• 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

Heroin Started shooting h & need help finding veins

barelysane

Greenlighter
Joined
Jun 21, 2017
Messages
11
hey i recently started shooting h and found a very obvious vein in the crook of my right elbow, shot there, and hit the vein perfectly--no obvious marks or anything left behind! Unfortunately, although I've heard that the veins in the crook of the elbow tend to be the most prominent, other than the one i already shot into, none of the veins left on my left and right sides seem to be obviously at the surface and I'm afraid that I'll miss if I try to shoot there. I've tried heating the areas up to bring the veins closer to the surface but it hasn't really worked all that well. Any advice on how to remedy this? Should I just put the needle in and cross my finger that it hits? I have some pretty obvious veins up on my bicep/shoulder area that I think I'll try next but just wanted to ask you guys if you have experience finding veins in the inner elbow area. Thanks!
 
Welcome to BL!

Experienced IDUs often use touch to locate veins more than sight. As opposed to arteries and other our ligaments and such, veins have a distinct feel. Of course, this comes with experience injecting, but also just being curious with your body.

Anyways, what about swinging the arm you want to inject violently for a few minutes? That always works really well for me (I have veins that are next to impossible to see, so this helps finding them by touch a lot easier) - I definitely notice it tends to work better than a hot compress or a hot shower or something.

Be careful injecting to into your shoulder area! That doesn't sound very easy. Next to the site you mentioned in the crook of the arm (there are actually a number of sites in that area), my second favorite site is a vein that sort of wraps around from on top of your write to the underside of your forearm. I forget the same.

Have you read the Getting Off Right manual on injection drug use and studied some good vein diagrams OP?
 
On both arms if you hold your arms or thumbs up behind the hand is hard, but a good place to find veins and then add you to down the the elbow cookies along the back side of your arm to the front in the half of the arm that's sticking up acne as you get to your elbow you should be on the inside surface or if you hold your hands palm up the same way from halfway to the elbow the past facing up should all be around a major vein that runs down to the crook that most major branches easy to hit form nearby.

It's harder if you aren't skin and bones as I naturally am, but if you use a vein map and look in the area I mentioned you should find at least 6 spots on each arm that will pop out with a tourniquet. There should also be a vein essentially parallel to the crook and also I have one on my right that runs from my pinky down the side of the arm my left doesn't have although it's harder to hit and I save it for when I've hit the other areas and want a fresh area to hit where the circulation is still strong.
 
Swinging your arm violently is one I've not heard before but certainly will work. Basically the Idea is to force blood towards your hand using momentum. Swing it around like a windmill lol. Or If I'm ever having troubles I do some pushups. Try different types of pushups work different parts of your arms. Also, you get the benefit of some exercise. My girlfriend also will take a hot bath to bring veins closer to the surface.

I would say definitely don't just stick it in there and 'fish' or 'dig' for a vein. You could do some pretty nasty damage to yourself like that. Also remember to rotate the injection sites to lessen scarring and potential collapsed veins. Always use a new needle. Reused needles are dulled and crimped at the tip and will make it much harder to hit veins without taring or pain.

Good luck... Maybe I.V. heroin isn't for you. It's a dangerous and dark path usually. But I'm certainly not judging. I'd be a hypocrite if I was.
 
Drinking a gatorade can help right before. I used let the shower run and steam out the bathroom . Try rubbing the area . Use a mirror if u find a hard to see spot.
Also , u wont miss if you leave a little air in the syringe. Well.... at least u will know when u hit the vein , because blood will rush in.
So u COULD still miss . But.... You will KNOW your in.
Uh, dont inject the air at the end Stop right when it gets close.
 
hey i recently started shooting h and found a very obvious vein in the crook of my right elbow, shot there, and hit the vein perfectly--no obvious marks or anything left behind! Unfortunately, although I've heard that the veins in the crook of the elbow tend to be the most prominent, other than the one i already shot into, none of the veins left on my left and right sides seem to be obviously at the surface and I'm afraid that I'll miss if I try to shoot there. I've tried heating the areas up to bring the veins closer to the surface but it hasn't really worked all that well. Any advice on how to remedy this? Should I just put the needle in and cross my finger that it hits? I have some pretty obvious veins up on my bicep/shoulder area that I think I'll try next but just wanted to ask you guys if you have experience finding veins in the inner elbow area. Thanks!


