-
OD Moderators: Keif’ Richards | Tryptamino
IM Injection FAQ -- is there one? please help.
- Thread starter yahazim
- Start date
Since you question was not “Can I IM [drug of choice]?” I presume that you are asking about methods for IM injection.
Orlando’s rapid guide to IM injection:
Syringe
Use a syringe with a 25-27 gauge long needle. Remember, you need to penetrate your skin and subcutaneous tissue (fat) before getting to the muscle. B&D makes great syringes.
Site
For a beginner self administration, I recommend the frontal-outboard side of your thigh. Administer the injection in an imaginary box (you may want to actually draw the box on you leg if it makes you more comfortable). You are basically aiming for your vastus lateralis. Here’s how to find the site:
This site will accommodate doses of up to 5ml.
Clean the site as you would for IV. Using an alcohol pad (or paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it), begin at the injection site and make an outwardly-spiraling motion.
Injecting
This is best given sitting/reclining.
Notes
When pulling back on the plunger, if blood enters the syringe then immediately remove the needle. You have probably hit a vein and should not continue with the injection.
If you feel a burning pain while injecting, slow the rate of the injection.
If there’s enough interest in this, let me know and I’ll assemble a more comprehensive FAQ.
[fixed a typo]
Orlando’s rapid guide to IM injection:
Syringe
Use a syringe with a 25-27 gauge long needle. Remember, you need to penetrate your skin and subcutaneous tissue (fat) before getting to the muscle. B&D makes great syringes.
Site
For a beginner self administration, I recommend the frontal-outboard side of your thigh. Administer the injection in an imaginary box (you may want to actually draw the box on you leg if it makes you more comfortable). You are basically aiming for your vastus lateralis. Here’s how to find the site:
- The top of the box should be one hands length from you hip while sitting.
- The bottom of the box should be one hands width from your knee.
- The inboard side of the box should bisect your thigh as seen from the top.
- The outboard side of the box should bisect your thigh as seen from the side.
This site will accommodate doses of up to 5ml.
Clean the site as you would for IV. Using an alcohol pad (or paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it), begin at the injection site and make an outwardly-spiraling motion.
Injecting
This is best given sitting/reclining.
- Relax the muscle into which you are injecting.
- Holding the barrel of the syringe, quickly insert the needle at an angle perpendicular to your skin.
- Gently pull back on the plunger. If blood enters the syringe, remove the needle and start again with a new needle.
- Slowly push on the plunger, injecting at a rate of about 10 units per second.
- When the syringe is empty, remove the needle from your leg.
Notes
When pulling back on the plunger, if blood enters the syringe then immediately remove the needle. You have probably hit a vein and should not continue with the injection.
If you feel a burning pain while injecting, slow the rate of the injection.
If there’s enough interest in this, let me know and I’ll assemble a more comprehensive FAQ.
[fixed a typo]
Negro-kitty
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2001
- Messages
- 3,131
There isn't a faq here, but what do you want to know? I'm pretty experienced with IM injections.
Nice write-up, Orlando.
Btw, you can use 29 g needles for IM as well. You just want to them to be 1" long, not the 'shorts'.
Nice write-up, Orlando.
Btw, you can use 29 g needles for IM as well. You just want to them to be 1" long, not the 'shorts'.
YES!
A comprehensive FAQ on this subject would of been one of the first made I thought!
Wow.
It would be extremely helpful, especially for noobs or an experienced person needing more insight.
Question -- how do I PROPERLY clean up the injection site when complete? I'm a sensative person and want to clean it the best I can.
A comprehensive FAQ on this subject would of been one of the first made I thought!
Wow.
It would be extremely helpful, especially for noobs or an experienced person needing more insight.
Question -- how do I PROPERLY clean up the injection site when complete? I'm a sensative person and want to clean it the best I can.
Flexistentialist
Bluelight Crew
Providing you've cleaned the site first with an alcohol swab or equivalent, all you need to do after the shot is to apply pressure with a clean cotton ball or somethng like that.
If you want, you can tape the cotton ball over the site after a few minutes of presure. This isn't really necessary, its more an added precaution.
You can also add some kind of antiseptic cream afterwards, but leave this for a few minutes after the shot to avoid irritating it with some of the additives in many of those creams. Again, this isn't necessarily required providing you followed standard aseptic injecting procedures. It is again an added extra.
