You never liked needles because it makes you anxious. The sight of a needle is enough to make you shaky.
If you fit the above description, your heart will be filled with fear when your doctor tells you to start treating your illness by self-injection.
Whether it’s insulin injections or other medications, self-injection is far easier than you think. It doesn’t make you feel particularly intense pain. Marlene Bedrich, RN, program coordinator for the UCSF Diabetes Teaching Center, says that after some instruction, her patients did their first self-injections in the office.
Marlene said, ” 99% of people would say it didn’t hurt at all.”
Fear is very common
Joni Pagenkemper, a diabetes teaching leader at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, agrees that for some people, fear masks the truth.
Joni said, “They get a long needle in their head that makes them shudder.” She quickly added, “It’s not even that scary.”
If you happen to be afraid of needles, then many people are just like you. Studies show that 22% of people are afraid of needles.
Even if you don’t resist someone giving you an injection, self-injecting can make you very anxious. Often, it’s the needle and the worry about giving yourself an injection in the right way that scares people.
Minimizing pain
The following are ways to make patients feel as relaxed as possible when self-injecting:
- If possible, make sure the temperature of the medication is close to room temperature.
- Wash the injection area with alcohol and allow the alcohol to evaporate before injecting.
- Make sure to use a new needle each time.
- Press the syringe to squeeze out the air bubbles.
- Make sure the needle goes straight in and out, do not wiggle it around.
- Stick the needle quickly.
The reality for people with diabetes is not as scary as it was a few years ago.
Injecting pens, not syringes
Patients may use insulin injection pens instead of syringes and medicine bottles. The needle of an insulin injection pen is not half as long as the flu shot needle and is also thinner.
At the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, Joni said patients can try injecting on a rubber dummy before injecting on themselves.
She said that because the needles are small and thin, patients don’t have to pinch the fat when they inject themselves, unless they are very thin.
If a patient doesn’t want to see the needle when self-injecting, they can choose to use an external needle sleeve. It covers the needle completely and rotates the outer sleeve to secure it to the syringe as if it were attached to the needle. This design also prevents the needle from accidentally sticking itself, while hiding the needle.
Intramuscular injections
If you are a diabetic, inject up to 4 times a day.
Medications used for other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis, are injected less frequently. However, these diseases require intramuscular injections. The needles used for intramuscular injections are longer than those used for subcutaneous injections.
Longer needles can make patients anxious. However, the following strategies can help ease patients’ fears:
- Practice breathing for relaxation.
- Practice breathing for relaxation.
- Learn to ignore unhelpful thoughts, such as “It hurts” or “I can’t do this” or “I can’t do the injection well.
- Place an ice pack on the area to be injected to numb the skin.
- Try to relax the muscles before injecting yourself.
- If the thought of “zapping” makes you uncomfortable, hold the needle against the skin and push it into the skin.
- After the first self-injection, you’ll be less anxious.
- After the needle is in the skin, push the plunger of the syringe and pull the needle out quickly, as this will reduce pain. The slower you pull the needle out, the more painful it will feel.
- If giving yourself an injection is always time-consuming, practice using a spare needle and syringe on fixed objects in your home to speed things up: for example, mattresses and sofa armrests.
- For medications that need to be given intramuscularly, patients can also choose an injection device with batteries. Many people begin preparing to use them by placing the syringe and needle in the auto-injector, as with other injection procedures.
Inspiration and support
Veronica Brady, PhD, a nurse practitioner at the University of Nevada, says encouragement and support are important for patients, whether it’s for multiple sclerosis, diabetes, or some other condition.
She tells people with type 2 diabetes, “Get on insulin therapy or you’ll end up in the hospital.” She says insulin can help patients live better.
Vilonica also stressed that this will be something patients will have to deal with for the rest of their lives.
“This is your part-time job. A part-time job that you hate, but it’s vital to life.”
When you go to self-injection training on how to administer a new drug, bring a family member or friend to give yourself moral support, Marlene said.