Hi all,
Well for long acting at night you can do it in your thigh as you are doing no activity at all and insulin works too fast if you inject in the leg and do activity. I was told if there is fat you can inject. Just not the arms. so spread it out on your belly all the way around to nearly your back. thats what I do. Hope this helps you 
Type 1 is a long haul type disease. If you limit yourself to one or two injections areas, it tends to cause absorption issues tears later. I’ve been diabetic for 41 years, I rotate my injection sites from legs, belly, and arms. Actually, I rotate pump sites now, but years ago, it was injection sites. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at information about injection site rotation, but I’m pretty sure that they still recommend rotating around different skin “real estate” areas to prevent issues later on. I’d check back with that NP, or, better yet, see if you can find a certified diabetes educator (CDE), I think that NP may not know enough about D in the long haul.
You should rotate injection sites to avoid scar tissue that effects absorption. There’s only so many areas on your stomach. You can use your thighs, hips, upper butt-- anywhere there’s fat. Pinch up the skin so you don’t shoot into muscle on your thighs. Some people use their upper arms. Not easy to do. I tried this & it hurt!
Best to get used to rotating areas now.
Thanks, all – that’s great advice and I will start doing that asap!
You have to rotate sites. I use my tricep area, my abdomen, and my thighs. I haven’t been able to shoot myself in my backside, but I have friends who have offerred. = ) This link shows suggested injection sites. Wherever you do it, pinch your skin before you insert the needle and then release it before you inject. The leaner you are, the more important pinching the skin is so you don’t hit muscle. Then you should wait a few seconds, I usually wait one second per unit, but a minimum of 10 seconds to be sure. That might be overkill, I dunno. Otherwise some insuiln can leak out.
Since you cannot pinch your tricep and inject, try this to get used to it: For your left arm, sit on the ground, bend your knee at about 90 degrees so your food is on the floor. Place your inner upper left arm on top of your knee and slide it in towards you. You will see the tricep area bunch up. With your right hand, insert the needle into that tricep area. Remove your tricep from your leg, and inject away. I did this when I was a skinny teenager, and I never had problems with hitting muscle once I figured this out. I always use my knee to get it in my tricep. When I didn’t use my knee, I hit muscle a few times, and that is discouraging.
If you want better instructions, email me and I will try to post a youtube video for you.
Dear VooDoo Doll-
It’s amazing to me that it’s such a crap shoot when it comes to getting quality information at our diagnosis. Tragic! Thankfully we have each other!
I’m having the same issue- new to injecting / D and have been abusing my poor belly as the other sites I’ve tired require being a contortionist /hurt and or bruise! Check out you tube- there are a lot of diabetes patient education videos out there- good info on HOW to inject (my “education” nurse gave me bad/dangerous info!) as well as WHERE to inject- as it IS important to rotate. I use lantus- and their website also had good info videos also. On you tube - just make sure you’re searching “insulin injections” or “subcutaneous” as you don’t want the intermuscuar videos. Ah- isn’t this fun?
PS
You can ignore the you tube guy that uses his FEET to pinch his upper arm- while entertaining probably not the most hygienic approach!
I’ve been poking needles in me for 45 years, way back it was the once a day injection, then twice, then to many to count, now the pump. (and lets not get on how many finger sticks a day we do!). Anyway, I have rotated sites - when on MDI’s (multiple daily injections) belly, rear, thigh, arm. To get to the arm - I would “lean” my arm up to the edge of the table, wall, fridge - whatever was close. (i used my arms a lot when out in public, it was quick, friends didn’t go nuts and i didn’t have to get up and to hide to go bolus) The rear, propped that up on the edge of the bathroom counter. And many times I just didn’t worry to much as there is enough padding in most places on my rear I wouldn’t hit muscle unless I really would dig in or use one of those needles we had 45 years ago (big enough to give insulin to an elephant!). Also learn to inject with both hands - that way you can rotate to both sides on your arms and rear! Pay attention also to location used and speed of action of the insulin. I learned when on MDI’s not to use arms for large injections as I would go low quickly, but smaller doses were usually ok. And yes, if you overuse one area, it will be prone to becoming a problem.
