Most patients on self-medication need to inject themselves at least two times a day. Regardless of your full dosage length, you’ll need to pick a syringe that is ideal for you.
With so many types of syringes, choosing the right one for you can be tricky. It’s advisable to consult your physician on how to administer the shot. You should also ask about a brand they would recommend.
Keep reading to learn five tips for choosing the right syringe sizes for your injections.
1. Type of Medication
You can apply some medications, a layer under the skin, while others need to be muscle deep to work. You’ll need to consult your doctor on how deep your injection needs to be.
Subcutaneous injections are shallow and need short needles of about a half-inch long. For instance, insulin injection is more effective when you administer it into the fatty tissue.
However, you’ll need needles of about 1 to 1.5 inches long for intramuscular shots. For intradermal injections, choose needles that are three-quarter inches long. With HCG supplies, you can select the exact needle length.
2. Volume of Liquid
When choosing syringe sizes, you’ll need to consider your dosage amount. This will be no hassle as syringes are labeled with the volume amount.
It’s advisable to go for syringes with labels in MLS rather than in CCS. It’s harder to see the markings on the latter. You could easily give yourself the wrong dosage.
Besides, purchase syringes that hold a bit more than your dosage amount.
3. Needle Gauge
The needle gauge will need to be proportional to the size of the syringe that you’ll use. A higher gauge number indicates a smaller needle radius. This implies that a 30G needle is thinner than a 19G needle.
Doctors recommend using thin needles for intramuscular injections. The deeper into the skin the needle will go, the thinner it needs to be. This is because patients will experience less pain this way.
However, needles with lower gauge numbers have fewer chances of breaking.
4. Skinfold Thickness
Take into consideration the thickness of your skin when selecting the ideal syringe size. To do this right, measure your skinfold.
Pinch your skin and measure the fold between your fingers. Doctors recommend using syringes that are a third of the fold’s thickness.
5. Needle Bevel
Another important factor to conder when choosing syringe sizes is the needle bevel. The bevel is the slanted tip of the needle.
Various bevels will demand you use different types of syringes. Remember always to have the bevel facing the bone during an injection. This tactic will help decrease your pain
Choosing the Right Syringe Sizes
With so many types of syringes, choosing the right syringe size can get tricky. Get a syringe that can hold more than your dosage.
So you won’t have to administer the drug twice. Besides, consult your doctor about the type of medication you are on. That information will help you pick the ideal syringe sizes for your injection.
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