31 Comments
When giving an insulin injection, do you ever inject through clothing?
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When I was on MDI I injected through clothing all the time. If I was out to eat I sure wasn’t going to go to the nasty bathroom to inject, nor was I going to pull up my shirt or pull down my pants at the table. I also reused the same syringe/pen needle multiple times while doing this.
Amen, sister!
Ditto what LizB said.
“No” isn’t strong enough. Maybe “H… NO!!!”. Someone with medical insight enlighten me, but I have to believe that pushing a needle through clothing runs the risk of snagging bits of clothing fiber and any material on the surface of the clothes and pushing them under the skin. Sure seems like an open invitation to a nasty infection.
I agree !!
When I was on MDI, which included my teen years and early 20s, I injected through clothing all the time. I was often lectured about it by family members. Later on, once I was in the medical field myself, I saw that someone conducted a study about injecting through clothing which demonstrated no difference in outcomes, no increased infection, etc. I felt SO vindicated. Lol.
Same here. As a free-thinking child of the 60s, college student in the 70s, and as a young adult in the 1980s I injected with needle and syringe insulin through my clothing all the time. Never had any infections or skin issues. It was actually more convenient and discreet.
Absolutely NO. Not a very sanitary thing to do. I never had a problem giving myself a shot in public placed.
When i was young and hitchhiked through Europe (1968 ), I used to “shoot” through my jeans. Changed the needle once a week. No cgm, no meter, just go by symptoms. Amazing I’m 72 and still going strong!
LOL, I used to say “shoot up” to rile up my mom.
I use short needles on the syringes, so they probably wouldn’t go through any clothing. I want to know for certain that the insulin in getting under the skin.
I use short thin needles also, so prefer raising my shirt. No one has ever bugged me about shooting up in public. But for many years I tried to conceal I was T1 and used bathroom stalls to inject. The Disability Movement raised my consciousness. I’m not disabled, I’m differently abled. Successfully lifting weights after diagnosis really gave me confidence.
I only give 1 injection per evening after dinner of longer- acting. Everything else is inhaled, and no.. I don’t miss preplanning insulin to meals nor do I miss 8% lows, or MDI!!
I have only done it once, through my wedding dress.
For 19 years with no problem other than occasional blood spots on my undershirt. It allows for such discrete injections in public places that even folks at the same table or in the same room don’t notice.
never intentionally, but it has happened.
Only through tights or thin leggings when in public and unable to access other areas without flashing too much skin!
I had been doing that on occasion but got an awful infection on my thigh once that took a long time to heal. I wont ever inject thru my clothes again.
before the new pens…I did the syringes through clothing for 40 years
I have NEVER injected through my clothing when giving an injection.
I did try to advise a young woman who was on the same diabetes ward as myself some years ago of the dangers of injecting in this way, but I’m afraid it was too late for her. She died approximately a week later, having developed a whole series of abscesses along both of her upper legs (where she had injected many times).
Virtually 100% before insulin pump. Although only through very thin shirts into stomach. Never into legs, shoulder or arm.
I’d never consider doing this for so many reasons, to prevent infection would be at the top of my list as to why I wouldn’t do this.
No, since I am on a pump, but in the early years with injections I did often go through clothing.
No.
I live in a city and generation where showing body isn’t bad. Grew up in a country where ads on the television for soap showed naked bodies in an asexual way.
I have never felt bad for exposing a bit of my abdomen for injections.
For most of the years I was using needles, and then pen needles, I injected through clothing – never had a problem or infection, or any other issue.
NEVER..in 68 years !!!!!
Yes, especially when out at mealtime. Someone quoted their doctor as saying it was fine to do so, so I never questioned it. Generally my clothes are clean and I haven’t been out playing in the dirt as an adult.
Occasionally, when I can’t get to my abdomen conveniently. Usually it’s because I’m wearing a dress and can’t lift it up in the circumstances. I wouldn’t do it through thick fabric, only thing. And comment here says medical people quote that it’s not been found to be detrimental. As long as you can still reach the skin. The bevel is going to micro-slice right through fabric, not take it with it…
I’m on the pump now, but when I was using pens for MDI, I always injected through my pants. It was never a problem and was far more convenient.
I tried it very few times while using syringes. But I can’t image with the tiny needles of pens that the needle could survive. I have notice the needle bending several times going into bare skin and wonder if any insulin made it in!
I have been on a pump for nearly 20 years, but when I was doing MDI, I shoved that needle through thin clothing all the time. Not jeans or sweaters, but t-shirts and leggings. Used to crack my friends up doing it too!