The most important thing the person with diabetes must learn is how to inject insulin. It will probably be a little nerve racking at first. One must start this under the supervision of a doctor or bis assistants, who will guide and give you confidence. It becomes routine later. It is advisable to select the site for injection before one withdraws insulin in the syringe. Rub the site of injection lightly with spirit swab and allow it to dry. The most painless technique of injection is one that allows the needle to pass through the least amount of skin on its way to the subcutaneous site below the outer skin and above the muscle. This can be achieved by inserting the needle perpendicular (right angle) to the surface of the skin at the selected site.
This avoids the pinching up of skin with one hand. After injection, remove the needle and hold the spirit swab over the site of the injection for a few seconds. Do not rub swab. To avoid possible misuse of the syringe, bend and break needle of the disposable syringe before discarding. If you are using a glass syringe, clean both well, the syringe and the needle, dry and keep safe for further use. The needle may be changed after using 5-6 times, as it becomes blunt and painful to use.
There are a number of injection sites, where one gets minimum pain. The sites preferred for injections are the front and sides of the thigh. The outer areas of the upper arms, the buttocks and abdomen (avoid the areas surrounding the navel and areas above the waist line as it is painful to inject in these areas). The sites of injections should be rotated to avoid repeated injections on the same area over a period of time. This helps avoiding hardening or atrophy of the fatty tissues and also to avoid pain. If a lump or depression develops, avoid taking injections at these sites for some days.
