Harm Reduction Curious, The tourniquet

[Zonxx]

aside from assisting in locating, and helping not miss a vein, is there any other benefits/ is it absolutely necessary to apply one when Iving? i've actually known some not to use one so, it leaves one to wonder, absolute necessity or not?

 

[F.U.B.A.R.]

Usually not necessary tbh, but at least it looks very dramatic in the movies. When you've got decent veins there is no benefit from using a tourniquet at all - in fact it can make things worse. Once you've registered, you need to loosen the tourniquet before injecting, and the action of doing this can cause the needle to slip from the vein - either that or the loose end of the strap/belt/whatever knocks it out for you.

So generally speaking it's too much of a faff. Even if your veins need some persuasion, you're better off doing some pressups instead to get the blood pumping. I think many people use them because they think they have to, but soon realise it's a damn sight easier without.

 

[Meth novice 79]

I don’t use one.
Just lower my arm grip my bicep then open and close my hands a few times to pump a little blood into my veins and I’m good to go.

Now my mate with half a body of blown out veins on the other hand, NEEDS his tourniquet for every hit.

 

[KS78]

I used to apply tourniquet during my initial phase of IV experience. It used to make finding veins much easier and being much younger and ignorant, I thought that I was supposed to use it. Nobody showed me how to use needles, shoot drugs; I pretty much decided to shoot coke one day when I was abusing any substance around me heavily. None of my friends used this route so I just started myself and learned as I go other than very essensial points such as not shooting into an artery. I slowly figured out more about the correct dose, needle size and way to tourniquet. Then, once I got some experience and more knowledge about the mapping of my body, I stopped using it. After a few years of going deeper into IV drugs (coke, heroin, morphine, MDMA, meth, speed, diazepam, ... and soo stupid but even LSD), I became a pretty hardcore junky for lots of years during which I had to use tourniquet in order to find my deteriorating veins.

But usually, once you get better at injecting and learning your body, I don't think that there is much need. The worst use of tourniquet that I saw was a kid choking himself in front of a mirror in order to shoot his neck vein.

 

[Zonxx]

I used to apply tourniquet during my initial phase of IV experience. It used to make finding veins much easier and being much younger and ignorant, I thought that I was supposed to use it. Nobody showed me how to use needles, shoot drugs; I pretty much decided to shoot coke one day when I was abusing any substance around me heavily. None of my friends used this route so I just started myself and learned as I go other than very essensial points such as not shooting into an artery. I slowly figured out more about the correct dose, needle size and way to tourniquet. Then, once I got some experience and more knowledge about the mapping of my body, I stopped using it. After a few years of going deeper into IV drugs (coke, heroin, morphine, MDMA, meth, speed, diazepam, ... and soo stupid but even LSD), I became a pretty hardcore junky for lots of years during which I had to use tourniquet in order to find my deteriorating veins.

But usually, once you get better at injecting and learning your body, I don't think that there is much need. The worst use of tourniquet that I saw was a kid choking himself in front of a mirror in order to shoot his vein.

this isn't the positive energy i needed on this fine morning, but i suppose it's enlightening to folks that aren't aware of dabbling with a needle can do, i figured the tourniquet was always pointless, i only ever used one once when i decided to go ahead with my own first self injection, but i did use one last month to show a nurse how to take a blood test(she had NO IDEA how to find a vein), yeah thats right you read that correctly, welcome to medicare in canada