How to properly inject yourself. How to easily inject yourself

First, we want to inform you that we will talk about intramuscular injections, and it makes sense to entrust more complex intravenous injections to professional doctors. But if you are intended for intramuscular injections, and there is no time to visit the clinic, such an injection can be successfully done at home, involving your family. Making an intramuscular injection into the thigh is no more difficult than making an injection into the buttock.

Intramuscular injection into the thigh

To do this, you will need cotton balls pre-moistened with alcohol, a three-component medical syringe with a capacity of 2.5-11 milliliters (depending on the volume of injection), as well as a drug intended for injection.

The injection must be carried out in the following sequence:

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap.
Wipe the ampoule intended for injection with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol.
Shake the ampoule several times.
File the tip, break it off and fill the syringe with medicine.
Turn the syringe over with the needle facing up and tap it with your finger so that air bubbles move to the top of the syringe. By pressing the plunger of the syringe, squeeze out the air from the syringe. To make sure of this, wait for a drop of medicine to appear from the syringe needle.
To determine the injection site, sit on a stool and bend your knee. The place for the injection will be the upper third of the thigh on the side.

Preparing for a subcutaneous injection in the thigh

Before injecting, relax your leg as much as possible. Using a cotton swab soaked in alcohol, lubricate the injection site. You should move your hand with the syringe to the side at an angle of 90 degrees, and with an energetic movement of your hand, insert the needle into the muscle mass. The needle should be inserted to a depth of 1-2 centimeters. Slowly press the plunger of the syringe and inject the medicine.

Using a cotton swab soaked in alcohol, press the area where the injection was made and quickly remove the needle at an angle of 90 degrees, which will avoid bleeding and reduce the possibility of infection at the injection site. Using the same cotton swab, massage the injection site for faster absorption of the medicine.

When performing intramuscular injections, injection sites should be alternated. You should not give injections to the same thigh all the time. If possible, use syringes with thin needles and a volume not much larger than the volume of the medication being injected. If a reusable glass syringe is used for injections, it must be thoroughly boiled to disinfect it before use.

Nobody likes injections, but sometimes you not only have to endure them, but also think about how to give yourself an injection. Usually, when prescribing a course of injections, doctors give the patient a referral to a treatment room in a clinic, where a nurse deftly and quickly administers the necessary medications to patients. But for many, it is difficult to undergo a course of treatment in this way because the operating hours of the treatment room coincide with the hours of their own work, and it is inconvenient to be late or ask the manager for 10-15 days in a row (which is how long a standard course of medication lasts).

Nevertheless, it is necessary to be treated. And the patient is looking for information on how to give himself an injection himself. This turns out to be not so scary, and often less unpleasant, than in a clinic.

The advantage of self-injection

If a person has mastered injecting himself in the buttock or another muscle and does them carefully and without unpleasant consequences, then this is more convenient for him than going to the treatment room.

The patient himself can choose the time and place for the injection, gather his courage, and take a comfortable position. Nurses typically administer medications to patients in a standing position, which can be painful;
Some drugs require slow administration. Procedure nurses quite often neglect this rule, since they have a whole line of patients outside the office door. By injecting yourself, you can administer the medicine at the speed needed;
To reduce pain from an injection at home, you can use a special patch or gel with lidocaine. The patch is placed on the injection site for an hour, the gel is applied as a layer under a bandage or regular patch. After applying the anesthetic patch or gel, inserting the needle is almost painless. In a clinic setting, the use of patches and gels is almost impossible;
Lidocaine should be used instead of water and saline when preparing solutions for injections. Then the injection will be less painful. but not all medications are combined with it, so you need to check with your doctor about this possibility;
You can select needles whose insertion causes almost no pain, for example, triangular needles from abroad. They instantly pierce the skin. It is also good to use syringes for administering insulin if the volume of the drug administered is small. In the clinic, the needles and syringes are domestically produced and not always of high quality;
Nurses give the injection with the same needle that was used to draw the drug. At home, it is better to change the needle, since when taking medicine through a puncture in the rubber cap or from a glass ampoule, the needle becomes dull when in contact with the cap or walls of the ampoule, pierces the skin slowly and causes noticeable pain;
The patient knows well where he had the site of yesterday’s injection of the medicine, a hematoma, a lump, so he injects himself into another part of the body. The nurse at the clinic does not know this and may administer the drug in the same place as last time. Firstly, it is much more painful, secondly, such an injection can lead to the formation of an abscess, and thirdly, the drug disperses worse through the blood if it is injected into a seal.

