Can I reuse a needle under these circumstances...?

[John_Burrows]

I know common wisdom is that we should always use a fresh needle for every dose, but it just seems like a waste. Here is my routine, let me know what you think:

I shoot in my own home, so everything is clean and only used by me. I use a swab to disinfect everything, crush my dilaudid and draw up through cotton using sterile water.

I register on the first try so there is no "dulling" of the needle (I'm also very careful and never let the needle touch anything other than my skin and the cotton).

After I shoot I rinse the syringe with filtered water and replace the orange cap and then toss it in a drawer until its time to go to the needle exchange.

Anyway, it just seems like a waste of a perfectly good needle to go through this "one shot and into the trash" routine.

Is this really the only healthy approach or is it safe to reuse these needles even one more time?

 

[Jabberwocky]

I register on the first try so there is no "dulling" of the needle

as soon as that needle pierces through your skln it dulls. i'd drag out that picture that shows just how bad it can get after a mere 3 uses and goes onto 7 but the bookmark i've got is broken.

if you've got easy access to fresh needles there is no reason to re-use. none.

i'll save you the whole lecture because it's you who ultimately makes the choice.

use an alternate route of administration. take the tip off and plug it. or snort. or orally.

 

[artaxerxes]

Here's a link to a page with the 3 rigs, dulling after 1 use.

3 or 4 posts down.:

http://www.bluelight.ru/vb/showthread.php?t=481546

 

[Jabberwocky]

^cheers heh, i was little a bit off the numbers but the fact remains the same.

now close your eyes and imagine that damaged tip slipping around in your arm tearing up your veins. that's why you don't reuse.

 

[JamtasticX]

I've done it plenty of times, not a good idea, but you probably wont die from it.

I once had a friend who thought he could give himself hep c from reusing his own needle, but I digress

 

[John_Burrows]

That's why I was specifically saying that this would assume I registered on the first try. Unless you're suggesting that if I miss, because even one attempt dulls the needle significantly, I should open a new needle, load my shot into it and try again.

I think everyone probably uses the same needle until they register, which hopefully is within the first three tries. What's the difference between that and reusing a needle that I registered with on the first hit?

I understand its always a good idea to use a fresh needle, but I was looking for a more real world idea of the danger involved with reusing a needle in the situation I described.

Is a dulled tip the ONLY consideration?

 

[Draigan]

no man. Bacteria grows in the needle after u use it. Its just a bad idea. Ive resused them before, and fuck I have even shot some not so clean water before, but its just not a good idea. I think one time I got sick from shooting dirty water.

 

[paranoid android]

Reusing a needle is a good way to get cotton fever. Well it's really bacteria in the shot it's just called cotton fever. Everyone i know who has reused a needle has ended up with something like this. Not to mention it might be a very good way to get a abcess.

So yeah just use them once. A fucking bag of needles costs less then $4 at most drugstores so theres no excuse not to have them really. Well unless you live in a state or country where you can't buy needles OTC.

 

[Retrospect]

It's a bad idea. Period. That's a "real-world", realistic way of looking at it. Realistically, your lowing your harm reduction percentage significantly. Plain and simple. Bad idea.

 

[fryingsquirrel]

Another consideration no one has mentioned is used points can catch you a a bad case of jail time. That's why I use a new one ever time, not because I'm worried they're dull.

 

[zombiesarepeaceful]

What about if a person washes this syringe out with diluted bleach 3x and then water?
Isn't that the "recommended" way of sterilizing it if we're absolutely going to reuse a needle?

 

[paranoid android]

What about if a person washes this syringe out with diluted bleach 3x and then water?
Isn't that the "recommended" way of sterilizing it if we're absolutely going to reuse a needle?

Ive known people to do this and still get a fucking case of cotton fever. Actually most people use peroxide i think. Still a bad idea as the needle gets rather dull. Ive never reused a needle except when i wasent in a vein and had to take the needle out and rehit myself and even then i noticed it getting dull.

 

[John_Burrows]

Thanks for the insight guys, I hadn't considered the possibility of bacteria growing on the needle while it waits to be used again.

I hit up the needle exchange every couple of weeks so getting fresh rigs isn't a problem, I just always felt like it was a waste to use the thing once and toss it. But now I have a better understanding of why.

 

[KingdomCome]

Actually it's a combination of all of the above that you've mentioned.

First needles dull as soon as you use them.

Second all kinds of pathogens grow on the needle as soon as you draw out and especially as you wait. Cleansing the needle may kill of some pathogen but not all, some resistant to alcohol may still be on the needle.

Third, needles are cheap, they're less than a buck per needle and why risk your health by not trashing after the first time?

 

[Coolio]

It's just plain 'dirty' to re-use needles. I can talk squares into being accepting of IV drug use, but if you hint for a second that you've re-used a needle to inject drugs, most people will never think of you the same way again.

 

[raver2008]

Not as clean,and look at that pic, after one use,let alone a few that needle is tore all to fuck.