Injection tips and images

[k9diabetes]

It is so difficult to explain injections!! Makes me wish I'd done a video of how we did Chris' shots.

Some helpful images and tutorials follow.

Where to Inject

http://www.bddiabetes.com/resource.aspx?IDX=2551

From BD Diabetes for Dogs website: http://www.bddiabetes.com/us/main.aspx?cat=1&id=384

From the site's tutorial on giving injections, here's one way of making a tent:

http://www.bddiabetes.com/us/images/pets/injectdog_12.jpg

They suggest a 45 degree angle on the syringe:

http://www.bddiabetes.com/us/images/pets/injectdog_14.jpg

This is a pinch on the flank:

http://www.bddiabetes.com/us/images/pets/injectdog_17.jpg

I'd say this flank picture looks pretty much like how I injected Chris along the ribs.

[rhodesian46]

She started out tenting with her right hand THen she switched to using her right hand to inject It looks like she started the tent one way and once the dog layed down the tent went sideways Gosh I am making this confusing, Especially since I am lefty

[k9diabetes]

She's right handed and the first image she was just demonstrating a proper tent, ignoring the syringe part for the moment.

I did Chris' injections just behind the front leg pretty much like that last flank demo pic only I put the tent by his front leg and injected on the back side of it, toward the rib. So just facing the opposite direction.

The BD tutorial rejects some things that I think can work just fine. And the AlphaTrak tutorial only showed the scruff and I didn't think the pictures were all that helpful.

Not to worry Marianne. Aim for the right spot and it doesn't matter how you get there.

With the short needles, you are less likely to poke through to the other side. I felt like I more accurately got subQ with the short ones.

[k9diabetes]

AlphaTrak's video (second part where injection is given): http://www.cat-dog-diabetes.com/video/injection_for_the_dog_2.mpg

From: http://www.cat-dog-diabetes.com/dogs-insulin-therapy.asp

http://www.k9diabetes.com/alphatrakinject.jpg

As he's pushing the plunger in, you get a somewhat better view of the syringe and the tent.

http://www.k9diabetes.com/alphatrakinject2.jpg

[k9diabetes]

From the following site for humans: http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/1999/02/01/1409.html

If you've ever hit muscle with a needle, you know the pain. If you've ever injected the right dose of insulin and still found your blood sugar sky high, you might have injected too shallowly and hit skin.

Insulin injections that are too deep or too shallow can really foul up glucose levels. For most injections, the goal is to hit the layer of fat between the skin and the muscle.

Hitting this target involves knowing the thicknesses of your own body layers, whether to pinch up or not, and which needle length to use. The medical community is finding that injection techniques play a significant role in blood sugar control.


Hitting the Fat
What's beneath the surface of your skin? The areas a needle can hit are as follows (also see Figure 1):

skin
subdermal layer (just underneath the skin)
fat
epimuscular space (just underneath the fat, on top of the muscle)
muscleVery important note about where you're trying to get the insulin:

Among all people with diabetes, however, the goal is to hit the fat layer.

[k9diabetes]

Bringing forward