Misc Locating veins! Help

[sora12]

Im trying to inject into veins. I am new to this but i have seen many videos on youtube and i feel pretty confident and have done it a couple of times. But i have a question about the veins. There are two visible green veins running down my arm. If i touch them lightly i can feel them. Are those veins, or are those arteries! Im planning on injecting into them and dont want to find out theyre arteries! Are all the visible green veins in the arms veins? Arteries arent visible right?

 

[Chris42393]

Those are veins. If they have a pulse, they are arteries. If they dont...they are veins.

 

[Inc3pti0n]

Those are veins. If they have a pulse, they are arteries. If they dont...they are veins.

Exactly right what this user said.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Those are veins. If they have a pulse, they are arteries. If they dont...they are veins.

This is not the benchmark you want to use for locating veins and differentiating them from arteries. I can feel my pulse of various parts of my body, including certain large veins. It's definitely just untrue that "veins don't have a pulse and arteries do". For an average person, differentiating between veins and arteries should not be difficult. The thing is, it's something that you really want to have someone with a lot of experience demonstrate for you a couple of times.

In general, peripheral veins lie close to the skin, whereas arteries are found deeper. It should not be difficult to avoid arteries if you are injecting into the common areas for new users i.e. the median cubital fossa (the crook of the elbow). There are a lot of large, easy to access veins in this area and it's periphery.

This last paragraph is the most important. If you do hit an artery, there should be no question that you have, as the blood in the arteries is highly pressurized and can even blow the plunger back up the syringe. I can tell you that in over 10 years of intermittent drug injection, I have never touched an artery with a needle. The majority of users I know have never nicked an artery either. It's not a typical experience.

If you would like more specific advice on how to inject properly, feel free to send me a private message, but there are actually a lot of great resources for this purpose all over the net. The problem is, it's like trying to tell someone how to throw a good fastball with nothing but text instructions. If you have a professional pitcher stop by and literally place your fingers on the seems a couple of times, you'll be set to throw fastballs for the rest of your life.

It's a tricky thing to teach in this manner, but I can tell you that there is a great deal of different between hitting a vein and hitting an artery.

 

[Jabberwocky]

This is required reading for anyone trying to inject: http://harmreduction.org/drugs-and-drug-users/drug-tools/getting-off-right/

Something you want to consider is hitting up your local harm reduction clinic or needle exchange. They can help you learn what to look out for, what to avoid and what you need to know to keep yourself alive.

They are also a great place to get clean syringes, coolers and stuff and naloxone. Flavored condoms too sometimes but seriously a really really important resource for anyone considering an injection habit or getting into it.

I’m sure they’d be happy to meet you.

 

[Pinknarcotic]

In my experience you can’t see arteries. They run red deeper than veins. If you go through a vein and hit one that can happen. Also it kind of stings if you hit an artery. Another thing is the rig will fill up with bright red blood not the usual darker red. Another thing once you start to push in it will burn like a bitch. Then you stop. It’s not the end of the world to hit an artery. It burns and makes your arm feel like it’s filling with hot water, then you feel like you are dying for a few minutes. But I’ve hit many.