pen needles

What make and size are you using and what's the problem?

estherem said:

Hi they are bd micro-fine 4mm needles. They seem harder to push into the skin, there is more resistance and my son is complaining they hurt more. Might just be that he is just being more sensitive. Could it be a batch that is faulty?

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I doubt it's a faulty batch but you never know. You could try pinching the skin to see if this helps with the discomfort.

Just one other thing, I seem to remember some parents have numbed the area with an ice-cube prior to injecting to ease the discomfort....although you may want to check with the boys diabetes nurse if this is OK.

estherem said:

Hi they are bd micro-fine 4mm needles. They seem harder to push into the skin, there is more resistance and my son is complaining they hurt more. Might just be that he is just being more sensitive. Could it be a batch that is faulty?

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It could possibly be a faulty batch of needles( things like that can happen) although probably rare or could it be the injection site area :?

Are they the same brand as what the nurse gave you?

There are several brands of needles, and some will come with a the tip either cut at an angle or cut straight! Some diabetics find that this small difference can make a big difference in injecting experience... It same with the lubrication used in their manufacturing...

But if it's the same brand, then as already said it could be a bad batch, so pop them back and have a word with the chemist who should exchange them for you..

Hi estherem!

I use those needles and I do find that they blunt very easily. I think if you push them straight in they're fine, but I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to inecting and I sort of bounce them around on my skin, then think that area's a bit tender and move to a different area etc, and sometimes by the time I actually inject, the needle is too blunt to break through the skin cleanly. I think pinching up a fold of skin, and then a quick, clean movement of jabbing works best rather than touching the needle against the skin first. But as I say, I'm a wuss so I faff about and blunt the needles :lol:

Smidge

I find that pinching a little fat on my tummy and injecting there is the most comfortable as my upper arms and thighs are very lean and i found injecting those areas a bit stingy and sometimes the 6mm 31g needles appeared to have bent a little after I had withdrew.

Sorry, but could you clarify which brand and length the nurse gave you initially, and what you got on prescription now? BD-microfine are among the shortest and thinnest needles (4mm, 32G) compared to e.g. NovoTwist (5mm, 32G). So, it's either a faulty batch (as mentioned above) or psychological (sorry) - first few times with the new needles is probably scarier much like the first injection.

Edit to add: Is there any particular reason why you got a prescription for different pen needles? If not, you could always try and request a prescription for the needles you got from the nurse. In my experience, they tend to be fairly nice about but this may vary with your location (I believe the technical term is "postcode lottery") - e.g. I got Humanpen Luxura HD and Humalog cartridges and Unistick added to my repeat prescription list with no questions asked. If that fails, ask the diabetes nurse at the hospital to send your GP a letter to issue you a repeat prescription for the needles you want.

I also use BD 4mm needles.My endo told me that if you use your thumb and index finger to pull the skin you are going to inject really taught then the injection won't hurt as much as you have pulled the nerve endings apart. However, if you pinch the skin up then he said you have pushed the nerve endings closer together so it will hurt more. There is no need to pinch up with a 4mm needle even if you are small. Hope this helps. Also don't reuse the needles as they are coated in a lubricant to help them slide into the skin easily and this starts coming off after they have been used once.

There is no need to pinch up with a 4mm needle even if you are small.

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The full quote from the study you are thinking of

The study data indicate that an even shorter-length, 4 mm needle will successfully deliver medication subcutaneously at all sites in nearly all adults with diabetes. Specifically, it is estimated that perpendicular insertion of such needles will deliver drug into the SC space >99.5% of the time

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It's not exactly inconceivable that a 13 year old child who probably lost some weight prior to the diagnosis is among the unlucky 1-in-200