you can't tense your lateral thigh muscles so much, if at all. Now try tensing your butt, you can still do it!

When it comes to injecting grab a chunk of your leg, hold needle against skin and either try bouncing method or just slowly push and it will break through. Holding the chunk of leg, I barely feel it! The smaller the needle, the less the pain of it going in, but the pressure needed to push it out can be more traumatic depending on the person.

Other things to watch: leave some air at the top near the plunger, this will push the T further into the muscle (this is safe!) And leave the needle in for 60 seconds to let the T move into the muscle (make sure it doesn't leak out of the muscle). Then YANK it out fast. And after, DO NOT RUB IT!!!! So many people rub the site and that just causes the pain people feel after. When you cut your arm and it's bleeding, do you rub it or put pressure on it? Rubbing a cut would break the skin more and worsen the injury. Rubbing the skin and muscle after injecting does the same thing to the muscle. Just take a bit of cotton wool or gauze or whatever, and apply LIGHT pressure for 60 seconds and you won't even need a band aid!

For me the best things about lateral thigh: no need to aspirate (though no harm in checking if you're worried), no sciatic nerve fears and less pain in general (more the case with people who don't realise that tensing up is why they feel pain).

I tend to mostly follow the same routine as a video on YouTube that you can find by looking up "How I Inject T" (hard to get link on phone) and it talks you through every step of the process, it doesn't mention about letting your leg hang though, and that part is one to look into at least.

How much pain is normal for me? Next to none! I can feel the needle at the skin only and barely at that, everything else during and after, not a thing!  Make sure you're not doing it too far up the leg. You should be able to roll up shorts and inject, it shouldn't be at your hip for example, closer to there would hurt a bit!

I self inject in my behind! Specifically the upper/outer quadrant of either cheek (usually it's more on my hip than my actually butt cheek).

I do it by laying on my left side with my right leg on the bed, slightly bent.  I reach back with my right hand, make sure i've got the right spot, and inject.  I ice it before hand and rarely feel much of anything.  This method works really wonderfully for me.  The idea of injecting in my leg freaks me out and seems painful.  There's a lot more padding on my backside haha. 

I got that kind of pain you're talking about the first time I injected, but haven't since then (though occasionally I've gotten similar pain but to a lesser extent, but only like 2-3 times in ~100 injections). I suspect it has more to do with how comfortable/experienced you are with injecting, less with site or needle size. I inject into my thighs with 23G or 25G 1 inch needles. "Normal" pain for me is some mild discomfort when actually injecting, and maybe a little soreness for the next 24 hours, but only noticeable if I'm doing a lot with that leg. Like, I don't do legs day at the gym a couple hours after my shot, but I could if I had to for some reason.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone!

Quote from: Jared on September 10, 2013, 02:34:17 PM
Congrats on switching docs, if I remember correctly you weren't satisfied with your first doc. (?)

Yes, and thanks!

Quote from: Tossu-sama on September 10, 2013, 02:42:19 PM
I've had two shots to my leg and I was barely able to walk for couple days afterwards, I even had to take sick leave from work once because my job was very physical and included climbing on scaffolds which could've turned into a disaster if my leg suddenly gave in etc.

Yeah, that's how it feels.  I don't want to miss work, but it makes for a really unpleasant day if I can barely lift my foot a few inches off the ground.  At least my job wouldn't include falling off of scaffolds, though. 

Quote from: Kreuzfidel on September 10, 2013, 05:49:51 PM
I'd be more inclined to think that the amount of pain could have something to do with how quickly you are injecting vs. the needle itself.

This is true.  When I got my first injection (in my leg) she just pushed all the T right in there, which I think is what caused my muscles to spasm and it to hurt a lot.  When I did it myself yesterday I did it slower, in about 10 seconds, and it didn't hurt nearly as much during or immediately after the shot.  Unfortunately, over the course of 5 or so hours the pain set in, and it hurt just as much today as it did last time. 

Quote from: Jack_M on September 10, 2013, 11:00:27 PMAnd after, DO NOT RUB IT!!!! So many people rub the site and that just causes the pain people feel after.

Really?  I'd always heard rubbing it made it hurt less, but what you're saying makes sense...


I sat down with my leg relaxed for the thigh shots, and stood up with all my weight on the opposite foot for my glute shots.  For them, it was just a bit of pain with the injection, and then it only hurt as much as if you were stretching your muscles just to the point of starting to hurt for about a day after, and only if I poked at it.  The leg pain could probably be minimized with practice and whatnot, but since it hurts so little in the glute I'd rather just do it there.  I looked up the quadrant method and it looks pretty straightforward.  I'll talk to my doctor at my next appointment and see what she says then.

Quote from: Farm Boy on September 11, 2013, 02:00:35 AM
This is true.  When I got my first injection (in my leg) she just pushed all the T right in there, which I think is what caused my muscles to spasm and it to hurt a lot.  When I did it myself yesterday I did it slower, in about 10 seconds, and it didn't hurt nearly as much during or immediately after the shot.  Unfortunately, over the course of 5 or so hours the pain set in, and it hurt just as much today as it did last time. 

