Injecting Insulin:
"Knowing how to properly give yourself injections is only part of making
injections less painful. Other steps such as making sure the syringe is properly
prepared and using sterile technique to decrease your risk of infection are
also important steps in helping make injections less painful."
Before You Start:
a. Keep your supplies together in a small container or bag, or in the same place. What you will
need: insulin syringe, insulin bottle (or bottles, if mixing two insulins) and alcohol wipes.
b. Check the insulin bottle and make sure it is the right insulin. When you first open an insulin bottle, write
the date on it. After 30 days, get rid of any remaining insulin because it loses it’s effectiveness after this time.
Getting Started:
1. Wash your hands with soap and water, dry them thoroughly. Take the bottle of insulin between your hands and roll (not shake) it gently back and forth to thoroughly mix the contents.
This is especially important for the cloudy insulins.
2. Open an alcohol wipe and swab the top of the insulin bottle.
If the bottle has not been opened yet, remove the protective
cover. It usually will pop off with a little upward pressure.
3. Pick up your syringe in one hand, and with the other hand, grasp the
needle cap firmly between your thumb and forefinger. Pull the cap straight
off without touching the needle.
Preparing the Syringe:
4. Make note of how many units of insulin you'll be injecting. Pull the plunger of
the syringe back and draw air into the syringe to the same amount of units. Insert
the needle into the rubber stopper of the insulin bottle and push the plunger to
inject the air into the bottle. Doing this draws the insulin out easier because the air
displaces the volume of the insulin and equalizes the pressure in the bottle.
5. Leave the needle in the bottle, turn the bottle upside down and make sure the tip
of the needle is below the surface of the insulin. Pull back again on the plunger to
fill the syringe to slightly more than the number of units needed.
6. If you notice air bubbles trapped in the syringe, tap the
syringe gently with a fingernail to dislodge the bubbles
and so they float to the top. Push the air bubbles back into
the bottle and pull back again to fill the syringe to the correct
amount of insulin. Take the needle out of the bottle.
Choosing the Injection Site:
7. Choose the site of the injection. Make sure that you are
rotating the site, so that you're not always using the same spot.
This will prevent your skin from becoming tough and uneven.
8. Rotate injection sites by choosing one spot and moving over a ¼ to ½ inch in
one direction away from the site. When you have run out of surface area in that
direction, estimate the original injection site and move over a ¼ to ½ inch in the
opposite direction. Do not rotate sites by switching left and right sides. It is more
difficult to keep track of the original injection site.
9. Open another alcohol wipe or use the one you used on the insulin bottle if it is
not dry yet. Clean the site in a circular motion. Let the skin dry before you proceed
which takes only takes a minute or two. Try to relax the muscle around the
injection site area. Relaxing the muscles around the site area will make the
injection less painful.
Ready, Set...
10. Take the skin between your forefinger and thumb and pinch gently. With the
other hand, take the syringe place it the needle at a 90 degree angle with the site.
For individuals who are thin or children, a 45 degree angle to the site is preferred.
Gently push the needle into the skin all the way to the hub of the needle. It is
important to push the plunger all the way in to inject all of the insulin into the fatty
tissue.
11. When taking out the needle make sure you draw it out at the same angle that
you put it in so the site is not traumatized. If the site is bleeding, you can apply
pressure on the site with the alcohol wipe. It should stop bleeding in a few seconds.
12. Carefully place the cap back on the needle taking care not to stick yourself.
Discard the syringe in a sharps container or use an empty laundry detergent bottle
with a screwtop lid. There are many community drop off points that will take your
properly stored used syringes. Usually pharmacies or hospitals will be happy to
dispose of them for you.
13. Put the insulin back in the fridge, and put all your supplies in your specially
designated place for the next time. Congratulations on a job well done.
TIPS:
a. Some people reuse their syringes to cut down on
costs, but there are good reasons not to do this. Once
you use a syringe, it is not sterile anymore and your
risk of skin infections from using a contaminated needle
increase. It is also not wise to use alcohol to clean the
used needle, because this strips the silicone coating
off the needle, making it more painful and irritating
to the site.
b. Never share syringes. Diseases such as AIDS and
hepatitis are spread through blood to blood contact and
sharing syringes places you at risk.
c. If you feel any signs or symptoms of hypoglycemia,
check your blood sugar between 1 to 2 hours after
giving yourself the injection.
Health Tip #:004
Cut The Fat Out of Your Diet
To reduce the risk of heart disease, health experts recommend a diet with no more the 30 percent of daily calories from fat, fewer than 10 percent of calories from saturated fat, and no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol. This is especially important for people with diabetes because they have a greater risk of heart disease.
Here are some tips for cutting the fat in meals:
- Avoid high-fat foods, such as fatty meats, whole milk dairy products, stick margarine, butter, and rich desserts.
- Look for reduced-fat or fat-free products at the supermarket, but analyze them carefully. Some may fit into a diabetic meal plan. Others may reduce or eliminate fat but add sugars or starches that could throw off your carbohydrate count.
- Trim all visible fat from meats or poultry. Remove the skin from poultry.
- Use tuna packed in water, not oil.
- Bake, broil. Grill, poach, steam, or microwave foods instead of frying.
- Omit the butter, margarine, or cooking oil called for in package directions when cooking rice or pasta.
- Select frozen vegetables made without butter or sauces.
- When browning meat, coat the cold pan with nonstick cooking spray and skip, or use less, cooking oil.
- Reduce cholesterol by substituting two egg whites or ¼ cup egg substitute for one whole egg in recipes.
With these simple changes you can make a healthy difference in the long run for you and your family as well.
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Better Living Now is a proud supporter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation:
© 2007 by Vanderbilt University
Reference: American Diabetes Association:
Reference: American Diabetes Association:
There are 23.6 million children and adults in the US with diabetes -- 5.7 million people are undiagnosed and 57 million have a condition called pre-diabetes.
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