Yeah, that’s a bit too freaky anyway. But you know, I guess he got bored…! 
I’m kinda afraid of doing my arms as there isn’t much to pinch there. But I guess I can always try to see if I can get it right.
As for needles, what we use for this is nothing compared to the ones I endured for amniocentesis (this procedure for each of my 2 kids) – that was one HUGE needle. Stuck in my belly for one HUGE amount of time.
Thanks – this is quite detailed.
I think the hubby can help with the backside, though honestly even though my friend suggested that the other day as an alternate site, the thought of it made me shudder – in the “old” days that’s where we got our shots at the pediatrician’s, how humiliating and painful! LOL!
Promise the backside isn’t painful at all. Stomach is much more sensitive. Those shots we got as kids had huge needles. When I was told to inject in my stomach, I felt ill & asked where else would work.
The first syringe Rx I had was for bigger needles than I use now. Don’t know what the doctor was thinking because I’m thin. Having syringes with half unit markings also helps.
You can not afford to not use the belly - just rotate often. I want to add that the damage inflicted by the shot should be as small as possible. Depending on your skin type it may be advisable to not reuse the pen needle. The magnified images of bend needles often found on needle containers are not only for the purpose of increasing sales. Todays needles are much thinner than 10 years ago. To reuse an already bend needle will cause more damage to your skin. So stop reusing if the second use often hurts or the insertion is not as smooth as the first one. Another point is the injection strategy. Most people will get bruises from shots other persons have applied - a good example are the shots against thrombosis in the hospital. This will less likely happen if we apply the shot ourselfes. The reason is that just by setting the needle slightly on the skin we will get important feedback. This will tell us if there is a nerve or a blood vessel under the injection site. Thus we can relocate the shot and a bruise can be prevented. For this purpose the speed of inserting the needle and the speed of injecting the insulin should be reduced too - also based on the feedback we get from our skin.
Thanks for this reply. I never reuse my needles, so no worries there. As for bruising, I already bruised easily prior to my diagnosis, and since I’ve learned to search very carefully for areas where there are no obvious blood vessels lying around because I’ve already bruised myself by not paying close attention. Luckily for me, I’m fair and and blood vessels are easy to see…!
I posted this discussion about 2 years ago.
https://forum.tudiabetes.org/topics/583967:Topic:167026
I’ve had type1 almost 43 years. I wish I 'd rotated better all along. you will find that you can get used to doing it anywhere that has been mentioned fairly quickly. I know you can do it, and please keep us updated on your progress!
I have been a T-1 for the last 11 years. I take 4 shot a day. I use my belly almost exclusively. I use 1 side of the belly each month, using the naval as a dividing point . I just changed for August. I don’t have any hardened areas anywhere on my belly. This could be because I don’t take too much insulin with each shot.
Really? That’s a different method! I’m glad I asked this question!
Oh wow I had better read this discussion you posted carefully later tonight. I can’t believe that a needle as tiny as the ones I use would create those kinds of problems, but live and learn! I guess it’s a tiny trauma to the body repeated over and over, and it heals by creating scar tissue… I really feel like a “user” now, except a legal one and one who injects to live, not to die. Strange.
This is a good discussion, and raises a question to Korrie’s comment relative to larger injections in the arm and speed of absorption at that site…
Has or does anyone go so far as to consider all of the variables of MDI to arrive at a “big picture” strategy? For example, I’d read that the stomach has the fastest absorption rate, thighs the slowest. A recent post (I think it was Holger’s) mentioned that small doses absorb faster than large. Then there’s the timing of injections – 10, 20, 30 or more minutes before meals. So depending upon the size of the meal, where it’s eaten (in restaurant or home), exposure potential, etc., this could become a real science… or art.