What types of injections are there?

Most of the injections are done intramuscularly, a little less - intravenously, and very few - subcutaneously. Therefore, it is useful to know how to give yourself an injection intramuscularly and subcutaneously, and also to understand whether you can give yourself intravenous injections at home.

There are three more types of injections that are performed only by highly professional doctors and are prescribed in special cases:

Intradermal – used with local anesthesia;
Intraosseous - used either for anesthesia, or when the patient is extremely obese and it is problematic to administer the medicine into a muscle or vein;
Intra-arterial - used in the complex of resuscitation measures, they are considered the most complex and most often cause complications.

At home, you can independently perform intramuscular and subcutaneous injections. To perform intravenous injections you need skill and the ability to focus not on your feelings, but on the process.

How to give an intramuscular injection to yourself

Here's where you can give intramuscular injections to yourself:

The buttock is the most “popular” place;
In the thigh - in the quadriceps muscle;
In the shoulder - in the deltoid muscle.

Injecting yourself in the thigh is the most convenient in terms of technique. But at the same time it is one of the most painful. An injection in the shoulder can also bring very unpleasant sensations. It is optimal to stab yourself in the buttock, monitoring your actions in the mirror.

The needle is inserted into the muscle in one sharp movement; you can insert it with a pop or slap. The needle immersion depth is three quarters. In this case, the needle immediately pierces the skin and enters the muscle layer. It no longer causes pain in the muscle.

The syringe should be placed perpendicularly, that is, at a right angle, to the imaginary axis of the spine, hip or shoulder. The injection site is in the buttock - its upper quarter on the side. The injection site is in the thigh and shoulder - their second third. These places have the least amount of nerve endings, although there is still a risk of hitting one of them.

The plunger of the syringe must be pressed slowly so that the medicine flows gradually but continuously. Rapid or portioned administration is quite unpleasant. In addition, with rapid administration, an infiltrate is formed under the skin - an accumulation of blood, lymph and the drug. It dissolves slowly, and touching it causes pain.

If the drug is only 1-2 ml, then it can be administered a little faster. In general, 1 ml is injected over 10 seconds, this is considered the optimal time. The injection site is treated with an alcohol wipe before and after administering the medicine.

How to give a subcutaneous injection yourself

When administered subcutaneously, the medicine enters a thin layer of fat and is carried from there by the blood. The sites for subcutaneous drug administration are as follows:

The area of the anterior wall of the peritoneum, between the ribs and thighs, excluding the hypersensitive area around the navel, which is richly innervated;
The place on the arm between the elbow and shoulder at the back or side;
Place on the leg between the thigh and knee.

It is more convenient for yourself to inject yourself subcutaneously in the leg or stomach. You should take the syringe like a pencil so that you can easily reach the piston, with the other hand pull the skin 2-3 cm to capture more of the fat layer (but not muscles!) and insert the needle at an angle of 45 degrees. After this, slowly press the plunger until the medication is completely released.

Is it possible to give yourself intravenous injections?

Intravenous injections or injections are the most difficult form of injection to perform for yourself. They can be done to yourself if a catheter is installed in the vein. Then you just need to draw up the medicine, remove the catheter plug, release the air from the syringe and inject the drug. After this you need to close the plug.

