Sterilizing a needle with hand sanatizer?

[SM0K3Y]

I don't have access to bleach, and I NEVER re-use syringes, but it looks like I will have to today for the first time. Was wondering if alcohol based hand sanitizer would work? and then rinsed well? Input?

 

[effie]

It's better than nothing, but by no means 100% and certainly not something I would advocate. Hand sanitiser is meant to be a quick way of cleaning hands and it does kill a lot of bacteria, but I'm not sure how effective it is for viruses and I know it doesn't work for certain types of bacteria (eg spore-forming ones). You need to apply it then allow it to air-dry for at least 30 seconds. Usually there is no need to rinse after, but you don't really want to be injecting hand sanitiser residue. For this reason I would never recommend using bleach either.

The only way to properly sterilise equipment is to autoclave it, like they do with surgical implements. This obviously isn't practical at home, however - so it is definitely best just to avoid re-using needles. The risk of infection (local soft tissue, abscess, septicaemia, infective endocarditis etc) is too great. Reused needles are also pretty dull, and can cause a lot of damage to the soft tissue and veins, leading to an increased chance of vein collapse/track marks/tissue trauma.

This includes failed attempts to register of course.

Do you have no way of obtaining clean needles?

 

[SM0K3Y]

I'm aware of the dull needle thing, and yes I use new needles every time. The problem is, I'm at work and not stopping home (and sick right now) so I need to re-use the needle I brought to work with me this morning. I didn't want to, but I have to go out after work, no time to stop and grab a new one. I belong to a needle exchange so getting new fresh needles isn't the problem, it's just today it is.

And this is my first time re-using a needle, I have seen that image you posted plenty of times. I often preach about never re-using needles myself. Again I don't ever do it as to save myself from track marks and infections, but this time I don't have a choice.

 

[psood0nym]

Sounds like you otherwise practice sterile techniques. I'd heat up a mug of water in your work microwave until boiling. Draw up some boiling water, cap the syringe, drop the whole mess in there for a minute and squirt it out. Any tiny coffee particulates or whatever left in the syringe after you draw from a work mug pale in comparison to what you're injecting with anything less than micron filtered heroin. Hand sanitizer ought to work fine for the needle tip. Given your limitations at work, this ghetto-rigged solution is about the best I can think of to minimize risks. I think you'll get away with it infection-wise. IVing street heroin is clearly the more dangerous thing here, heh.

 

[PeacePipeChief]

fuck that picture gets to me everytime lol , sickens me thinking about the times ive had to stab myself 20+ times :/

 

[ProfessorBananas]

^^^
I know what you mean. I can't even imagine what a needle would look like after say 10 uses or more. It's a shame that clean needles aren't always readily available in certain areas.

 

[tricomb]

You'd be better off breaking the needle tip off and just plugging your next dose, much safer than what you're trying to do here with hand sanitizer and needle re-use...

 

[Swimmingdancer]

I'm assuming you've already done it by now, but if you rinse your syringes after use, you are using a needle that only you have used, and it has been kept with the plunger in and cap on, then personally I'd be much more worried about the damage to my vein and the difficulty of hitting a vein with a dull needle than any potential bacterial, let alone viral, contamination. I think that with the materials you have on hand, if you're going to inject, I think your best plan would be to rinse the syringe with water, then apply a bit of hand sanitizer, then very thoroughly rinse the syringe multiple times.

 

[Swain]

I don't have access to bleach, and I NEVER re-use syringes, but it looks like I will have to today for the first time. Was wondering if alcohol based hand sanitizer would work? and then rinsed well? Input?

bleech, gas, alcohol, none of it can sterilize a needle lol. Get a pressure cooker and go 15psi for 15 mintues and you will have actual sterilized needles.

If it is your own syringe you can just rinse it out.. Unless its months old.. I dont reuse much but I have reused needles and never had even minor cotton fever and I never went to town sterilizing the pins.

Now if you are going to be using someone elses needle.. just don't. under any circumstance, do not do this. If you do, you are dumb.

 

[SM0K3Y]

I ended up cleaning the needle itself with hand sanitizer and rinsing the inside well with hot water. Figured that was as good as it's going to get. But I was at work so a "Pressure-Cooker" is out of the question. It was basically just to see what I could do in a compromised situation. Regardless, bleach does work actually for hepatitis or HIV, I can't remember which one. And then you just clean it well afterwards with a ton of water.

I over-use hand sanitizer just to be safe. Can never be too safe or too clean.