Why injections are not given in arteries

If possible, find someone who you trust to mentor you through this process. Hopefully, there are things in this manual that will be new and helpful even to those of us who have been injecting for a long time. However, reading about how to inject and actually doing it are two different things.

Intravenous injection mainlining , or injecting a substance directly into the bloodstream through a vein, is one of the fastest ways to deliver a drug into your system. It is also the riskiest method to use in terms of overdose as compared to sniffing, smoking, or oral administration because the entire dose enters the body all at once and very quickly.

While each injection method carries its own risks, mainlining is arguably the riskiest since it creates a direct opening between the bloodstream and the outside world.

Heroin, cocaine, and amphetamine are three drugs that are commonly administered intravenously. People who inject drugs often have one or two favorite places to inject—sites that feel the most comfortable, are easy to access, and where you almost always get a clean hit on your first try. While it may seem awkward at first, it is important to learn how to inject in other places that may not seem as comfortable or accessible on your first couple of tries.

If you keep injecting in your favorite spots over and over without letting the veins repair themselves they will become leaky, making your shot less satisfying and harder to hit; could become seriously infected; and will eventually collapse or scar so badly that they become altogether unusable and interfere with circulation. So, it is very important to rotate the sites you use to inject.

Any time you inject intravenously, you risk pushing bacteria, fungi, and any other infection-causing microbes that are on your skin directly into your bloodstream. It is therefore extremely important to thoroughly clean your injection site prior to getting off. Alcohol pads work well for this purpose, but be sure to wipe in only one direction and not in a circular motion which will cause the dirt and germs to stay on your skin.

Rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or plain old soap and water or any other type of cleaning agent or disinfectant also work fine. Routinely cleaning the skin prior to injection is one of the most important things you can do to reduce your risk of endocarditis, blood poisoning, and similar infections discussed in chapter 3.

Tie your tourniquet in such a way that it can be easily removed if necessary. Finally, be sure not to leave the tourniquet on for too long. Insert the needle into your vein with the needle bevel opening facing up, at a 15 to 35 degree angle, and always in the direction of the heart. The more perpendicular the needle is to the injection site, the greater chance you have of sticking the needle through the vein instead of into it.

See illustration on following page. You can now untie your tourniquet and proceed to inject your drugs. It will probably be painful and become swollen, and the effects of your drugs will come on much more slowly.

You also risk abscess formation and other possible problems. Stay calm and slowly draw the syringe out and elevate the limb. Some injectors like to do this several times, ostensibly to rinse out any drug solution that remains in the syringe. To minimize bruising, you should have untied your tourniquet before you injected your shot.

Apply pressure to the injection site to stop any bleeding. Treat missed shots those that ended up somewhere other than in your vein immediately with a warm water soak or compress to reduce the likelihood of irritation and abscess formation. Warmth will open the capillaries and bring disease-fighting white blood cells to the affected area. This can be traumatic on the veins and the surrounding tissues, and result in a lot of bleeding.

Because crack comes in a solid form rock , it is necessary to dissolve it first. The safest way to do this is with powdered citric or ascorbic acid—ask your local syring service program or health food store where to find it. Avoid lemon juice or vinegar, as these can lead to serious infections.

To dissolve crack: put crack and citric or ascorbic acid about a pinch to a slab in the cooker; add plenty of water; mash and mix well. Try to only use as much acid as you need, since extra will dissolve your drugs, and acid can be very hard on your veins. Because speed is often cut with such dangerous chemicals, it is very important not to miss your shot.

Skin-popping speed can be very painful, may cause an abscess, and will take a long time for the body to absorb. If you get the shakes after doing a few shots, it may be helpful to have a friend inject you if you are not using alone. Because the quality of speed varies so dramatically, a tester shot is a good idea. The following is a breakdown of possible intravenous injection sites, beginning with the safest options and moving toward the least safe ones. ARMS: Arms, first upper then lower, are the safest sites for injecting.

HANDS: Hands are somewhat less safe than arms because the veins are significantly smaller and more delicate and therefore more likely to bruise or become damaged. Circulation is also slower in the hands, causing healing to take longer. Be vigilant about rotating the sites, and keep in mind that it is difficult to conceal injection marks and bruises on the hands.

Veins in the legs are more likely than those in the arms to develop clots that can obstruct circulation and eventually break off and lodge in the lungs or heart. Also, damaging the valves in the leg veins is more serious than damaging those in the arms since they play a greater role in getting blood back to the heart. FEET: As with the hands, the veins in the feet are generally smaller than in other parts of the body, and close to nerves, cartilage, and tendons which you want to avoid hitting when you inject.

Because they are farther from the heart than the veins in the hands, arms, and legs, blood circulates more slowly in the foot veins and they therefore require more time for healing and repair.

In addition, foot sweat and dirty socks act to prevent wounds from healing and increase the chance of infection from bacteria. GROIN: The femoral vein in the groin area is a large and fairly easy vein to access, but its location near the femoral nerve and the femoral artery make it quite a risky place to inject. Rather the muscle tissues towards which the arterial blood is flowing will become swollen and painful.

Avoid risky areas The young person is less likely to hit an artery if they avoid risky anatomical points where arteries are more accessible — especially points such as over joints elbow, behind knee, armpit, neck, groin. Feel for a pulse Encourage the young person to feel for a pulse.

The presence of a pulse means that area has a large artery and should be avoided. An arterial pulse around the groin is hard to detect if the person is seated, as are small arteries around the fingers and toes.

Advise the young person to find another injection site. Place needle slowly and carefully There may be warning signs before the needle actually touches the artery, for example, increased nerve sensations such as electrical shocks as the needle gets close to the artery, and cramps as the needle touched the artery wall. Going slowly gives the user time to avert the needle form the artery.

Arterial cramp? Pull out! If the needle scratches or starts to pierce the artery, the thick muscular wall might go into spasm. Circulation may then be cut off. Under special circumstances however we do inject substances into an artery, taking all precautions needed to e. Send Your Questions to Experts. Invalid OTP! Resend OTP? Send OTP.

Why do doctors give injection in the vein and not in the artery? Share this question. Satyankar Maharaj Grade Similar Questions A white powder is used by doctors to support a Write the name and chemical formula b. How is this powder prepared?