So since Dave_ had his run in with an abscess. What are the chances of this happening? If someone does all the right things for injections. I would hate to deal with this as a kind of regular thing. I know its a risk but, what is the chance this would happen? Or is it a fluke that it happens. You deal with it and move on? Are certain body types more prone to this type of infection? Just curious.
[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
I have never had one. I’ve been injecting for over 5 years.
I don’t swab the area prior to injection.
Bushy[/quote]
Any reason as to why you don’t swab?
Every injection I ever had they soaked me with alcohol.
Ive also never had one.
Ive also read an article or two in the past stating that there is no more risk of infection with or without swabbing prior to injection.
There are plenty of diabetics that I know for a fact dont swab prior to injecting their insulin.
However I must admit that at this point I do swab pre and post of every injection.
Never had one either.
Simply taking basic sterility precautions when administering gear will rule out most causes, and will give you peace of mind.
The only bad stories I’ve heard are from using bad or poorly made gear. It doesn’t matter if you swab prior to injection if your product wasn’t produced correctly in a sterile environment. First know what you are putting in your body…
I too have never had one. And I also never swabbed for the first three years of injecting. I’m not sure, but it seems some people are just less prone to get abcesses. It seems even when using the same injection procedures, some people will get them while others will not. Thoughts anybody?
-M
[quote]mbaina wrote:
I too have never had one. And I also never swabbed for the first three years of injecting. I’m not sure, but it seems some people are just less prone to get abcesses. It seems even when using the same injection procedures, some people will get them while others will not. Thoughts anybody?
-M[/quote]
Your right… It depends on the individual person and on the type of gear (prop or long ester) that your running. Certain people react differently to different oils, BA/BB concentrations…
About 3 years of injecting for me and never had one.
I’ve thought I had on a couple of occasions but they just turned out to be me injecting too mny cc’s at one time.
I do swab every time but more out of habit than scientific reasoning.
Lucky me had an abscess after my third injection. My doc - who knows I’m cycling and is doing my checkups - said normally an abscess will occur for a couple of reasons:
- Site infection due to unsterile conditions
- Improper injection location/technique
For example, if you don’t inject deep enough, the oil may not fully be absorbed my the muscle quick enough. As the body fights what it thinks is an intruder (the bolus) you can develop an infection, or - in more serious cases - an abscess. I developed a sub-cutaneous abscess because I didn’t inject deep enough into my vastis lateralis, which can be tricky on some people. The pain deepened over six days, til finally I went, had it drained, and went on an antibiotic. Annoying. Abscess pain is not “normal” pain - people will say they are “sore” for a few days - if you have an abscess, you will know something is wrong by the increase/intensity of the pain, most likely.
Chances are, you will never ever get one. If you do, just go to the doc and tell him the truth. He’ll scowl, get over it, and give you an antibiotic.
In microbiology class, we quartered off the tabletops to test the germ killing strength of rubbing alcohol, bleach and peroxide. One quarter was not cleaned and the other 3 quadrants were cleaned with one of the aforementioned. Each quad was swabbed and then the swab worked across petri dish medium.
Petri dish results of the cultures:
- Control (untreated) - grew tons of stuff
- Rubbing alcohol - marginally better than control - killed very little
- Peroxide - very noticeable drop in culture
- Bleach - Killed damned near everything.
So rubbing alcohol can only be thought of as a
“site cleaner” and not a disinfectant.
The only time i had one from an oil/IM was recently when i dropped my naked needle on the carpet, wiped it with my fingers, and stuck it in.
I deserved that one.
I just was not thinking! you can get complacent, and thats when sterility goes down.
[quote] JJ wrote:
The only time i had one from an oil/IM was recently when i dropped my naked needle on the carpet, wiped it with my fingers, and stuck it in.
I deserved that one.
I just was not thinking! you can get complacent, and thats when sterility goes down.
[/quote]
I think that is a good tip JJ
JJ you crack me up sometimes man haha.
bmc
So Peroxide would be the grand cadillac? Bleach is certainly out of the question!
[quote]BMC85 wrote:
JJ you crack me up sometimes man haha.
bmc[/quote]
Me too… He’s a funny dude.