Try injecting the T over the course of 30 seconds to one full minute. It gives the muscle some time to adjust to the thick liquid that's suddenly being stuffed in it. My fiancé uses at least that 30 seconds to do a shot and the only pain I have afterwards is directly in the spot of injection when I touch it too hard etc.

In my neck of the woods, the shots have to be administered by nurses; we aren't 'allowed' to self-administer. Luckily this is a free service provided by my GP.

We do have the choice of glutes or thighs though; so I go for the glutes. I tend to use my thighs a heck of a lot more than my glutes, so I need them in good working order. Of the more than 20 patients at our practice who get these shots, only one has it in the thigh.

I found that warming the vial up to slightly above body temperature helps tremendously. The injection isn't at all painful going in (it's less painful than having blood drawn) and it also goes in more quickly than when it's cold. So I just need to cope with a day or so of 'bee-sting' feelings and a couple of days of bruising, then the discomfort is all over. I'd much rather have that in my upper glutes than in my thighs.

Re: rubbing afterwards, I find that my injection site hurts much more if I don't rub it afterwards.  Rubbing also helps keep T from leaking out of the injection site (which can happen, not much but a little).  it also helps reduce build-up of scar tissue, which makes injecting easier and less painful in the long run.   

So... everybody's bod is different and rubbing might be bad for some folks, but for me it works great and those are the reasons.

On a physical level, it's actually bad for everyone.  The changes in practice regarding no longer rubbing were brought in not too long ago (maybe around the last 5 years, don't quote me) but the idea had been around for a while before it was removed from guidelines.  No new medical or nursing students are taught to rub, in fact they're told NOT to rub!  Some doctors and nurses don't keep up with current practice though and this is why out of date information or theories remain.

It doesn't prevent scar tissue, in fact rubbing can increase scar tissue.  The only way to help prevent scar tissue is alternating legs with every injection, and as for T leaking from the site, this is why you leave air at the top at the plunger and leave the needle in for 60 seconds.  The last push of air after the T pushes it into the muscle away from the needle with some force and the needle staying in place lets it circulate away from the site prior to yanking it out.  If you find T is leaking, then you should leave some air in the needle and leave it in longer.  None should leak from the site.  If it is, then you're losing a LOT of T because a lot will be lost into the subcutaneous layers and in the blood, and it's useless there.  Conservation = lower dose = lower costs = win!

There really is no need to rub the area.  Strictly speaking, you're more likely to lose T from the muscle if you rub.  The T can end up being massaged out of the muscle into your blood, where, again, it's kinda useless.   Say you have a water balloon, and you put a piece of sellotape on it and push a needle through (to create a slow leak).  If you put your finger on the hole, water stops escaping or at least slows.  But if you rubbed the area, even if you occasionally blocked the hole, the balloon is going to lose water at a faster rate than if you just left it alone because you're effectively pushing the water out of the hole now.  Pressure on the site itself = pressure at the hole where it happens which pushes the T into and away from the site.  Rubbing moves the T around inside of the muscle and towards the hole you just made, just like in that water balloon. 

And also, as stated before, you've caused an injury to the skin, underlying tissues and muscle.  If you did to your skin what you just did with the needle it's easier to understand how counter productive rubbing is.  If we made a thin cut in our leg and started rubbing that, it's going to bleed more and potentially get deeper which leads to a bigger wound and a higher chance of scarring.  The same happens to the internal structures when rubbing.  It's pushing and pulling on a thin cut from the needle and damaging the underlying tissues and pulling on the hole in the muscle, possibly making it wider, and all this is why rubbing can actually lead to greater likelihood of scar tissue.

The reason people think it increases speed of absorption (not quality, merely speed) is because of the idea that rubbing increases the blood supply in the area which increases speed of absorption.  And this idea is really only of any importance if you're administering pain relief.  It's useless and irrelevant for T absorption because T is combined with a substance specifically designed to slow the uptake of T so that you have a more consistent T level as opposed to major peaks and troughs in levels.

If people are used to rubbing and happy with it, they're free to continue to do so.  Makes no difference for me.  I'm just stating the science, research and current practice guidelines that say it's more damaging than helpful and any benefits are more from a placebo effect.  That way folks can make an informed decision on whether they apply pressure alone (current practice) or rub (advised against).

Hey there,

When I started testosterone (10 years ago....lawdy im getting old) I injected in the thigh and often found it painful. I also had a few spasms which made it relly painful. I switched to glutes - not a problem since.

I know someone who self-injects in his arm. His doc suggested due to the size of his arm muscles (I think he does the upper arm). I have heard this is not a good idea but he says he really prefers it to any site. Of course the guy has arms like hams. I mean they are HUGE. He's a rock climber. So if you have arms like hams?

--Jay