Diabetes: Giving yourself an insulin shot

Your health professional will help you learn to prepare and give your insulin dose. Here are some simple steps to help you learn this task.

Get ready

To get ready to give an insulin injection, follow these steps.

1. Gather your supplies. You will need an insulin syringe, your bottle (or bottles) of insulin, and an alcohol wipe or a cotton ball dipped in alcohol. Most people keep their supplies in a bag or kit so they can carry the supplies wherever they go.
2. Check the insulin bottle label and contents. When you use an insulin bottle for the first time, write the date on the bottle. On the 30th day after opening, throw away the bottle with any remaining insulin. Insulin may not work as well after 30 days of use.
3. Wash your hands with soap and running water. Dry them thoroughly.

Prepare the injection

Your preparation will depend on whether you are giving one type of insulin or mixing two types of insulin.

• To prepare an injection with a single type of insulin, follow the instructions in the slideshow of steps for preparing a single dose of insulin.
• To prepare an injection containing two types of insulin, follow the instructions in the slideshow of steps for preparing a mixed dose of insulin.

If you have poor eyesight, have problems using your hands, or cannot prepare a dose of insulin, you may need someone to prepare your insulin injections ahead of time. See prefilling insulin syringes.

Prepare the site

Before giving your injection:

• Choose the part of your body to inject. See the diagram of injection areas for where to give insulin injections. If you give your injections in different places on your body each day (rotate sites), use the same site at the same time of the day. For example, each day:
  • At breakfast, give your insulin into one of your arms.
  • At lunch, give your insulin into one of your legs.
  • At dinner, give your insulin into your abdomen.
• Clean the site. If you use alcohol to clean the skin before you give the injection, let it dry.
• Relax your muscles in the area so the injection will be less painful.

Give the injection

Follow these steps for giving an insulin injection.

1. Slightly pinch a fold of skin between your fingers and thumb of one hand.
2. Hold the syringe like a pencil close to the site, keeping your fingers off the plunger. Usually the syringe is at a 90-degree angle to the skin site. If you are a thin adult, you may want to insert the needle at a 45-degree angle.
3. Bend your wrist and quickly push the needle all the way into the pinched-up area. Then let go of the pinched-up area.
4. Push the plunger of the syringe all the way in so the insulin goes into the fatty tissue. Wait a few seconds to make sure the insulin gets into the tissues.
5. Take the needle out at the same angle that you inserted it. If you bleed a little, apply pressure over the injection site with your finger, a cotton ball, or piece of gauze. Do not rub the area. Check your blood sugar more frequently on the days when bleeding occurs.
6. Replace the cover over the needle. Although syringe manufacturers do not recommend it, some people reuse their syringes until the needle becomes dull or bent. If you plan to reuse your syringe, see precautions when reusing syringes.

View the slideshow on giving an insulin injection into the stomach to see photographs of an injection.

Cleanup and storage

After giving your injection, be sure to:

• Store your insulin properly so that each dose from the bottle will work effectively.
• Dispose of your used syringe. Do not throw your used syringe and needle into a household wastebasket or trash can. You can dispose of them in a metal container, such as a coffee can, that has a lid that screws on or that you tape down tightly. You also can buy special containers for disposing of used needles and syringes. You can also buy a small needle clipper device that breaks the needle off the syringe and stores it safely for disposal. Talk with your local trash disposal agency, pharmacy, or your health professional about how to get rid of the container.

Other tips for success and safety

• Do not mix other medication with insulin without your doctor's instruction; some types of insulin cannot be mixed together. See precautions when mixing insulin for more information.
• Never share syringes. Syringes should never be shared with another person because of the risk of getting diseases that can be transferred through blood, such as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or infection of the liver (hepatitis).

Test Your Knowledge

Practice

Review the slideshow of steps for preparing a single dose of insulin. Give a copy of the steps to a health professional or someone else and have the person watch you prepare your dose of insulin. Ask the person to tell you how well you did. Repeat this process as many times as you need to.

Use the same process for preparing a mixed dose of insulin, if you need to take two types of insulin in one injection. Review the slideshow of steps for preparing a mixed dose of insulin.

Practice injecting air or water into an orange until you feel comfortable with the steps for giving insulin. Then do the steps in front of a health professional and ask him or her how you did. Practice more if you need to. If you feel that you can do the task well, give yourself a dose of insulin while a health professional watches.

Determine whether the following statements are true. Review the slideshows of steps for preparing a single dose of insulin and steps for preparing a mixed dose of insulin before answering these questions.

1. The first step in preparing insulin from a bottle is to roll the bottle gently between your hands.

2. When you are preparing a cloudy and a clear insulin to give a mixed dose, which do you put into the syringe first?

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