
All patients with type 1 diabetes and some patients with type 2 diabetes need to use Insulin to treat their diabetes. There are various types of insulin injections available which can be short acting, intermediate or long acting. These can be used in different regimen such as basal insulin, twice daily mix insulin or basal bolus insulin. Your diabetes team would discuss the best option with you to optimise your diabetes care.
Knowing where to give your injection and how to rotate your injection sites will make your injections safer, more comfortable and more effective.
Your injection sites have to be easy to reach when you perform an injection and should take into account your own lifestyle. These are usually abdomen buttocksand thigh. Discuss the most suitable injection sites and site rotation regime with your diabetes specialist nurse, doctor or practice nurse.
Each injection site has a different absorption pattern and in order to reliably predict the effect of a dose of insulin, you should try to keep a consistent site for each time of the day. For example if you decide to use your abdomen for your morning injection, you should try not to give the morning injection in the thigh or elsewhere, but rotate around the abdomen. Repeated insulin injections at the same place have been shown to be one of the causes of a fatty tissue disorder known as “lypodystrophy”.
Not only are these “lipo’s” disfiguring, they are also responsible for erratic and unpredictable absorption of insulin.
Keeping a pen needle on an insulin pen leaves an open passage to the insulin. Therefore, it is important to remove the needle after each injection. This prevents air entry into the cartridge, insulin leakage out of the cartridge and clogging of the needle.
If you use an insulin syringe or pen you need to ensure that your needle/sharps are safe from harm to yourself and others. There are different schemes and arrangements in place for the safe disposal of your sharps disposal box once it is full depending on where you live.
If you live in the Liverpool, Sefton or Knowsley you can ask your diabetes specialist nurse, practice nurse or district nurse to register you on your Council’s sharps box scheme. You will receive a sharps box from your nurse and then when it is two-thirds full call the appropriate number below and ask for collection and replacement of the sharps box.
Safety
Storage
Travel
Insulin is normally made in your body. It controls the amount of sugar in your blood. If you have diabetes Insulin is not being made and patients will have to inject insulin into their blood stream.
This page has information about injecting insulin.
Injection sites
Knowing where to give your injection and how to rotate your injection sites will make your injections safer, more comfortable and more effective.
Your injection sites have to be easy to reach when you perform an injection and should take into account your own lifestyle. These are usually abdomen buttocksand thigh. Discuss the most suitable injection sites and site rotation regime with your diabetes specialist nurse, doctor or practice nurse.
Rotating between injection sites
Each injection site has a different absorption pattern and in order to reliably predict the effect of a dose of insulin, you should try to keep a consistent site for each time of the day. For example if you decide to use your abdomen for your morning injection, you should try not to give the morning injection in the thigh or elsewhere, but rotate around the abdomen. Repeated insulin injections at the same place have been shown to be one of the causes of a fatty tissue disorder known as “lypodystrophy”.
Not only are these “lipo’s” disfiguring, they are also responsible for erratic and unpredictable absorption of insulin.
Storing insulin
General recommendations
Keeping a pen needle on an insulin pen leaves an open passage to the insulin. Therefore, it is important to remove the needle after each injection. This prevents air entry into the cartridge, insulin leakage out of the cartridge and clogging of the needle.
Safe Needle Disposal
If you use an insulin syringe or pen you need to ensure that your needle/sharps are safe from harm to yourself and others. There are different schemes and arrangements in place for the safe disposal of your sharps disposal box once it is full depending on where you live.
If you live in the Liverpool, Sefton or Knowsley you can ask your diabetes specialist nurse, practice nurse or district nurse to register you on your Council’s sharps box scheme. You will receive a sharps box from your nurse and then when it is two-thirds full call the appropriate number below and ask for collection and replacement of the sharps box.
Advice
Safety
Storage
Travel
Diabetes Centre
Royal Liverpool University Hospital
Prescot Street
Liverpool
L7 8XP
0151 706 2829