Most often, the catheter is installed in the cubital vein, but if the walls of the vessels are weak, it can be placed in the hand or even in the neck. Giving intravenous injections to oneself is allowed in the most extreme cases, because to perform them correctly and effectively requires special training and practiced skills, unique only to medical workers.

General rules for performing injections

You must adhere to these rules:

Prepare an ampoule with the drug and a syringe on a towel or cloth;
Wash your hands with soap, dry with a sterile cloth and put on gloves;
Draw the medicine into the syringe and cover the needle with a cap;
Wipe the injection site with an alcohol wipe or swab with a disinfectant solution;
Wait 30 seconds until the skin is completely dry (this is necessary so that the injection is less painful; an injection into damp skin is more noticeable);
Take a sitting or lying position, relaxing the muscles at the site of future injection as much as possible;
Take a syringe, remove the cap;
Insert the needle quickly;
Slowly inject the drug, pressing the plunger gradually and continuously;
Remove the needle;
Wipe the injection site with an alcohol wipe or cotton swab with a disinfectant solution.

There is no need to treat a vein with a catheter.

Risks of self-injection

The most common problem that people encounter when administering injections on their own is the formation of an infiltrate. To eliminate it as quickly as possible, you need to lubricate the area with heparin ointment, make magnesium compresses, and install a mesh with iodine.

If you choose the wrong injection site in the buttock, damage to the sciatic nerve or superior gluteal artery may occur. These cases require contacting a doctor for adequate help. If the dose is incorrectly calculated, if it is underestimated, the effect may not occur, and if it is overestimated, an allergic reaction may begin. In the second case, you should immediately call a doctor.

Is it worth giving yourself injections yourself?

If the prescribed drug has dosage forms other than injection solutions or powders for the preparation of such solutions, then you should ask your doctor to prescribe non-injectable forms.

Old-school doctors claim that injected medications act faster and better than those taken orally. From their point of view, the tablets negatively affect the digestive system, and the drug administered through an injection goes directly into the blood and does not create a load on the internal organs.

Modern research shows that blood-borne medicine affects a person the same way, regardless of how it entered the body. The liver and kidneys remove substances both entering through the digestive tract and entering directly into the blood. A number of antibiotics are detrimental to the intestinal microflora no matter how they are used. Therefore, it makes no sense to give preference to injections over other forms of medication only for safety reasons.

Injections must be given when the drug is not available in other forms, the patient has serious lesions or diseases of the mucous membrane of the esophagus or stomach, or malabsorption in the intestine. In other cases, the patient can choose a different dosage form. If injections cannot be avoided, then it is advisable to negotiate with a doctor rather than experiment with yourself.

But if you want to learn how to help yourself, then it’s worth mastering the wisdom of self-injections. After all, people with diabetes are forced to inject themselves with insulin several times a day, and this allows them to hone the skill. So, there is nothing particularly difficult about it. Moreover, this knowledge can be useful in a critical situation, when you need to relieve swelling in a severe allergic reaction or reduce a high temperature, but there is no way to wait for the arrival of an emergency doctor.

How to give an injection in the thigh is usually necessary for those who have been prescribed a course of intramuscular injections. It is not always convenient to go to the hospital every time to get an injection in a hospital, especially if the patient cannot freely lean on his leg. A person can ask loved ones for help, but only if relatives or friends have the skills for such a procedure.

Features of intramuscular injections

It always makes sense to prescribe injections if the doctor considers it appropriate to use the parenteral form of the drug. Intramuscular injections are sometimes more effective for the following reasons:

The drug enters the blood immediately after the injection, bypassing the gastrointestinal tract and liver, so there will be no irritating effect on the mucous membranes of the digestive organs. Many drugs can cause dysbiosis, and the microflora will have to be restored with prebiotics.
This route will allow the optimal concentration of the drug to enter the body.
Absorption and distribution to tissues occurs instantly.

