• 💊 OTHER DRUGS 💊 Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Notable Threads 1 Notable Threads 2
    Dangerous Combos Addiction Support
    Emergency Services Benzo Guide v.1
    Addiction Stories Scary Case Studies
    Biology, Pharmacology & Drugs 101
  • Select Your Topic Then Scroll Down
    Alcohol Bupe Benzos
    Cocaine Heroin Opioids
    RCs Stimulants Misc
    Harm Reduction All Topics Gabapentinoids
    Tired of your habit? Struggling to cope?
    Want to regain control or get sober?
    Visit our Recovery Support Forums

Is it easier to shoot with a smaller gauge

A

Alien47

Bluelighter
Joined
Aug 22, 2015
Messages
127
Ok so what I want to know is does it hurt less and is it easier to pierce the skin with a smaller needle ex 31vs a 27 gauge because I have a 26 I think and it seems difficult and painful so I haven't shot up yet but I want to try with the least amount of pain
 
It really depends on how your veins are, and what veins you're trying to hit. But in general, assuming that you got fairly virgin veins, a higher gauge 'hurts' less and causes less damage then a lower one. I personally find 31g to be too high of a vein however, those ones clog way to easily. 29g was the perfect fit for me when I had good veins. The 27g are really best for people that have to hit deep veins or push through a lot of scar tissue. For instance, if you're hitting your deep femoral you'd want to use a 27g with the long tip as it's much less likely to snap off in your groin then a 28-29g (which has happened to me before but luckily I was able to pull the needle out). The 31g and bee stinger points are great for small surface veins like the ones on your hands, fingers and feet. You do not want to use a 27g in your foot.
 
As Znegative I find 29 best and any more is really overkill. They are harder to get through scar tissue, but are better for your skin as it is a smaller hole that needs to clot shut.
 
I find that higher gauge needles are easier and less painful, as it's literally a smaller needle you're stabbing into your arm/leg/wherever. They also tend to leave less of a mark. My preference is a 31g.
 
lol @ a shooter saying it hurts.

welcome to the needle; give it a week and it will never hurt again; even when you have these THICK abscesses in your arm from missing but you continue to shoot into that same arm/abscess.
 
IMtrying said:
lol @ a shooter saying it hurts.

welcome to the needle; give it a week and it will never hurt again; even when you have these THICK abscesses in your arm from missing but you continue to shoot into that same arm/abscess.
Click to expand...
This is true OP, shooting doesn't hurt at all for me anymore. I was shooting ketamine the other day, but since I'd already been snorting ketamine I want in the best physical state to be shooting something. Well, long story short, I stuck a needle in my arm probably 10 times and it looks like I have a nasty rash there now from the marks. Didn't hurt at all though.
 
He's back! Shooting ketamine now too! What will he think of next? Glad to hear you're not dead.

Edit: That rash is scar tissue. Avoid pushing the needle through it. Try to go above, under, or around it. Sooner or later if you keep bruising scar tissue it's going to get too hard to push the needle through without using a bigger needle.
 
My preference is 31g but I'm still new to it. Actually having trouble finding veins now and I don't know what to do. Are the hardness on my main veins in the crook of my arms still ok to shoot into?
 
tacodude said:
He's back! Shooting ketamine now too! What will he think of next? Glad to hear you're not dead.

Edit: That rash is scar tissue. Avoid pushing the needle through it. Try to go above, under, or around it. Sooner or later if you keep bruising scar tissue it's going to get too hard to push the needle through without using a bigger needle.
Click to expand...
Come on don't be like that, I've been clean for quite a while actually. The reason I was gone is because I was clean.

The marks from injecting the ketamine are disappearing, I doubt it'll scar. It just looked like that from having so many entry points from the needle.
 
What?! I was jesting in a friendly manner? Don't feel the love? :'( <-- sad face

Trust me it's scaring. I had the same thing and thought it was bruising, but no when the lab technician tried poking through it having no luck she pointed it out as scar tissue. Trust me you don't want to find out like that.
 
tacodude said:
He's back! Shooting ketamine now too! What will he think of next? Glad to hear you're not dead.

