Answers to four common questions about insulin injection, including how to ensure you target the right spot each time
With real estate, you’ve probably heard that location is everything. The same idea applies to injecting insulin: As with renting or buying a home, the site you choose is hugely important.
Why Does Location Matter?
When injecting insulin, it’s common to want to use the same body part repeatedly. But that repetition can cause damage in the long run, leading to lumps, scars, and/or swelling and thickened skin. Aesthetics aside, these skin problems can make it difficult for your body to absorb insulin. In fact, some experts recommend avoiding injecting the same site more than once in a two-week period.
Fortunately, switching the injection site each time you take insulin—known as site rotation—is easy to do. Here’s what you need to know.
Where Are Some Common Injection Sites?
There are four main injection sites that most people target when taking insulin:
- The stomach (at least 2 inches from the belly button)
- The back of the upper arm
- The outer side of the front upper thigh
- The buttocks (around where a wallet sits in your back pocket)
Insulin works by moving into the layer of fat just below the skin, and these sites usually have a thicker layer than other parts of the body. If you want to try a different site, talk to your doctor first, because some spots (such as scar tissue or the area near the belly button) are off-limits.
How Does Site Rotation Work?
There are two types of site rotation:
- Using a different body part than last time
- Using the same body part as last time, but a different spot
The second method—a different spot on the same body part—is generally recommended by doctors. This is because insulin is absorbed at different rates in different parts of the body. The stomach has the fastest absorption rate, followed by the upper arm, then the front upper thigh. The buttocks have the slowest absorption rate.
Same Part, Different Spot: Where to Inject Next?
When injecting insulin in the same body part but in a different spot, you’ll want to move about 1 inch away from the exact location of the most recent injection—and use a pattern motion. Some people go clockwise in a circle, for instance. Others work their way from left to right across the body part in more of a grid format. You could start on the left side of your stomach, and move over 1 inch each time until you reach the right side (remember to stay 2 inches away from your belly button!). Then drop down about an inch and start a new row.
If this still sounds as complicated as choosing a location for a new home, it’s OK to ask an expert for help—just like you would do with a real estate agent.
