Okay, so I wanted to try giving myself a subcutaneous injection, just to see if I could do it. You know, for… reasons. First things first, I needed to figure out what size needle to use. That’s the whole point, right? Gotta get the right gear.
Figuring Out the Needle
I did some digging around. I found a bunch of stuff about needle gauges and lengths, and honestly, it was a little overwhelming at first. It seems like the gauge is how thick the needle is, and the length is, well, how long it is. Makes sense.
For sub q injections, which go just under the skin, it looked like smaller needles are the way to go. I’m not trying to hit a muscle here, just that fatty layer right underneath.
- Gauge: I saw recommendations for 25G to 30G. The higher the number, the thinner the needle. So a 30G is skinnier than a 25G.
- Length: Most of what I read pointed to 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch. That seemed pretty short, but I guess you don’t need to go very deep for this.
My Little Experiment
I ended up grabbing some 27G needles that were 1/2 inch long. I figured it was a good middle ground. I also made sure to get some alcohol swabs. Gotta keep things clean, you know?
I watched some videos show that pinch the skin, stick the needle in at a 45 or 90-degree angle – I went with 45, seemed less scary, injected slowly the liquid, pulled the needle out, and put pressure on the spot with a cotton ball. I must admit the process is not hard to follow.
The Result
It’s done! I’ve finished all the process to do the experiment, the whole thing. I know what should do for next, and I am going to keep practice and record the data.
