Ice Packs and Track Marks

[Chemical_Boy]

In your opinion, when is the best time to apply ice to minimize track marks and bruising?
Immediately upon removing the needle? or later as the bruise is forming?

[Cureforpain]

I always used heat, not ice.

[Ragdoll]

Ever try arnica ointment?

[bronyraur]

Ever try arnica ointment?

never heard of it Rags. is it available in drugstores or is it something special?

[Ragdoll]

Arnica ointment, as far as I know, is only available in health food stores. Whether mainstream drugstores carry it, I don't know. Surely available online, too. It's used for bruises, soreness, inflammation. It's not at all expensive and it does help.

Sure 'nuf, here's a link - 1 of many:

http://www.mothernature.com/shop/detail.cfm/sku/56720/S/98711

[bronyraur]

Arnica ointment, as far as I know, is only available in health food stores. Whether mainstream drugstores carry it, I don't know. Surely available online, too. It's used for bruises, soreness, inflammation. It's not at all expensive and it does help.

Sure 'nuf, here's a link - 1 of many:

http://www.mothernature.com/shop/detail.cfm/sku/56720/S/98711


thanks for the information, Rags

[Frozen]

SWIM had over a hundred nasty self-inflicted cigarette burn scars all over his lower legs.

SWIM used Mederma (anti-scar lotion you can buy OTC at a pharmacy), used this stuff a few times a day for about a year, and all of the burn scars faded away completely- Now, looking at his legs you can't even tell he used to have scars there at all.

[Ragdoll]

Well, for burns, aloe vera right from the plant works miraculously well.

[candy]

Arnica gel or ointment does work well and you should applly it everyday. To prevent bruising, apply some pressure right after pulling out your rig. I always kept cotton balls or toilet paper right there to apply at the site after pulling out my needle. This prevents bruising. Apply ice if you do see some bruising ASAP for 15 mins. and if you miss, now that is when you want to get heat on there ASAP.

For track marks, using neo-sporin at a site used often works some. I used to apply cocoa butter to my arms every night and that helps. Try looking in the health food stores or drug stores for lotions that help reduce scars or something that bleaches the skin. Mederma can work and also you could try things such as ointment with silicone in them to help.
Palmers cocoa butter lotion has one with Vit. E and that works. The key is applying it a few times a day until you notice that scar looking better and continue if it works.

Also products with Retinol or Beta Hydroxy might help for track marks.

One helpful hint.....Try not to use the same site all the time. Alternate your sites. Not only will it help to prevent marks, but help to decrease scar tissue that forms as well!

[Chemical_Boy]

I usually shoot in my hands- since I have workers hands that are all scarred anyhow it makes it easy to hide. But shooing coke all night for a bunch of nights quickly makes those veins temporarily (and some permanently) unusable. Needless to say, my arms now are looking like I wrestled with a hugs fucking rose bush for several hours.

Sometimes when I get a really obvious mark I just rake that portion of my arm over a rough concrete edge or something as this is a very common sight on my arms/hands anyway, but after these last couple of nights that would probably end up with me requiring skin grafts:D

Fuck, I counted easily 75 pokes, not too mention that the needles I used are a bit oversized (1inch 25g(!))

So I just went to work using my uniform (short sleeved) and hoped my coworkers are dumb.

We'll find out if I get a "random" drug test soon, eh?


Fuckin coke!!:cool:

[candy]

I usually shoot in my hands- since I have workers hands that are all scarred anyhow it makes it easy to hide. But shooing coke all night for a bunch of nights quickly makes those veins temporarily (and some permanently) unusable. Needless to say, my arms now are looking like I wrestled with a hugs fucking rose bush for several hours.

Sometimes when I get a really obvious mark I just rake that portion of my arm over a rough concrete edge or something as this is a very common sight on my arms/hands anyway, but after these last couple of nights that would probably end up with me requiring skin grafts:D

Fuck, I counted easily 75 pokes, not too mention that the needles I used are a bit oversized (1inch 25g(!))

