Starting insulin? Follow this easy to understand step-by-step guide to help you properly inject your insulin.
Steps of insulin injection check your insulin the first step is to look at the expiry date to make sure it’s not expired next because there are different types of insulin you’ll need to know if yours is clear or cloudy although they look different one is no better than the other if your insulin is supposed to be clear make sure it’s clear and it’s supposed to be
Cloudy make sure check with someone on your diabetes team if you’re not sure what yours is supposed to look like if you are like paul and have two types of insulin make sure you have the right pen for your injection now that you know your insulin is in good shape you’re ready to load it load your insulin cartridge reusable pants only this step is only for people
Using a reusable pimp if you’re using a prefilled insulin pen you can skip ahead to step three mixing the insulin so you have your insulin cartridge and your empty reusable insulin pen first remove the pen cap this is the cartridge holder twist apart the holder from the pen body put the cartridge into the cartridge holder and attach it to the pen body now that you
Have loaded your reusable pen it is basically the same as a pre-filter pen on to the next step mix your insulin cloudy insulin only this step is only needed if you have cloudy insulin if your insulin is clear you can skip to step 4 attaching the pen needle don’t add will shake the insulin to mix the insulin just roll it between your hands horizontally ten times
And then gently tip it like this ten times to make sure that it’s milky white okay on to the next step attach the pen needle first you will remove the seal from the needle then line up the needle with the pen keeping a needle straight screw the needle on to the pen like this and remove both the outer and inner cap keep the outer cap for later when you remove the
Needle once your needle tip is on your pen is almost ready prime your pen priming the pen just means getting rid of the air in the needle and making sure that the pen is working to do this first you will dial two units now hold up the pen and press the injection button all the way in look for a few drops of insulin if you don’t see any drops to repeat the above
Steps until you do once you do your pen is primed set your dose the dial let’s use that the amount of insulin that you need to inject just turn the dial to the right number remember that it shows just the even numbers odd numbers are marked as a line if you’re not sure what your number should be talk to a member of your diabetes team about how much you should
Be taking determine your injection site there are a few options for where to inject it could be your belly but not your bellybutton the outside of your legs the back of your arms and the top of your bum see what works best for you so you’ll probably find that it’s hard to inject yourself properly in art to reach spots like your arms or bum it’s not a good idea to
Use the same spot over and over again because you might get lumps and bumps under your skin so switch the spots you inject in at least two to three centimeters away from your last injection this is about the width of two fingers you don’t want to inject through your clothes or into any stars either when you’ve decided where you’ll inject you’re all ready to go
Injection hold your insulin pen in the palm of your hand with your fingers wrapped around the pen like tall look down to make sure you see the right number for your dogs in the window and have your finger ready on the injection button if you use a short needle for five or six millimeters you don’t have to lift your skin when you inject if you are using an eight
Millimeter needle which is longer you will need to lift your skin like north if you don’t know you need a lynx check your box now for the injection put the pen straight not on an angle into your skin now press the injection button all the way in keep holding it and slowly count to ten then check the dose window again to make sure that it shows zero this means that
All the insulin is injected pull the needle out straight and that’s it dispose of your needle your needle should only be used once so after each injection you should get rid of it safely just use the needle cap to help remove the needle from the pen then put the pen cap back on you need to put your used needles into a container made from hard plastic your local
Pharmacy can give you a special sharps container and some public washrooms happen too when your sharps container is full you can drop it off at your pharmacy it should not go into regular recycling or garbage if you have any issues getting a sharps container or dropping it off you can always ask someone in your diabetes team or call 1-800 banting ok now let’s
Review the nine steps of injecting insulin step one check your insulin step to load the insulin cartridge reusable pens only step three makes the insulin cloudy insulin only step 4 attach the pen needle step 5 prime the pen step 6 set the dose step 7 determined the injection site step 8 inject step 9 dispose off the needle to learn more about your insulin pen
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Transcribed from video
How to inject insulin: Step-by-step guide By Diabetes Canada