Also, I'd be inclined to avoid the finer guage needles like 29 and 27 guage, because there is a risk these can break off in your muscle.
You'd be better off with a 25, 23 or even 21 guage.
Here are some great links I found on doing IMs.
http://www.ebiocare.com/infocenter/consumer/educationlib/intramuscinject.html
http://www.nursesnetwork.co.uk/nurses office/02_06_24iminj.shtml
Here's a steroid user site, but it has some great pics of IM locations. http://www.rippedcanadians.ca/inject/sites.html
If you want, you can tape the cotton ball over the site after a few minutes of presure. This isn't really necessary, its more an added precaution.
You can also add some kind of antiseptic cream afterwards, but leave this for a few minutes after the shot to avoid irritating it with some of the additives in many of those creams. Again, this isn't necessarily required providing you followed standard aseptic injecting procedures. It is again an added extra.
Also, I'd be inclined to avoid the finer guage needles like 29 and 27 guage, because there is a risk these can break off in your muscle.
You'd be better off with a 25, 23 or even 21 guage.
Here are some great links I found on doing IMs.
http://www.ebiocare.com/infocenter/consumer/educationlib/intramuscinject.html
http://www.nursesnetwork.co.uk/nurses office/02_06_24iminj.shtml
Here's a steroid user site, but it has some great pics of IM locations. http://www.rippedcanadians.ca/inject/sites.html
Last edited:
Rockin’ linkage Flexistentialist.
Negro-kitty is correct, you can use 29 gauge needles. However, I think that for most sites, slightly larger needles are better.
yahazim – IM injection will probably be addressed in a broader FAQ that deals with methods of administration.
As far as post-injection cleaning goes, Flexistentialist is pretty dead-on. There really isn’t a need to “clean” it after injecting, although you could. A cotton ball or band-aid can help prevent bleeding and contamination.
The irritation you are experiencing may be from leakage. If this is the case, then you could use the Z-Track method - but I’m not about to try to describe how that works. You could also try drawing 10-20 units of air into the syringe before injecting.
---EDIT---
Awesome diagram showing how Z-Track works
Another IM injection page
Negro-kitty is correct, you can use 29 gauge needles. However, I think that for most sites, slightly larger needles are better.
yahazim – IM injection will probably be addressed in a broader FAQ that deals with methods of administration.
As far as post-injection cleaning goes, Flexistentialist is pretty dead-on. There really isn’t a need to “clean” it after injecting, although you could. A cotton ball or band-aid can help prevent bleeding and contamination.
The irritation you are experiencing may be from leakage. If this is the case, then you could use the Z-Track method - but I’m not about to try to describe how that works. You could also try drawing 10-20 units of air into the syringe before injecting.
---EDIT---
Awesome diagram showing how Z-Track works
Another IM injection page
Last edited:
Air bubbles of this size will not kill you.
The pain that occurs due to “leakage” happens because the drugs are allowed to move into subcutaneous tissue via the needle track. The Z-track method intends to stop this by removing a continuous needle track through which the drugs can evacuate.
The air bubble technique works differently. After injecting, the air will evacuate as you withdraw the needle, and supposedly will evacuate through the track before any drugs will.
The pain that occurs due to “leakage” happens because the drugs are allowed to move into subcutaneous tissue via the needle track. The Z-track method intends to stop this by removing a continuous needle track through which the drugs can evacuate.
The air bubble technique works differently. After injecting, the air will evacuate as you withdraw the needle, and supposedly will evacuate through the track before any drugs will.
Negro-kitty
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2001
- Messages
- 3,131
If you are IMing ketamine, massaging the injection site immediately afterwards, while slightly painful, greatly reduces bruising the following day.
Also, while a 25-27 g needle is probably ideal, the risk of a 29 g needle 'breaking off in your muscle' is really not the great. I've IMed well over a hundred times, always with 29 g needles, and never had a problem.
The benefit of 29 g needles is that they are the easiest to obtain, as they are sold as insulin syringes at most pharmacies, and some states allow you to buy them without a prescription.
Also, while a 25-27 g needle is probably ideal, the risk of a 29 g needle 'breaking off in your muscle' is really not the great. I've IMed well over a hundred times, always with 29 g needles, and never had a problem.
The benefit of 29 g needles is that they are the easiest to obtain, as they are sold as insulin syringes at most pharmacies, and some states allow you to buy them without a prescription.