Help Finding Veins

[xxkmanxx]

SWIM has been using dope for about 2-3 years now, off and on. SWIM recently got into shooting. and has always had an extremely hard time finding a vein, sometimes taking over an hour to my great frustration. there is nothing worse than being sick and missing your shot. try to tie off with a belt, make it tight and slap my arm a few times. Still its hard to get a vein up. Any suggestions would help a lot.

Thanks

[jdub]

SWIM has been using dope for about 2-3 years now, off and on. SWIM recently got into shooting. and has always had an extremely hard time finding a vein, sometimes taking over an hour to my great frustration. there is nothing worse than being sick and missing your shot. try to tie off with a belt, make it tight and slap my arm a few times. Still its hard to get a vein up. Any suggestions would help a lot.

Thanks

Stay hydrated, work out (I used to do curls, chin ups, push ups rite b4), stay warm (try it after a shower or even in the shower). Ummm.. I'm sure there are more..Also when I was working out I used lots of supplements and those helped alot. Nitric oxide in particular I think.

To keep em: Use fresh points, sterilize the injection site, rotate sites, don't shoot tar.

[HowLongIsTooLong]

SWIM has been using dope for about 2-3 years now, off and on. SWIM recently got into shooting. and has always had an extremely hard time finding a vein, sometimes taking over an hour to my great frustration. there is nothing worse than being sick and missing your shot. try to tie off with a belt, make it tight and slap my arm a few times. Still its hard to get a vein up. Any suggestions would help a lot.
Thanks

Ok,

I have a bit of the same problem, but try this... it's gonna be hard to viz, but anyway...

Ok, extend your arm so that your palm is facing up, straight out. You should have the tourniquet on at this point. USE A RUBBER TOURNIQUET!!!

Keeping the upper arm (bicep area) parallel to the floor, flex your elbow to bring the underside of your arm facing up. You should be grabbing your shoulder with your hand at this point.

Feel around the underside of the forearm. There is a hell of a vein there. Usually closer to the body.

OK THE HARD PART

This vein is good in diameter, but it aint stiff... it rolls, SO

When you go to hit it, offset your point of attack by about one inch. DONT TRY TO SHOOT RIGHT ON TOP OF THE VEIN! In other words, you want just the front part of the pin to penetrate... so you start the penetration ahead of the vein, dig??? Also, the angle of attack should be off the parallel (to the vein) by about 7 degrees. Maybe 5.

I wish I could show pix... anyway good luck!

D

Also, previous advice is gold... steam up the bathroom and go to town. In your hand if you have to, though I don't recommend it.

[oxydose]

Ok heres a few tips...

Like the guy above me stated, use a rubber tornquet(sp?), they work _A LOT_ better than belts, a good thing to use is a replacement band made for a slingshot, I been using one of those for 2 years now, though its starting to show its age and tear, it still works fine... Also some folks (myself included) have to LEAVE IT ON while pushing the dope in, I know it isn't very harm reductive and its not the best idea, but as long as your tieoffs far enough up and you inject slowly (and not from no damn 10cc rigs either) then I've had no problems, the reason for this being after one registers and released the tieoff then the vein tends to fall back down, so unless you went in at a perfect angle then it'll slip away from the needle...

Lift some weights for a good 5-10 minutes and then try, it'll make your veins pop out more...

Like mentioned above stay hydrated...

Try taking a hot showing then IVing, or put a warm towel over the spot your trying to hit for 5-10 minutes before trying, like working out the heat will help bring your veins close to the surfice.

Try a longer tipped needle if your can't reach the vein, only thing you must watch out for is going all the way THROUGH the vein...

Feel around for your vein instead of relying on just seeing them, once you understand the way they feel (sorta like a wet noodle in your arm) it'll make it a lot easier to find them...

I always reregister as I'm pushing in my dope, say I got a full needle, 3/4th I'll rereg, then at 1/4 I do it again, then after its all been pushed in I'll reregister once more pulling back str8 blood just to make sure I was inside the vein the whole time...

If you have a problem with rolling veins your you must learn how to put pressure onto the vein to keep it in place while you insert the needle, no real way to explain that better than I just did, trial and error/sucusses is what it takes...



Finnally rethink weither you wanna keep IVing, if you make it a regular habit prepair to have some fucked up tracks, and if you use your inner arms prepare to be the only one wearing longsleeves in 102 degree weather lol....

peace

-oCd

[dirtdog]

trial and error baby
you'll find a way to get it in. we all did.
for now mine are shot. just thick blood slowly seeping in the rig instead of nice blood rushing right in. uhh....
I use a dog leash. Pretty fitting for a dirtdog :-P
fucking spent my last 20 on a shot and nothing! NOTHING! aah time for methadone...

[goagirl23]

For the past month or so I was having a horrible time shooting. So bad that I was once there for almost 4 hours trying to get the damn shot right. Then one day out of boredom I decided to read the harm reduction book I had grabbed at the NE a few months ago. What do you know, the tips actually worked and my life has been so much better ever since! One helpful hint was to do arm circles, this made such a difference for me. I used to do push ups to prepare and they helped a little bit but the arm circles definately helps to bring the veins up...especially that one on the underside of the forearm. You can also try wrapping your arm in saran wrap for a few minutes to trap the heat in......Good luck and do remember to rotate injection sites....you'll thank yourself later! Good luck

[jdub]

For the past month or so I was having a horrible time shooting. So bad that I was once there for almost 4 hours trying to get the damn shot right. Then one day out of boredom I decided to read the harm reduction book I had grabbed at the NE a few months ago. What do you know, the tips actually worked and my life has been so much better ever since! One helpful hint was to do arm circles, this made such a difference for me. I used to do push ups to prepare and they helped a little bit but the arm circles definately helps to bring the veins up...especially that one on the underside of the forearm. You can also try wrapping your arm in saran wrap for a few minutes to trap the heat in......Good luck and do remember to rotate injection sites....you'll thank yourself later! Good luck


Yep arm circles are the shit. I swing my arm as fast as I can and you can feel the blood rushing to your hand. Then tie as fast as you can.

[mollywopped]

Staying hydrated is really important. Drink a bottle of water or 2 an hour or so before you shoot. Also, getting in the shower and making it really hot helps.

There are a ton of veins in your thighs, hips, love handles, ribs, torso area. They are small and kinda tough to hit, but once you get the hang of it it isn't that hard. If you have light colored skin you can usually see them no prob, just look for the blue lines and go for it. I have been using those for a long time now.