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Bruising
- Thread starter twisty
- Start Date
Jen&Khaleb
Well-Known Member
My son Khaleb often gets bruising on his butt as he can wiggle a bit and the needle moves from side to side. I don't see the same in his thighs (I have a better grip with his leg hooked under my arm) and only use the middle 2cm (he's only 4) and don't go close to his knee or the top of his leg. I find the hip area is also pretty good. You could try different needle lengths to see if deeper or shallower is better. I'm using 5 or 6mm needles as I found the 4mm needles gave varied absorbtion. Many older children I know use the 8mm needles. I don't like it when I get a big blood spot after a needle either but you sometimes can't help but hit a vessel. I kind of know where to avoid these days to miss them 
.
.Can't really add much to Jen's advice apart from using a new needle each time if you don't already.
My daughter who is also 8 has bruises on her arms but never complains that her arms hurt or it hurts when injecting. She is also very slim but she never pinches the skin to inject so I don't know if this makes a difference.
Worth speaking with your DSN for some guidance on injection techniques, but in the meantime carry on rotating the sites to avoid getting the hard lumps.
My daughter who is also 8 has bruises on her arms but never complains that her arms hurt or it hurts when injecting. She is also very slim but she never pinches the skin to inject so I don't know if this makes a difference.
Worth speaking with your DSN for some guidance on injection techniques, but in the meantime carry on rotating the sites to avoid getting the hard lumps.
Hi Twisty,
My daughter doesn't mind doing it herself at all and in fact won't let us do it now. She did get into the habit of rubbing the area before she put the needle in - which is supposed to help, but now she doesn't bother as she wants to get it done quickly so she can get on and eat!
We have never used a pen mate, but I'm sure that any click noise must be more scary than the injection itself. My son has in fact just gone onto an insulin pump which has a firing mechanism to insert the cannula and he starts crying in anticipation as he is waiting for the 'bang' as he calls it. We always ask him after we've inserted it if it hurts to which he always replies no.
As for doing it herself then I think it's an individual thing. She has also not been diagnosed for very long so is still probably adapting to her new lifestyle. I wouldn't worry about it. I heard some children doing it as young as 3 and other children when they are about 11. When she's ready she will tell you.
My daughter doesn't mind doing it herself at all and in fact won't let us do it now. She did get into the habit of rubbing the area before she put the needle in - which is supposed to help, but now she doesn't bother as she wants to get it done quickly so she can get on and eat!
We have never used a pen mate, but I'm sure that any click noise must be more scary than the injection itself. My son has in fact just gone onto an insulin pump which has a firing mechanism to insert the cannula and he starts crying in anticipation as he is waiting for the 'bang' as he calls it. We always ask him after we've inserted it if it hurts to which he always replies no.
As for doing it herself then I think it's an individual thing. She has also not been diagnosed for very long so is still probably adapting to her new lifestyle. I wouldn't worry about it. I heard some children doing it as young as 3 and other children when they are about 11. When she's ready she will tell you.
My daughter used to get the odd bruise at injection sites, particularly on her bottom but sometimes on her outer thigh too. She seemed to bruise more from the shots hubby did than me and we could never work out why. We must have both had a slightly different technique but I don't know what that was. We don't pinch when doing the injection. And sometimes there is a small bleed if you pierce a blood vessel.
We tried a penmate but she also didn't like the clunk noise and said it hurt when it went in. We did however keep the penmate attached to the pen but never used it by pulling it back to load and then pressing the button. We simply used it to give a chunkier feeling pen and it also offered some stability near where the needle is so experienced less wobbling when she did the injections herself. We had a small amount of pressure from our consultant at the time that she should be doing the injections herself, I think she was about 7 at that time. I never pushed her as I always believe that she will do it herself when she's good and ready. It's so important that they have the confidence in themselves to do something like this. If she had reached the age of 11 and going onto secondary school then I might have pushed a little more. Every child is an individual, because one is self injecting at 7 or 8 doesn't mean everyone should be. As it turned out she started trying the injections herself around the age of 8 and was happily doing the lunchtime one herself a few weeks later. She did seem wobbly with the needle and cumbersome trying to push the dial in but with a little practice her technique got better. Just offer lots of support and encouragement when your daughter is ready and I'm sure she will get there.
We tried a penmate but she also didn't like the clunk noise and said it hurt when it went in. We did however keep the penmate attached to the pen but never used it by pulling it back to load and then pressing the button. We simply used it to give a chunkier feeling pen and it also offered some stability near where the needle is so experienced less wobbling when she did the injections herself. We had a small amount of pressure from our consultant at the time that she should be doing the injections herself, I think she was about 7 at that time. I never pushed her as I always believe that she will do it herself when she's good and ready. It's so important that they have the confidence in themselves to do something like this. If she had reached the age of 11 and going onto secondary school then I might have pushed a little more. Every child is an individual, because one is self injecting at 7 or 8 doesn't mean everyone should be. As it turned out she started trying the injections herself around the age of 8 and was happily doing the lunchtime one herself a few weeks later. She did seem wobbly with the needle and cumbersome trying to push the dial in but with a little practice her technique got better. Just offer lots of support and encouragement when your daughter is ready and I'm sure she will get there.
