Hi All,
Sorry it's me again with yet another question. But I'd like to say a huge thanks to everyone who's helped so far.
I have recently started to inject insulin in to my tummy and have notice that started to come up with little yellow bruises is this normal?
They are not painful they just look a little unsightly.
Hi I bruise really badly and if I inject near a bruise I often find the insulin then takes ages to kick in or doesn’t seem to do it’s job at all. I have been told to leave a good inch clear around a bruise for any subsequent injections.
Switching to longer needles really helps avoid bruising. Gets past lots of little blood vessels and veins. There are 5mm, 6mm and 8mm needles. I started on 4mm and worked my way up to 8mm! It’s really helped.
I am not worried about the bruises themselves it’s the fact that my insulin doesn’t work properly when I get too many bruises. An endocrinologist phoned me after I took a photo and emailed it to my nurse, he said you should expect 1 bruise in every 5-6 injections at most. Any more and change to a different needle. As Type 1 I am on 5-6 injections/day.
I also used to get red lumps appear almost immediately after some injections and there are silicone coated needles available called ‘microdot’ as opposed to the cheaper ‘novofine’ . The microdot needles have completely eliminated this problem for me, and my nurse tells me she has other people on these who just get covered in bruises and/or lumps.
A few bruises are to be expected but if you have a lot and can’t find a clear inch to inject then I would be asking to change needles. Keep an eye on how it goes.