For some diseases, periodic or constant, throughout life, medication is required, and it is intramuscular. Thus, the following drugs are administered:

insulin;
analgesics;
vitamins;
antihistamines.

These drugs sometimes need to be delivered to the body as quickly as possible, which is important for normalizing well-being, and sometimes even saving life.

In addition to the muscles, injections are given into a vein and subcutaneously. Injections into the muscles are the most painless.

For reference! The injection is given in the thigh, as there is a very large muscle there, which is convenient for distributing the medicine.

Preparation for the procedure

For the entire procedure, in addition to the ampoules themselves, you need to purchase the following medical products:

Three-component syringes, one for each injection of the course, even with a reserve.
Sterile cotton wool.
Medical alcohol
Medical tray or saucer.

When purchasing a syringe, you need to pay attention to the needle; its thickness will depend on the amount of fat and the thickness of the skin. For children they take the thinnest one, for obese people the thickest one.

For reference! When purchasing a syringe, you need to choose a volume larger than the required dose by 1 ml.

Regardless of who will receive an intramuscular injection into the thigh, you must first fill the syringe with the drug correctly.

The syringe must be filled immediately before giving the injection. And it happens this way:

Take the ampoule with clean hands and wipe the tip with alcohol.
Before injecting the drug, you need to make sure that it has the required consistency and does not have foreign impurities and sediments; for this, the ampoule is shaken in the light.
The tip is broken off and the drug is injected with a syringe.
The syringe is placed vertically; you need to tap it with your fingernail so that all the air floats to the top.
All air is released from the syringe by pressing the plunger.

The syringe is ready for injection. Additionally, for each procedure, two cotton swabs are prepared, which are soaked in alcohol.

It is important to ensure sterility every time a procedure is performed. To do this at home, just wash your hands, treat them with an antiseptic and wipe the injection site with an alcohol-soaked cotton pad.

How to inject yourself in the thigh?

Intramuscular injections can be given in the thigh, buttock, abdomen and shoulder. It is more convenient to inject yourself in the thigh. This can be done and even better while sitting.

Not everyone has the courage to inject themselves in the thigh. But once you decide, you can avoid many problems. There will be no dependence on the time of another person capable of doing this. You can do this at any time, and if you pack a travel suitcase with tools for injections, then anywhere. After all, for this there is no need to undress completely.

Important! When inserting the needle, you need to control the depth so that the tip does not dig into the bone. There were cases where the tip of the needle broke on the bone and remained inside.

The technique itself is simple, the main secret is to relax the muscles and do the procedure with a confident hand. In order to relax, you can watch the video and understand that it is not scary.

Once you show composure at least once, the next injections will go as planned. If you have the necessary equipment and an already filled syringe, the procedure is as follows:

You need to sit on a chair in front of a mirror without straightening your legs. The outer part of the thigh, in particular that part of the muscle that does not touch the chair and “hangs” from it, will be the area in which the injection should be given.
Fill the syringe correctly with the medicine and with a sharp, confident movement, holding the syringe at an angle of 90°, insert the needle into the muscle.
Introduce the medicine slowly, without rushing, to avoid hematoma.
At the same 90° angle, remove the needle, pressing it with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol.
Throw away the syringe.

It’s good to massage the area a little so that the medicine is absorbed evenly. The thigh is the most convenient place for injections; even during military field conditions, it is customary to inject yourself into this area.

How to give an injection in the thigh of another person?

It is much more convenient to inject someone in the buttocks. Since the person lies relaxed and it is easier to find the zone. But if, for some reason, it is necessary to do it specifically in the thigh, the course of action will be as follows:

The patient should be placed on a comfortable couch and asked to relax.
Find a zone. This is the middle third of the anterolateral surface of the thigh.
Treat the surface of the skin in the area of the intended injection with an antiseptic.
Holding the syringe like a pencil, insert it under the skin with a confident movement.
Slowly inject the drug and, holding the puncture site with a cotton pad, remove the needle.

