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Heroin collapsed veins and cigarettes

C

capacoda

Greenlighter
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Messages
4
Those of us who IV heroin most likely know a thing or two about missed veins, unless you are a needle savant who never misses and rotates sites like the world on its axis. I've been shooting off and on for 3 months.

Anyways, I'm wondering if smoking cigarettes can exacerbate collapsed veins and/or hinder the healing process. What about smoking as a risk factor for collapse? I know nicotine has a capacity to constrict your veins and arteries....


so what I'm asking is as a responsible H banger would it be in the interest of harm reduction to quit smoking??


greenlighter,
capa
 
capacoda said:
unless you are a needle savant who never misses and rotates sites like the world on its axis.
Click to expand...
=D

Anyways, I'm wondering if smoking cigarettes can exacerbate collapsed veins and/or hinder the healing process. What about smoking as a risk factor for collapse? I know nicotine has a capacity to constrict your veins and arteries....


so what I'm asking is as a responsible H banger would it be in the interest of harm reduction to quit smoking??


greenlighter,
capa
Click to expand...

Cigarettes are not good for your cardiovascular system nor your circulatory system, so it isn't going to help your veins show at all.

Constriction of the veins/arteries isn't going to help either, so nicotine in itself is a bad idea if you want your veins to show.

Hands down, yes, in the interest of harm reduction, it is in anyone and everyone's best interest to quit smoking cigarettes, whether or not you're using heroin or other drugs.
 
ciggz suck(literally), my ninja...i bet it does make veins worse for wear, deff. not better lol. good point ive never thought about it tho. you kno the answer if your already asking about it
 
IMO if you've only been shooting for 3 months and properly rotated sites of injection u shouldn't have to worry about collapsed veins. I've been using Iv for 3 years daily and still don't have much of a problem finding a vein though I have built up scar tissue. Idk maybe I was just blessed with good veins.
 
Nicotine does interfere with your bodies healing process. I smoke and any sort of scabs, paper cuts, anything really take forever to heal. I quit smoking a few months ago for about three weeks and about three days after my last cig any sort of abrasions I had healed right up. Smoking impairs tissue oxygenation, relative hypoxia, and considerably slows down white blood cells. And yeah, nicotine causes blood vessel restriction. I've been banging H for a bit longer than you and have never had problems with collapsed veins. I do have noticeable tracks on my arm though, but I don't rotate injection sites and I reuse needles. You should try to avoid reusing needles as much as possible since they won't make a clean puncture anymore. Also rotating injection sites is a good idea. It would always be in someone's best interest to quit smoking but it would also be in someone's best interest not to use H as well.
 
Unless you have absolutely horrible technique and use dull rigs, etc, it takes many many years for your veins to finally start going. So.. at 3 months your veins should be immaculate..

I've gone through periods where I was a smoker on H and a non-smoker on H, and I never noticed any difference in regards to how my veins healed or the ease of hitting, etc.
 
The constriction effects of cigarettes are mostly witnessed on the smaller capillaries, particularly at the peripheral of your limbs. Veins are a lot bigger so you won't have any noticeable effects of them "collapsing" as such, at least not compared to poor IV technique. Smoking does have a 20-30% reduction in healing and also affects your immune system so healing of any wound is greatly reduced though.

As some one already said if it's only been 3 months then you should revisit your technique or stop IVing until you learn how to do it safely.
 
I just have one bad one.... On the top of my hand which was my best vein but I kept using it over and over until it just flattened out. But yeah I'm gonna quit smoking here as its just something I can live without.

Anybody got some good rules of thumb for rotating sites??
 
capacoda said:
I just have one bad one.... On the top of my hand which was my best vein but I kept using it over and over until it just flattened out. But yeah I'm gonna quit smoking here as its just something I can live without.

Anybody got some good rules of thumb for rotating sites??
Click to expand...

I find it surprising that a vein on your hand is preferable to the medial cubital. Cigarettes may have some effect however I suspect it is pissing in the ocean, compared to other factors.

I am guessing after three months you probably have not yet learned to comfortably shoot with either hand.

I would avoid using crushed up pills or stimulant drugs these wreak havoc on veins. I realise you probably don't use pills, however, would you use them if your source of H dried up and all that was available was OxyContin?

You can soon tell if scar tissue has built up in an area since it's noticeably more difficult to slide the pick into the vein. I would suggest if you have any difficulty registering (blood flows back slowly etc) then you have probably over-used a site and need to give it a rest.

As other people have said: it takes years and years (usually) to fuck up veins. The only vein I have ever "lost" I attribute to using bupe strips over and over in the same vein.
 
capacoda said:
I just have one bad one.... On the top of my hand which was my best vein but I kept using it over and over until it just flattened out. But yeah I'm gonna quit smoking here as its just something I can live without.

Anybody got some good rules of thumb for rotating sites??
Click to expand...


Ideally, (and this is really in the beginning when you have a multitude of veins left to choose from) you shouldn't use the same site twice until it has had complete time to heal, be it a week or more. But at the very least, using the exact same site over and over again, should be discouraged. Moving up and down even the same vein is preferable to just pounding the same spot to the point where you develop massive scar tissue.

However, you still need to give each vein, the entire vein, time to heal after a while, even if you are rotating sites up and down it.

You mentioned that you used the vein in the top of your hand to the point of it collapsing... in 3 months of using NO veins should have gone away like that. Either you are using improper equipment like too big of a gauged syringe for such a small vein, or your technique is very bad. If you're already doing such damage in 3 months... imagine where you will be in 3 years.. :\

The veins in your hands, lower wrists, feet, ankles, etc, should only really be used except for rare occasions when rotating sites after all other options have failed, meaning the veins in your forearm and upper arm have collapsed. Note: This should take many years though. Like I said, damaging veins to the point where they are un-hittable so early is a sign of very poor technique and is really bad for you.
 
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