Injection needle hitting blood vessel

[PD Oz]

From time to time I end up hitting a blood vessel and then getting a bleed from the injection site with, no doubt a leakage of insulin out. If it happens with my long acting at night I get bad test results the next day. I was wondering if there is any way to pick or select a site to avoid hitting a blood vessel? Also has anyone tried to pinch off any bleed which occurs to stop leakage? Also I wonder whether to attempt to inject another say 2 units immediately on another site to compensate? Although I don't know how much insulin gets lost. Any thoughts or experiences with this would be appreciated.

 

[CapnGrumpy]

I used to find this happened to me when I injected into the tops of my thighs. My solution was to use my beer gut, which has more fat over it, instead. I very rarely hit a blood vessel now.

 

[PD Oz]

I used to find this happened to me when I injected into the tops of my thighs. My solution was to use my beer gut, which has more fat over it, instead. I very rarely hit a blood vessel now.

Thanks CapnGrumpy. I did have a beer gut until I lost so much weight (then came diagnosis/LADA.) So the gut is now a bit sparse. By the way I had just opened a XXXX gold (first for the day) when I opened your response. Cheers!

 

[noblehead]

I'd imagine most people will end up hitting a small capillary blood vessel from time to time and will bleed or end up with a bruise, it's nothing to worry about.

I always injected my basal (long-acting) in my bum or legs and boluses in my stomach or arms, if your on the lean side @PD Oz make sure you use a 4mm pen needle.

 

[pinewood]

From my experience the best way to avoid this in relation to your long-acting/basal is to a) use 4mm needles and b) inject into the fattiest part of your bum cheek. I used to have this problem all the time when I used my thighs but no issues at all using my buttocks.

 

[PD Oz]

I'd imagine most people will end up hitting a small capillary blood vessel from time to time and will bleed or end up with a bruise, it's nothing to worry about.

I always injected my basal (long-acting) in my bum or legs and boluses in my stomach or arms, if your on the lean side @PD Oz make sure you use a 4mm pen needle.

Good point Noblehead. I have been using 6mm since I started 18 months ago and will give the 4mm a go.