It is important to inject the drug into the muscle to make sure that the needle does not accidentally enter a vein or vessel; you need to pull the piston slightly towards yourself; if the needle is in a vein, it will capture a lot of blood.

Advice! If the injection is too painful, you can add Lidocaine or Novocaine to the medicine.

If a person does not have a thick layer of subcutaneous fat, for example, he is thin or a child, then before the injection it is necessary to take the area of skin into which the drug is planned to be injected into a fold.

Negative consequences of incorrect injection technique

If the technique of performing an injection into the thigh is incorrect and the rules of sterility are not observed, some unpleasant consequences may occur:

hematoma;
seals;
muscle pain;
abscess.

If lumps form, the drug was most likely injected into fatty tissue. A small hematoma of about 5 mm, which does not bother the person, is acceptable. This means that a small vessel is affected. But if a large one is affected, then the hematoma can be large, and it will take a long time to resolve

To avoid this, it is important to follow the following rules:

Do not give injections in a row in the same thigh; they must be alternated.
Introduce the medicine slowly.
Use a high-quality syringe, with a thin needle and a piston made of high-quality black rubber.
Make sure there is no air in the syringe by waiting for a stream to appear.
Relax the muscle as much as possible.
After administering the medicine, massage this area so that the medicine spreads throughout the muscle and does not leave an infiltrate at the injection site.
Choose an injection site that is free of skin lesions and acne.

If all these rules are followed and the correct technique is used, negative consequences are practically excluded.

But if your leg hurts after an injection, this does not always mean that it was done incorrectly. The cause may be too thin blood vessels or poor blood clotting. After some medications, it may hurt, regardless of the administration method. For example, Actovegin and Magnesia.

To make sure that an infection has not been introduced, you should periodically pay attention to the injection area. In case of inflammation, the following signs will appear:

the leg will become hot to the touch;
redness appears;
pain will be felt on palpation;
swelling forms.

In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor, he will prescribe adequate treatment.

Injecting yourself is not difficult, and you can quickly learn how to do it if you want. The main thing is to start not with intravenous, but intramuscular or subcutaneous injections. After trying this a few times, you will no longer have to go to doctors for intravenous or intramuscular injections, or ask neighbors, friends or relatives for favors. Before injecting yourself, you will have to overcome some fear and choose the injection site.

What do you need to give yourself an injection?

To give an intravenous or intramuscular injection to yourself, prepare a list of the following things and items:

drug in ampoule;
alcohol;
new syringe;
cotton wool or gauze;
sterile gloves (you can do without them by washing your hands thoroughly with soap);
a clean place where it all can be laid out.

Decide on the injection site. You can stand in front of a mirror if you inject in the buttock. It needs to be divided into four parts and injected into the middle of the upper part so as not to hit the bone or nerve.

Preparing the syringe and preparing the skin for self-injection

Unpack the syringe and carefully open the ampoule with the drug. The packaging of the medicine usually contains a special file, which you need to file the glass in a thin part of the ampoule. Usually this place is marked with a dot. After cutting, break off the tip by wrapping your fingers around it through cotton wool or gauze.

Place it on the table and insert a syringe with a needle into the ampoule of medicine, and pull out the piston with a smooth movement. Having collected the required amount of medicine, point the needle upward and beat the syringe with your fingernail so that the air rises up. Then push the plunger down through the needle until a few drops of solution come out. Do not inject without removing all air bubbles! Further actions depend on where we inject the medicine.

How to properly inject yourself in the buttock

As we noted, the injection should be made in the upper outer quarter of the buttock. For convenience, stand in front of a mirror, but you can do without it. If you inject into the right side, lean on your left leg (this will allow you to relax the desired muscle).

