God i see that vein bulge on peoples forheads and have the urge to pop a goofball straight into it.. seriously does.anyone.know if this is a viable iv roa.
Whilst I haven't ever tried to hit a forehead vein, I have tried to hit veins that pass across the front my shin, unfortunately it never worked. As soon as I got the needle in, the vein would immediately blow, blood would pool out and create a big lump that turned into a big bruise. Didn't even get a chance to register. I think because it was pressed tight between the skin and bone, the pressure was higher and it leaked. Plus the precision you would need to not puncture through the other side and still have the bevel fully in the vein makes it virtually impossible.
Have you tried your thighs? Take a good bright LED torch, one with a lithium battery and press it to your skin in a dark room. It'll illuminate surface veins. Once you spot them, feel them out with your fingertips, to get a sense of their depth. There are some big veins there, but they can be quite deep, so you'll need at least a 0.5" needle. I've used a 0.5" 30ga insulin needle for them no problem, but a 27 or 28 guage is probably better. There are also good veins around your deltoid/shoulder area you can find this way too. If you are a woman, avoid the chest area. Lastly, there is a huge vein that runs in the gap between the bicep and triceps, which you can find by feeling for it. It runs next to an artery and nerve, so you need to be careful. Take a look at an anatomy diagram of the blood vessels there. Find the artery and use that as your landmark
Hit your feet, between your toes, the backs of your legs if you have a friend
I've injected into just about every vein possible in my body, and I'm always slightly amused when someone recommends to inject in between the toes. Where, exactly? The veins are so incredibly tiny and thin there, it's not going to go into the venous system, so although I wouldn't recommend the external jugular over the toes, I would highly reccomend to stay away from there. Your toes are the farthest point away from your heart, blood flow is severely less there, so any misses or any cuts sitting in tissue will just breed bacteria with a reduced blood flow to heal and absorb. I would stay away from the feet, period. Access the greater Saphenous at the ankle if you need to, it's a huge vein and typically easy access.
There is a big vein between your big toe and 2nd toe, rather deep too. For me it required basically the full length of a 0.5" 30ga needle, albeit at a very shallow angle, you can feel it rather than see it. It lasted me quite a while, considering I was shooting #3 heroin, crack/cocaine and diphenhydramine in it. The great saphenous is a fantastic vein to use however. Extremely visible, very large, very stable. I think that vein between the toes may be the origin of the great saphenous.
There is a downside to using these veins however. It can lead to chronic venous insufficiency, venous stasis and in the worst cases, pain, lymphedema, DVT and leg ulcers which can lead to amputation. I only used my legs/feet a a few years, but I've been left with pigmentation on my feet, ankle flair and visible spider veins on my calves and thighs, slight swelling and psoriasis that is much worse on my lower legs/feet and itches like crazy. All of this only started to appear right at the end of my injecting use and only got bad well after I quit altogether. I think using the veins in the thighs would be far less damaging than using the veins in the lower leg, if possible. There are more veins that blood flow can be diverted through higher up the leg.
