Your first Self Pin

Ok Guys....................

The doc has agreed to let you give yourselves your own shots.......... Good

No more doctors office appointments..... Yea

Now Ole Papa Smurfs gonna walk you through it.

First....... Pin selection (pin is a term we use for needle FYI)

Glutes (fleshy part of your behind) will require an 1.5 inch pin, 23gauge is best (gauge equals dia of needle, high number smaller dia)
Stay high on the hip and slightly to the outside. Lots of great pics on net to show placement

Quads (big part of upper leg) wil require 1 inch pin, 25gauge are great. Quads are easiest to see and get at, and a good place for rookies to start

Ok, Take you vial and pop off the plastic cap. Wipe top of bottle with alcohol . Place to side. Get pin, and open one end (package pulls apart into)
Do not remove.
Your going to want to get a draw needle. This is the one you will remove the Test from the vial each time. Never stick a pin in yourself that has already been stuck through the rubber stopper. It dulls the needle ALOT. Just use a needle off a syringe you have and disguard the syringe, or get the pharmacy to give you an 18 gauge needle to draw with, makes things faster

Now, grip the end of the needle,still in wraper, and with its guard on. Unscrew it from syringe. Remove syringe from wraper leaving the needle and guard inside. Install draw needle onto syringe,make sure you wipe off the end of draw needle before you screw it onto the syringe.

Now, pull back about 1cc of air into syringe, insert needle thru rubber stopper, push air into vial, and then SLOWLY draw medication to your proper dose as prescribed by your doctor, ie 1/2 cc, 3/4 cc , you get the point.

Remove needle from vial and sit aside, draw your medication down futher into syringe so needle and throat of syringe are empty. Remove draw needle and store for future use.
Slide syringe back into package were your fresh new needle awaits. Screw needle onto syringe and remove from package. Select inject site on quad or glute. Swap site with alcohol (note Let alcohol dry for about 30 seconds before injection, cuts down on sting)
Slowy push medication up through syringe throat and out needle. This expels the air, and that small drop of you medication, coming out the needle, is mostly oil and that will act as a lubricate

Now........fun part...........RELAX..........Breath. Make sure bathroom door is locked, so wife or kids dont come bustin in on you in the middle of this..
Press needle firmly agaisnt skin and give it a slow twist (left right, the needle doesnt care) while gentle pushing in. The twist helps the needle cut through, instead of punching through that first layer of skin.
Once needle is fully in, you need to aspirate. We dont want you injecting into a blood vessel. So, with the needle completely in, pull back slowy on plunger, just alittle. If you see blood enter the syringe, remove needle and start over. This is rare. I myself, in four years, have ever aspirated blood.
If no blood, slowy push plunger in until it bottoms out. Slowy remove needle, swap site with alcohol........and your all done!!!

Side Note:

If, when you remove the needle, blood flows out, weather alot or alittle, dont panic!! This means the needle just PASSED THROUGH a vein, not stayed in the vein. Your fine, just wipe that blood up off the floor, and dont use the good white towels to do it!!

Now, there are hundred different ways of doing this, and this is just one that has worked time and time again for me.

Hope this helps you get started down the right road to self pinning !!!

Good stuff Papa!

My doc is very anal abouut shit like this. wants to control everything. Several years ago, I told him going to afghanistan, so show me how. You should have seen the ugly look on his face when he realized I was going to get my way after all (self injection)