There was a time when taking insulin every day was a very painful event in the day. But nowadays taking insulin has become an almost painless experience. So today we will try to answer a few common questions about how to use insulin if it has been prescribed by your clinician.
On which part of the body, insulin should be taken?
1. Insulin can be taken on the abdomen. The outer side of the thighs and on the outer side of the shoulder also. But if it is being taken on the shoulder it is better to be given by someone else. Another important point is, it should never be taken around two inches of the navel.
2. In younger children it can be given on the upper parts of the hips also.
Should we keep on changing the site of insulin and if yes, then how?
Keep on changing the site of insulin makes it more effective. If one keeps on taking insulin at the same site then it leads to the accumulation of fat tissue on that site, which is called lipodystrophy. Taking the insulin on the lipodystrophy area leads to a lot of variation in its effectiveness.
The easiest way of site rotation is to fix to take insulin on one part of the body at one time of the day and on another part of the body at another time of the day. Plus within the part also one should keep changing the point of injection every time.
For example, one can fix to take insulin on the abdomen in the morning and to take on the thigh in the evening time. And within abdomen and thighs also he should keep on changing the point of injection every time as well.
Should I shake the pen or insulin vial before taking insulin?
There are different types of insulin. The insulin which are premixed formulations like 30/70, 50/50, or 25/75, look milky in color, and they need to be gently shaken and mixed before taking the insulin.
How to take the insulin with the pen?
There are very few simple steps to take insulin:-
- Clean the site if taking insulin with alcohol and wait for it to get dried.
- Dial the advised dose and keep the needle at 90 degrees from the site where it is going to be injected.
- Make sure that the dial window should be visible.
- Then prick the injection site and fix the pen by pressing the pen a little on that body part.
- Now press the dial which comes to zero after pressing. After pressing, wait for 5 to 10 seconds and keep the pressure on the dial button maintained, slowly pull out the pen.
What happens if someone has dialed more than the required dose?
If someone has dialed more than the desired dose, there is no need to worry, it can be dialed back to the desired dose.
If one sees a drop of blood after removing the pen then what to do?
It may happen sometimes when you see a drop of blood after removing the pen. It is not bothersome at all, Just take an alcohol swab and press that area for 2 minutes.
After how many injections one should change the needle?
Ideally, the insulin needle should be changed every time, but if someone wants to reuse it, the same needle can be used a maximum of 2 or 3 times only.
Where should I keep the insulin which is in use?
If someone injects very cold insulin it leads to pain but if we take insulin that is of room temperature it doesn’t cause pain. We can keep the in-use vial or cartridge at room temperature (<30 degrees Celsius) for up to four weeks. So we can keep the in-use insulin out of the refrigerator in cold weather for up to 4 weeks. But when it is a very hot season like May and June, then in use insulin should be kept in the refrigerator and it should be kept out of the refrigerator 30 minutes before the prick.
Where should the extra insulin vials or cartridges be stored?
The extra insulin vials or cartridges which are not in use, should always be stored in the refrigerator and to be kept at 4 to 8 degrees Celsius. It should never be kept in the freezer or chiller trey.
Few Tips to take insulin in a painless way:-
If one wants to take insulin in an almost painless way, he should keep these things in mind:
- Avoid taking cold insulin, so keep it out of the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before pricking.
- Try to take new a new needle every time. Do not reuse the needle more than 3 times.
- Always wait for the spirit to get dried before pricking.
- Always keep on changing the site of injection.
- Try to avoid taking insulin on the root of the hair.
There is no need to be scared of insulin. Nowadays it is very easier to take insulin and now it is even painless too.
If we want we can defeat diabetes. Apart from lifestyle modifications, regular exercise, and medications, one should be investigated every year to detect diabetes complications early, especially considering the potential benefits of diabetes surgery.
In wockhardt hospital. Mira road we have developed an entire diabetes body scan program. through which we can detect the complications at an early stage and treat them.
We all can come together to defeat and diagnose diabetes.
Dr. Jinendra Jain
MD (Internal Medicine), Fellowship in Diabetes.
