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10 year old nephew newly diagnosed

MickyFinn

MickyFinn

Well-Known Member
Maybe some of you can provide a few answers for me. My 10 year old nephew was diagnosed t1 yesterday and is currently in hospital. From what I am told, he may well have been given 6mm needles and been told they are special children's needles. Is there such a thing, or are they just telling him that?

Personally, I think he's been given a brand of which the smallest needles are 6mm, probably because of cutbacks, and they have said they're the smallest and for children and even told him he'll be given 8mm needles eventually as he'll need them when he gets older. Thing is, he's very slim surely the smallest needles would be best.

I'm 43 and using 4mm needles since I was diagnosed two years ago, so I'm wondering why he would be given longer needles than I, especially as he's understandably struggling with it at first.

A quick search turned up no info for children's insulin needles, hence I'm asking here. Any answers would be helpful.
 
MickyFinn said:
Personally, I think he's been given a brand of which the smallest needles are 6mm
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I think you could be right! Not all brands go to 4mm.

I don't think you will find any needles branded as "children's" needles, I've never seen any.

To my knowledge, the smallest thinnest guage available is 32G 4mm, my 11 year old son uses the 'Novofine Plus' brand and they are prescribed no problem.

I would definitely raise some concerns with the HCPs, your nephew will be having a tough enough time right now, without needing to worry about needles bigger than he needs.
 
MickyFinn said:
I will try to confirm that he's been given 6mm and demand they're changed immediately if so.
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Let's hope that perhaps they were either mistaken or they were the smallest needles they had available at short notice and that he will get a usual supply of 4mm asap. I've been given 8mm instead of 6mm by the chemist before, and to be honest did not make much difference to me - but for kids they should be given the most suitable size no question.
 
max_bonner said:
Let's hope that perhaps they were either mistaken or they were the smallest needles they had available at short notice and that he will get a usual supply of 4mm asap. I've been given 8mm instead of 6mm by the chemist before, and to be honest did not make much difference to me - but for kids they should be given the most suitable size no question.
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I hope he has been given 4mm and questions don't need to be asked. I will also try to make sure he's not given GlucoRX needles either, they're terrible quality and painful to use. As you say, children should be given the suitable size to allow them to ease into a routine.
 
So far as I know there is very little difference in the thickness of skin between childhood and adulthood.

I have also been prescribed 4mm (BD brand) since diagnosis. It sounds like a mistake to me that can be cleared up once queried.
 
db89 said:
So far as I know there is very little difference in the thickness of skin between childhood and adulthood.

I have also been prescribed 4mm (BD brand) since diagnosis. It sounds like a mistake to me that can be cleared up once queried.
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I hope so, but I do also know my local Hospital is in a dire financial situation, so it wouldn't surprise me if it was due to cutbacks.
 
Issue solved. It was a nurse on the ward who mistakenly insisted they were 6mm needles, when they are actually 4mm. I also warned my brother to make sure his GP surgery doesn't prescribe him GlucoRX needles once they take over his prescription. I found them to be terribly painful to use.
 
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