Moisten a cotton swab with alcohol and apply to the selected area of skin. Bring the prepared syringe to the buttock so that the needle is positioned strictly perpendicular to its surface. To avoid any discomfort at the time of insertion, act decisively. You need to quickly and clearly pierce the muscle so that the needle enters it almost completely (about a centimeter of its length should remain on the surface).

Slowly press the plunger to inject the drug, and then quickly remove the syringe and immediately press on a cotton swab moistened with alcohol. Hold it for a while to stop the bleeding and allow the medicine to dissolve. To avoid compaction, you need to press well, or you can slightly rotate the fleece to the sides.

How to give an intramuscular injection in the leg yourself

How to properly inject yourself in the thigh? The principle is the same, and for some it is more convenient to give an intramuscular injection in the leg than in the butt. Sit on a chair with your knee bent. We place an injection in the part of the thigh that, when the leg is bent, hangs slightly from the surface of the chair (the anterior lateral zone).

An intramuscular injection is administered in the same way as an injection into the buttock: we treat the surface of the skin with alcohol and insert the needle with a clear, quick movement, and then squeeze out the drug. It is usually easier and more convenient to give such an injection to yourself than in the gluteal muscle, but in general everything is individual. After the injection, do not rush to get up, but sit in a relaxed state, allowing the drug to dissolve.

Complications after intramuscular injections

If you learn how to properly inject yourself in the thigh or butt, there will be no complications, but you should be aware of possible unpleasant consequences:

bruise or hematoma (if a needle gets into a network of blood vessels);
compaction (doctors call it infiltrate) is formed when a solution accumulates under the skin);
suppuration appears if microbes develop under the skin (remember to wash your hands with soap or wear gloves);
allergic reaction (occurs rarely and usually due to individual intolerance to individual components).

You can quickly remove a bump or bruise with pharmaceutical ointments. These conditions are not dangerous, but cause some discomfort, but the formation of a purulent abscess is serious. To remove it, consult a doctor who will prescribe an ointment or surgery.

How to give yourself a subcutaneous injection

How to give yourself subcutaneous injections and what place to choose for this? It is not always convenient to place them in the butt or leg, so most often nurses choose the arm or stomach for injection. If you inject yourself, it’s better to inject in the stomach - it’s more convenient.

Some people successfully give themselves injections in both the left and right arms. To begin, take a comfortable position and bend your limb at the elbow. A needle is inserted from the outside 10-12 cm above the elbow. It is inconvenient to inject yourself in the arm, since you need to form a fold on the surface of the skin - this is where the injection is made. The needle should be inserted at an angle of about 45 degrees.

To simplify the procedure, give yourself a subcutaneous injection not in the arm, but in the stomach. Contrary to popular belief, it hardly hurts. The needle should be inserted a few centimeters to the left or right of the navel. Squeeze the skin with your fingers, forming a fold, insert the needle at an angle of 40-45 degrees and squeeze out the drug by pressing the piston with your finger.

Is it possible to give a vein injection yourself?

Injecting intramuscularly or subcutaneously is very simple compared to intravenous injection. Doctors generally advise against giving such injections to yourself, but you don’t always have a choice. First, select the appropriate vein and make sure that when you press it does not go to the side. Take a tourniquet and apply it between your elbow and shoulder, but not too tight.

Treat the selected area as described above and fix the skin by slightly stretching and moving it. To do this, you need to rest the surface of your hand on a table or other surface.

The needle should be directed at an acute angle and inserted shallowly (1/3 is enough). The fist should be clenched tightly, and after the puncture, first make sure that the needle is inserted correctly: pull the plunger slightly, and if there is blood in the syringe, you are in. Unclench your fist and slowly squeeze out the drug without changing the position of the needle. Take out the syringe, apply a cotton swab with alcohol and bend your arm at the elbow.

Having found out exactly whether you can give yourself injections in the arm, thigh, buttock or stomach, learn how to do this at home according to our instructions, and you will no longer have to go to medical institutions or friends for this.

