How to aspirate with a dark colored liquid?

[HenryHill]

I am injecting b12 into my thigh and the liquid is DARK. There is no way to tell if there is blood in the syringe when I pull back.. How can I aspirate correctly with this ? I know you can inject it in the vein but I am preparing to inject test so I want to get it right....


Also, do I need to to apply a bandaid to the injection spot immediately? If I don't attach a bandaid, can it get infected by rubbing on to my cloths later, etc

[HenryHill]

Also, when I aspirate, if I am doing it correctly and I have NOT hit a vein, when I pull the plunger back to check, it should be HARD to pull back, correct?

And if I hit a vein/artery, it would be alot 'easier' to pull back and the plunger would move back more rapidly, filling the syringe with blood, correct?


The reason I ask, is because when I aspirated, it was 'hard' to pull back on the plunger, the plunger did not move back rapidly/easily as it was when I was drawing liquid..

[Zedik]

you should feel resistance and see an air bubble.

[ty357]

Also, when I aspirate, if I am doing it correctly and I have NOT hit a vein, when I pull the plunger back to check, it should be HARD to pull back, correct?

And if I hit a vein/artery, it would be alot 'easier' to pull back and the plunger would move back more rapidly, filling the syringe with blood, correct?


The reason I ask, is because when I aspirated, it was 'hard' to pull back on the plunger, the plunger did not move back rapidly/easily as it was when I was drawing liquid..

Thats the method i go by bro. sometimes a air bubble doesnt even enter when i aspirate. if its hard to pull back i feel its a good sign you in the muscle and not a vein

[HenryHill]

Thats the method i go by bro. sometimes a air bubble doesnt even enter when i aspirate. if its hard to pull back i feel its a good sign you in the muscle and not a vein

Thanks for the reply.
I have a little bit of thickness on my leg. Could it be possible that I am injecting into fat? I think it is unlikely since i have a good amount of muscle on my quad but what would happen if I was injecting into fat instead of muscle? Its a 1" 23g needle. I hear b12 can be injected into fat and work, but what about TEST E? Would it be a waste ? I'm probably over thinking this


Do you guys always have your leg relaxed, and would flexing your leg so the muscle is pushed out have any benefits to it while injecting?

[thenextcutler]

When you pull it back make sure it returns to where you started when you let go. If you didn't take any blood the vacuum will suck the plunger back to the front, with the exception of one tiny air bubble every so often

[thenextcutler]

DON'T FLEX.


if b12 or test E ends up in the fat it will work just fine, but it absorbs slower and you will have an uncomfortable tightness and pain for a few days to a week. Happened to me and I couldn't walk up stairs much less work out. Just make sure you stick the 1" pin in all the way. If yur paranoid about breaking the needle and needing to leave a bit to grab then use 1.5" and leave a .5 or .25" hanging out

[thenextcutler]

Did I say don't flex yet? Cuz DONT FLEX!!!

[G4R]

Thanks for the reply.
I have a little bit of thickness on my leg. Could it be possible that I am injecting into fat? I think it is unlikely since i have a good amount of muscle on my quad but what would happen if I was injecting into fat instead of muscle? Its a 1" 23g needle. I hear b12 can be injected into fat and work, but what about TEST E? Would it be a waste ? I'm probably over thinking this


Do you guys always have your leg relaxed, and would flexing your leg so the muscle is pushed out have any benefits to it while injecting?

As long as you are using a long enough pin, you shouldnt have much to worry about (especially if your BF is low enough, which it should be). If you inject into fat, it takes longer for the B-12 (or oil, depending on what you are injecting) to disperse. Buts its not really a waste. If you leg is thicker, then try switching to a 1.5" pin.

As far a relaxing or flexing while injecting, I personally like to flex while injecting. It helps tighten the skin and prevents the injectable substance from leaking out (in the form of a tiny little drop). Same as when you use the z track method to inject, keeping the skin tight so there is less chance of slight run out.

[Bonaparte]

You're definitely overthinking this.
Just pull back on the plunger a bit to check for a vacuum. I could do it with my eyes closed.
And as long as whatever you're injecting makes its way under the skin, it will not be wasted. Oils are usually just more comfortable (and absorbed faster) when pinned deep into the muscle.

[HenryHill]

Thanks for the input guys, I had another random question. Each time I inject the b12 i'm wasting about .1ml of liquid. After injection there will still be some lquid left in the needle/very end of the syringe. I probably wouldn't even notice it if the liquid wasn't DARK brown.

Should I:
Before injecting, draw in some extra air ( a tiny amount, maybe .1ml of air ) then turn the syringe over and push a little so the liquid drops out of the syringe, then inject? And the last bit of air I assume would push the rest of the liquid out? Would it be bad to always be injecting air IM ? I just feel like I'm wasting 1/10 of the bottle right now.

[Mr.Rose]

The method is known as air lock. Its a medical approved method to prevent back leaking from the muscle and to ensure all the medicine enters the body. I do it all the time. Have 0.5-1mL of air behind your gear. This only works when the pin is held verticle, or the air wont do anything.

Don't worry,you need in excess of 100mL of air injected into a blood vessel to cause death from an air embolism, not injected IM.

[G4R]

The method is known as air lock. Its a medical approved method to prevent back leaking from the muscle and to ensure all the medicine enters the body. I do it all the time. Have 0.5-1mL of air behind your gear. This only works when the pin is held verticle, or the air wont do anything.

Don't worry,you need in excess of 100mL of air injected into a blood vessel to cause death from an air embolism, not injected IM.

You always have very good medical information. Reminds me a lot of a well respected member we used to have here.

[Mr.Rose]

You always have very good medical information. Reminds me a lot of a well respected member we used to have here.

Naw shucks, thanks. *blushes*.

I try to give fact rather than opinion when it's needed.

[baseline_9]

if ur drawing from a vein it will feel like pulling water into te syringe i would imagine, when in muscle the plunger goes back to were it started

[Dizz28]

You don't need to aspirate when injecting B-12

[HenryHill]

You don't need to aspirate when injecting B-12

I am practicing for my first cycle of test in the future !

[Dizz28]

It can be IM, SubQ or IV

I've always done SubQ, don't need to aspirate