Bruising

[AndyS]

Hi all, hope you are doing well.

I have been doing fairly well for some time now though over the last couple of months I have found that I am brusing at my injections sites.
I am very careful about rotating my injections sites and was told on my DAFNE course the other month that I was a walking textbook from that point of view.

It is an odd one since I haven't changed my technique and my insulin is all still the same as are my quantities.

I was wondering if anyone else has had this and is it just a phase?
I am not overly concerned about this but was wondering if perhaps I should be.

As I said it doesn't bother me much but with it finally getting nice and warm I am more likely to be getting rid of the shirt and my wife has half jokingly said it looks like she has been beating me with all the bruises.

Any suggestions / advice?

Cheers

Andy

 

[ebony321]

Hi,

if i'm correct in thinking you havent been diagnosed long, it might be that before diagnosis you may have had severe weight loss, and as your control is improving and you have insulin back in your system that you are putting weight back on,

What size needle do you use? you may need a different size which may help with the bruising is what im getting at

Sorry i cant be of much more help

good luck.

 

[Deekh1965]

Hi Andy

I always injected into my stomach with a 12mm needle and had large bruises, since changing to a 5mm needle six months ago no more bruises.
I am very overweight also, my waist size is about 47", so proof you don't need a long needle.

Might be worth considering


Derek

 

[cugila]

You say you haven't changed your injection technique.......is it the 'correct' technique though ?

I inject regularly and haven't had a single bruise at all......however there are some people who naturally bruise easy, perhaps you are one of them. It might well be the size/length of your needle that is also not helping as others have stated.......

It's fairly normal for a little blood to appear when you inject if you manage to catch a tiny blood vessel. This can usually be avoided by putting a little pressure on the injection site with your finger. Don't rub it, just hold it there for a minute or so. This helps to avoid any bruising. If it does happen then try not to use that site until the bruising has subsided.

One thing which has also helped for some is to inject at an angle rather than straight in to the subcutaneous fat. The theory is that when you withdraw the needle any blood doesn't have a straight path to the surface or just under the surface as the fat moves around and several layers then cover the injection hole, that stops the appearance of any bruises.......seems to work anyway.

 

[noblehead]

Andy,

Bruising is the result of the small capillary blood vessels bursting as you pass through them when injecting, I rarely bruise nowadays since changing to the micro-fine 5mm needles a few years back, if you are using 8mm needles then I suggest you change over to the 5mm ones and see if this helps resolve the problem.

Nigel