Ideally, it is better to give injections in a clinic, but when the patient is prescribed a course of injections, and there is no time to go to the hospital, the question becomes relevant: how to give an injection? We are, of course, talking about intramuscular injections.

Such injections can be given in the buttock, which is the most common and simplest option, as well as in the thigh and arm.

Muscles have a wide network of lymphatic and blood vessels, due to which drugs are quickly and completely absorbed.

How to give an injection correctly - what you will need:

cotton balls that need to be soaked in alcohol;
syringe;
the drug that is prescribed for administration.

How to give intramuscular injections correctly: you need to use syringes with long needles because a short needle may not reach the muscle, so the medicine will be injected under the skin, which often leads to inflammation.

How to give injections correctly: preparation

To know how to give injections correctly, you need to familiarize yourself with the preparation for this process.

So, preparation for the injection:

You need to wash your hands thoroughly with soap;
the ampoule with the medicine should be wiped with alcohol and shaken;
then the tip of the ampoule is filed and broken off, and the medicine must be drawn into the syringe;
You need to tap the syringe with your finger, which will help collect the air bubbles into one at the top of the syringe. By gradually pressing the plunger, the bubble can be pushed out through the needle;
To accurately check that there is no air in the syringe, you need to wait until the first drop of medicine appears from the needle.

How to give an injection correctly

Let's take a closer look at how to give an intramuscular injection. It is better to give the injection while lying down, because in this case the muscles are as relaxed as possible and the injection will be painless. With the patient standing, the needle can be broken if the patient contracts the muscle sharply.

How to give an intramuscular injection correctly: in order to know exactly how to correctly give intramuscular injections into the buttock, you need to divide the buttock into four parts by drawing an imaginary cross along it. The injection is made in the upper right square, where the sciatic nerve cannot be damaged.

How to give intramuscular injections correctly:

you need to take two pieces of cotton wool and lubricate the injection site one by one;
Next, take the syringe in your right hand and stretch the skin at the injection site with your left hand (in children, the skin needs to be folded);
the hand with the syringe must be moved 90 degrees to the surface and with a quick movement, insert the needle into the muscle ¾ (not all the way!);
With the thumb of your right hand, slowly press the piston, injecting the medicine. Using a two-part syringe (outdated design), you may not be able to inject with one hand. Therefore, it is better to press the piston with your left hand and hold the syringe barrel with your right hand;
Use cotton wool soaked in alcohol to press the injection site and quickly remove the needle at an angle of 90 degrees, which will help reduce the risk of infection and stop bleeding;
The affected muscle can be massaged, allowing the medicine to be absorbed faster.

How to give yourself an intramuscular injection - safety rules:

the syringe and needle must not be reused under any circumstances;
It is better to alternate buttocks and not inject into the same buttock regularly;
imported syringes have sharper and thinner needles, so it is better to give preference to them.

How to inject yourself

How to give an injection to someone close to you is described above, but how to give an intramuscular injection to yourself? One of the biggest challenges faced when considering how to inject yourself is choosing the right injection site. To determine the upper outer quadrant of the buttock, it is better to practice in front of a mirror, and then proceed according to the instructions described above.

The position of the body during the injection in this case can be either lying down or standing in front of a mirror in a half-turn.

Injection in the leg - how to do it correctly?

The injection can also be given in the leg. But how to give an injection in the leg correctly? In this case, the safest place is considered to be the front surface of the thigh (its middle part).

Injections in the leg - how to do it correctly

We determine the place that is most favorable for the injection: you need to place your palm on your thigh so that your fingertips barely touch the knee. The ideal place for the injection in this case is the base of the palm (the “center” of the thigh). It is necessary to carefully examine the area of the leg to avoid an injection into large blood vessels.

Injections cannot be given in the leg below the buttock from behind.

Having learned how to properly give an injection in the buttock, it can still be scary to do it. In this case, you can always call a professional nurse to your home or go to the nearest clinic.