Happy New Year! And what better way to start off your new year than with 10 tips to reduce the pain during your injections!
I have been seeing a lot of comments from guys complaining about pain when they inject their testosterone, so today’s tips will help you decrease the pain experienced during and after injections.
You’re probably not always going to have completely pain-free injections, but these tips will help reduce the pain significantly enough that it’ll barely be noticeable and will be as close to pain-free as possible. I personally rarely experience injection pain anymore.
These tips are primarily intended for those injecting testosterone for testosterone replacement therapy, but most of these tips can also be used for for other types of medications.
Please work with your doctor or medical provider when making any changes regarding your health and hormones.
Here are 10 tips for pain-free intramuscular injections.
1. Find the correct injection site (the sweet spot)
In beginning it will be hard to know exactly where to inject due to lack of experience. I have created videos (see below) to help you find the ideal location site for deltoid, quad and glute injections. An updated glute injection video for both ventrogluteal and dorsogluteal injections will also follow in the next few months.
When you start injecting, try and remember the areas that were free of pain and those that were painful, and then only inject in the pain-free areas each time. Experience over time should make it easier to remember and identify the exact spots to inject, allowing you to inject with minimal pain.
2. Rotate your injection sites
Injecting in the same location every time may cause a build up of scar tissue at that injection site. This may cause pain over time if you continue to inject in the same location.
If possible, try and rotate your injections through different sites each time. Try and utilise as many different injection sites as possible, that both you and your doctor are comfortable with.
3. Use the appropriate needle size
Use the most appropriate and smallest needle size possible that still allows you to inject the testosterone safely and easily.
If you are able to use a 25g needle, then why would you use a 23g, which is larger? The smaller needles size will reduce the pain experienced as the needle enters the skin.
I was guilty of this personally for many years too. I stuck with a 23g needle due to habit. As soon as I switched to a 25g, the pain was immediately reduced.
Please note that the “smallest” doesn’t mean the shortest. It refers to the thickness of the needle. The length of the needle that you should use depends on the injection site, and also on how much fat you have surrounding your muscles.
Just be aware that certain injection sites require certain size needles, so always check with your doctor what the most appropriate needle sizes are for your injection site.
Also, according to research, the smallest needle isn’t always the best, so there are limitations as to how small you should go. Again, work with your doctor and only switch to the smallest needle recommended.
4. Inject with the finer side of the needle.
Click to enlarge and view the head of the needle.
The needles you use have both a fine point and a blunt side at the head.
If you look closely at the head of the needle and rotate it, you should see this.
Make sure you use the finer edge of the needle as you insert the needle into your injection site.
Another tip to do this correctly, is to try to push the needle into your skin and press gently. If it struggles to break the surface of your skin, rotate the needle or syringe slightly and try again. Keep trying this until it slides into the skin fairly easily. Usually the finer edge will allow you to break the skin easily.
5. Inject Slowly
Injecting the testosterone slowly can significantly reduce the soreness afterwards, especially for larger volume injections like Nebido.
6. Swap needles and use a new needle for injecting
Needles blunt with each use, including when you draw your testosterone.
So try and swap needles between drawing the testosterone and injecting the testosterone. A fresh, sharp needle will definitely decrease the risk of pain when injecting.
7. Warm up your body and warm up your testosterone.
One strategy that may work for you is to to warm your body by taking a hot shower before your injection. This helps relax the muscles and keeps them unflexed.
You can also try warming the testosterone before the injection. You can do this by holding the vial in a closed fist for a couple of minutes, running it under hot water or placing it near a heater until it’s warm.
Many guys swear by this approach. I have never used it personally as I have never had the need to and find that it would take too long for me personally.
However, in theory it makes perfect sense that a warmer oil in a warm muscle would be less painful that in a cold muscle.
8. Try smaller injection doses / shorter injection intervals if possible
The volume of your injection shouldn’t usually be a major factor when it comes to injection pain. However, if your doctor permits it, you can also try smaller doses of testosterone more frequently.
Certain muscles are larger than others, and naturally larger doses of testosterone should ideally be injected into the larger muscles.
For example, a 4ml Nebido injection is injected into the larger glute muscle, while a 1ml Sustanon injection can be injected in the glute, or split into smaller injections of 0.25-0.5ml and injected into the smaller deltoid or quad muscles on a more frequent basis.
If your doctor allows you to change your TRT dose, consider trying this approach if you experience injection pain and nothing else works.
9. Use legal testosterone
Using illegal testosterone MAY be one of the causes of pain for you.
Normally we would assume that you’re using legally prescribed testosterone prescribed by your doctor and issued by a pharmacy. However, I do get a lot of DIY viewers and I’d like to cover all bases.
Some black market testosterone may contain poor quality ingredients that you wouldn’t find in normal testosterone. This may cause pain, especially in the period after injecting.
If you have tried all other approaches without any luck, try legal testosterone if possible, or, try switching brands.
10. Let the skin dry after wiping it with an alcohol swab
Before injecting, you typically wipe the injection site with an alcohol swab, to clear away any dirt and bacteria.
Let the injection site dry first before injecting, otherwise you may experience a stinging sensation if you penetrate the skin while it is still wet.
Conclusion
Hopefully some of these tips will allow you to experience pain-free injections, or at least reduce the pain of your injections.
Time and experience will also ensure less pain during injections, so don’t be discouraged and keep practising.
If you have any tips that I might have missed out on, please let us know in the comments section below.
Good luck!
References
Factors influencing time course of pain after depot oil intramuscular injection of testosterone undecanoate
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3739103/
Does Needle Size Matter?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769648/
Effect on pain of changing the needle prior to administering medicine intramuscularly: a randomized controlled trial.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21198801
Comparison of intramuscular injection techniques to reduce site discomfort and lesions.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3636818
The effect of injection speed on the perception of intramuscular injection pain. A clinical update.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11760527
Rapid Injections Trump Slow for Minimizing Injection Pain
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2329762/
An experimental study on the use of manual pressure to reduce pain in intramuscular injections.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12100641
What needle thickness and gauge Size and color do you use for painless IM Thigh injection
I use a 25G 1 inch needle for my quads and glute intramuscular injections. Please also check these tips to reduce the chance of pain during injections: https://trthub.com/7-tips-to-make-quad-injections-easier/
I’ve not done this myself, but want to learn from the doc and you.. that being said what size of needle do you recommend in the thigh or arm and how do you know how deep to go. And what’s the worst that can occur..thank you.