Hygiene that actually matters
Three things matter: wash your hands, wipe the vial stopper and the injection site with alcohol, and let the alcohol dry before the needle goes anywhere near. The rest is mostly theatre.
The three that count
Wash your hands properly
Soap and water, twenty seconds, dried on a clean towel. Every surface you touch afterwards is only as clean as your hands were.
Wipe the rubber stoppers
Both the vial and the cartridge, every time. Not only when the vial is new. Each puncture carries surface contamination inwards.
Wipe the skin and let it dry
The drying is the disinfecting. Wiping and immediately injecting achieves very little, and it also stings.
What does not need doing
- Gloves. Clean hands are enough for a subcutaneous injection at home.
- A face mask.
- Disinfecting the whole worktop, though a clean, uncluttered surface is sensible.
- Sterilising the pen. Nothing sterile touches it.
- Alcohol on the pen needle itself. It arrives sterile and sealed.
What people actually get wrong
Recapping a used needle, which is how people stab themselves. Putting a needle down on the counter and picking it up again. Touching the needle tip against anything, including the edge of the vial, and using it anyway. Reusing a needle to save twelve pence.
If the needle touches anything other than the stopper or your skin, throw it away. A needle costs about twelve pence. An infection costs a course of antibiotics and a fortnight.
Knowing when something is wrong
A small red mark or slight tenderness for an hour or two is ordinary. Spreading redness, heat, swelling that grows over a day, pus, or feeling unwell is not, and warrants a doctor rather than a forum.
Questions
- Do I need alcohol wipes if my skin looks clean?
- Yes. Skin always carries bacteria whether it looks clean or not, and a wipe costs pennies.
- Can I use hand sanitiser instead of washing?
- At a push, if your hands are not visibly dirty. Soap and water is better and takes twenty seconds.
Starter Kit
Reusable pen, two extra cartridges, ten needles and ten swabs.