Don't start shooting that shit dude. We buried a good friend this year from that shit.
 
...but if you do, use your own syringe, always, no matter what the situation, even when it comes to 2 of you and only one syringe, wait and get your own, always dude.
 
First off, I would plead with you not to use needles. If you insist on using H... the stuff is smokeable. Needles will fuck up your arms and veins... don't be like me and have multiple scars from track marks. I have a good, sober friend that still has the tip of a syringe in his arm. Pretty screwy.

There are a lot of resources online, some with visual tutorials.. even Youtube. Like many stated.. NEVER share needles. That should be a given.
Don't dig around your arm and swivel the needle to find the vein.. if its not there, pull out and look again.. perhaps tighten your tourniquet if you're using one and tap the vein to get it raised. Swiveling the needle with bruise your arm and leave scars.

IV'ing is a good way to OD. It is really not worth it. Months, and years later you will look back with disdain.
Be safe, man!
 
Back when I was still shooting I ran out of veins as did all the other people I hung out with. One friend had no veins left in his arms so he tied his neck up and had me hit veins there which was at times pretty gruesome ..
Eventually your veins in your arms will collapse and you'll need to find new places, legs, feet, neck and so on.
Whatever you do keep the areas CLEAN. Use alcohol to wipe the areas you shoot into unless you want infections. I've seen more than a few people require amputations because they didn't keep themselves clean.
It's easy to say never share needles, but the reality of the matter it's often the only choice. 3 people, one needle and all 3 are dope sick..someone is going to share unfortunately.
 
My veins are pretty good but sometimes I need to rest one at a time as they just seem to shut down/harden for awhile.

I always spin my arm round in fast circles as the centrifugal force makes my veins bulge and I can see / feel what I have to work with. If you are using a tourniquet, don't leave it on for more than a minute. If you haven't had your shot in that time, release it to let the blood flow again for awhile.

I also agree that being able to FEEL them is more important that being able to SEE them. DONT slap your veins like you see a lot of people do, this makes them retract back, rather, once you find a good one, kind of massage/palate it for 20-30 seconds and you should feel it expand.

I mainly use the 2 inside the crook of my elbow but the tracks are bad now so I've been using my hands. The veins there are very close to the surface so an angle closer to parallel with your hand is useful as to not go through the other side.

Bicep and the one running up the inner forearm seem to be easy to hit but I used the forearm one ONCE, one successful shot, one hole and I have had a massive bruise there for 2 weeks whereas I don't bruise anywhere else. I believe the bicep one can cause the same issue. The veins in my wrist are like hose pipes but I nearly need a third hand to hit them as they move around so much.

I wouldn't just stick it in and fish around. Best way to get worse track marks and other issues.

Aside from that, obviously iving is dangerous for so many reasons. I picked up the needle after nearly 2 decades without it and am hooked again. Be careful.
 
Can someone recommend or post a link to a good vein diagram of arms as I'm overweight and have really deep veins I'm finding it harder to hit since I got an abscess where I usually hit and think I collapsed a vein in my other arm
 
There's always the good old standby of lifting weight with the arm you intend to shoot into.. Don't lift with both arms or your hands will shake too much to find a thin vein..
 
There's always the good old standby of lifting weight with the arm you intend to shoot into.. Don't lift with both arms or your hands will shake too much to find a thin vein..

This. It's better than press ups for the reason stated. A relatively heavy weight, do full bicep curls 8 reps, 3 sets should get the blood pumping.
 
My go to was the one that comes down the side of your forearm around the wrist.
 
Top