Edit: That rash is scar tissue. Avoid pushing the needle through it. Try to go above, under, or around it. Sooner or later if you keep bruising scar tissue it's going to get too hard to push the needle through without using a bigger needle.
Click to expand...
Lol shadowstryker post some good stuff that's for sure
 
tacodude said:
What?! I was jesting in a friendly manner? Don't feel the love? :'( <-- sad face

Trust me it's scaring. I had the same thing and thought it was bruising, but no when the lab technician tried poking through it having no luck she pointed it out as scar tissue. Trust me you don't want to find out like that.
Click to expand...
It's doesn't look bruised or anything, it's actually almost completely gone. When I said rash I was just describing the redness and red dots everywhere because it took a lot of tries to hit a vein while trying to shoot already on ketamine. And sorry if I misunderstood, I read that post in a sarcastic tone.

ovo1024 said:
Lol shadowstryker post some good stuff that's for sure
Click to expand...
Umm...okay.
 
For all the IV experience I have, I never shot ketamine. But I thought you were only supposed to IM it...I thought if you tried to IV it you'd be out before you could pull the needle out? Or is that wrong?
 
If proper technique is used to inject and the smallest gauge needles are used then scarring takes ages to form, truly. I'm tempted to make a video of how to inject properly. And do it using a spot I and medical staff have used 1000's of times.

Only old veterans who have destroyed their veins from digging around with poor technique from their early days and reused their own needles require larger and longer needles cos they've usually moved onto hitting deep veins in their thighs.

IM injections require, in my opinion, a minimum of a 23 gauge luerlock needle but we're talking about steroids, usually oil based androgenic or anabolic steroids. I've used a 19 gauge tip for that purpose cos I had run out of smaller tips but as long as you commit to the shot as in use sufficient force to have the needle instantly in your leg or shoulder to the hilt,, don't try to push it through the skin slowly cos it'll hurt and depending on where you're shooting you can get muscle spasms which can be off putting and painful. If you're using larger gauged needles for IM steroid injections then the 'Z pattern' injection is best, this prevents the oil from coming back out through the entry hole. So you push the skin to one side do your shot and when you release the skin it will cover the hole in your muscle with skin that isn't breached.
 
crzydiamond said:
For all the IV experience I have, I never shot ketamine. But I thought you were only supposed to IM it...I thought if you tried to IV it you'd be out before you could pull the needle out? Or is that wrong?
Click to expand...

You can do it for sure, all depends on the dose, much like heroin - if you're quite doped out already and you want more nirvana cook up another shot and have it, then it isn't too hard to nod off before you've had a chance to remove the needle. It's a shit situation cos if it doesn't slide out before you start to hunch over to kiss the floor you can really damage the shot site and vein and God forbid the needle breaking off. I've certainly removed a needle that had been bent almost at a right angle, one more bend the other way and that tip will break off - nightmare situation in my mind. Ew.
 
crzydiamond said:
For all the IV experience I have, I never shot ketamine. But I thought you were only supposed to IM it...I thought if you tried to IV it you'd be out before you could pull the needle out? Or is that wrong?
Click to expand...
It's overexaggurated, but it does hit you before the needle is out. It's fucking intense that's for sure, but I preferred it to IM as it would be over as soon as it started. IM is something magical for going deep.
 
I've been shooting for almost a year, and it still hurts me sometimes. However it is a good kind of hurt as sick as that is. I actually prefer a bigger needle. I find the smaller insulin needles hard to work with as my veins tend to roll a lot. Plus my veins anywhere other than the big ones on the inside of my arms are for some reason super sensitive and swell, bruise, and bust no matter how careful I inject. I use 25 G that are 5/8 of an inch. If you don't know which those are they are the ones that you generally would use to administer vaccines. I am a nurse so I can get them from work with out anyone noticing. (Eek, I know, shame on me.)
 
25g UGH!!! The biggest I'd use would be 27g 5/8'' and that was to hit my fem, fucking 25g sounds miserable. I've used them before but they're just too big.
 
Znegative said:
25g UGH!!! The biggest I'd use would be 27g 5/8'' and that was to hit my fem, fucking 25g sounds miserable. I've used them before but they're just too big.
Click to expand...

yeahhhh, theyre big, LOL. They do leave holes if I keep going in the same spot. I switch between those big suckers and the little insulin ones, depends on where on my arm I am trying to go. I'm a fucking phlebotomist yet find those little insulin fuckers so hard to fucking work with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top