Self-Injecting Insulin for Diabetics

Self-injecting insulin is part of the lives of diabetics. It is as important as following a healthy diet, living a healthy lifestyle and maintaining blood sugar levels. Injecting insulin is one of the best ways to keep blood sugar at safe levels.

As many people developed diabetes nowadays, many have also learned to do self-injecting insulin. The lives of diabetics revolve mainly on safe blood sugar levels and insulin is the solution to keep the blood sugar from going sideways and to avoid complications such as erectile dysfunction, hypertension, blindness and amputation.

Requirements

For a person to apply self-injecting insulin, he should be capable to do basic things such as attaching the needle to the injector, determining the right insulin dosage, detaching the needle from the injector and doing the actual injection itself. This requires a grip strength to hold the devices, good eyesight, both hands and a minimum intellectual capacity. Otherwise, doing self-injection can become difficult.

Things to remember

Make sure the supplies you use are according to the specifications given by your physician. Doing self-injecting insulin for diabetics is also to know exactly insulin dosage and the type of insulin, which are both crucial to maintain your blood glucose levels correctly. Likewise, syringes and needles should be customized according to insulin dosage.

Do not forget to clean insulin bottles. Also clean the injection site and the exact area where shot is prepared.

First, inject the needle into the bottle while squeezing out all the air. Put on insulin by drawing the syringe until the right dosage is reached. Remember to check if the syringe has no air bubbles.

Where to inject

Insulin shots are not painful since they do not need to be injected on a vein. To do self-injecting insulin is to shoot the needle into the right area under the skin, into any fatty issue. In the diabetics’ body, it can be in the outside or front areas of the thighs, arms’ upper end outer areas, area just above the waist on the back, abdomen except around the navel or the buttocks. These areas of the body are best for insulin injections since they are far from nerves, joints and large blood vessels. From these areas of the body, insulin is absorbed and distributed into the blood stream at a steady rate. Make sure to change the body areas where you injected. Using the same area can cause that skin to become hard.

When you are one of the self-injecting insulin diabetics, never carelessly dispose needles. Dispose them directly into the trash. Place them inside an old bleach bottle, screw the cap, tape the bottle close and double bag the bottle before you dispose.