So I just went to work using my uniform (short sleeved) and hoped my coworkers are dumb.

We'll find out if I get a "random" drug test soon, eh?


Fuckin coke!!:cool:

I mentioned this is another forum, but there are a few things u can do to get those veins to come up(well you hope for it anyway). Dehydration really causes those veins to stay hidden. Most of us are dehydrated anyway. You really have to drink a lot of water daily and keep it up to stay hydrated. You can be dehydrated without experiencing any symptoms. It does help! Also, invest in a heating pad. It will help bring those veins to the surface. If your trying to hit in the early morning hours, take a hot shower just before u hit. Just the other day I was standing behind this lady at the ATM and she had these great veins on her arms. And I swear I was drooling just looking at her veins. I cannot even remember what it was like to have veins. I was looking at my arms and hands and going what a waste. To have those big old veins and enjoy a good hit without searching for hours would just be bliss! Anyway, back to reality here. This is just the thing we junkies have to deal with after prolonged use and abuse of our bodies. Try to stay away from IM injections. Unless you have the right sized needle, with an insulin syringe your not getting into the muscle where you should be to the full effect. An IM injection should be deep into the muscle. With an insulin syringe your more or less doing it SQ or under the skin. I know some might disagree, but when you have a longer needle and can get deep into the muscle, you get a much better high and it hurts less. If you do IM and you have a Needle Exchange around, ask them for IM needles. These are needle that are usually 1 inch long or 1 1/2 inch in length for bigger guys. They may have them for those who use steroids. Good luck and try some of the above, it helps!

[Chemical_Boy]

Well, for burns, aloe vera right from the plant works miraculously well.

Thanks for the hints Miss Rags!

Arnica gel or ointment does work well and you should applly it everyday. To prevent bruising, apply some pressure right after pulling out your rig. I always kept cotton balls or toilet paper right there to apply at the site after pulling out my needle.


One helpful hint.....Try not to use the same site all the time. Alternate your sites. Not only will it help to prevent marks, but help to decrease scar tissue that forms as well!

Yeah, I do the same thing with the cotton/TP for immediate pressure. Definitely helps a bit

If your trying to hit in the early morning hours, take a hot shower just before u hit. .....This is just the thing we junkies have to deal with after prolonged use and abuse of our bodies. Try to stay away from IM injections.
My biggest problem is that it is coke. The first shot is always easy. The problem is I can easily end up doing 60-70 shots in a one or two day period. I stay away from the crook of my arm as A) it is obvious, and B) I save that one for the "special" shots. You know, the one you try to get your money's worth with, just shy of the seizure threshold hehehe. For the sake of hiding it from my SO and my coworkers I have to stick with a very few places easily hidden (ankles- easy to hide, but hard to hit and the back of my hands- easy to play off as work injuries, but quickly building up massive scar tissue and hard fucking veins.

I know the problem is the sheer number of the shots combined with not a lot of choice of rotation sites. I just can't help my self, you know. . .

Also, what is up with this? When I use my happy vein in the elbow, I hit clean quick and barely leave a mark since I only do it once or twice per session. No bruise, and the little poke heals in two days. Then, all of a sudden a week later, I end up with one of those greenish yellow bruises forming out of no where. Seriously like 5 days after the fact. Why is this not an immediately noticeable bruise? Why does it take so long to form? I mean, shit, if I hit the veins on my forearm they almost always bruise. But they do so immediately and clear up in a day or two.
Delayed action bruising? Seems strange. . .

All,
Thanks for the hints and replys!

[candy]

Thanks for the hints Miss Rags!



Yeah, I do the same thing with the cotton/TP for immediate pressure. Definitely helps a bit


My biggest problem is that it is coke. The first shot is always easy. The problem is I can easily end up doing 60-70 shots in a one or two day period. I stay away from the crook of my arm as A) it is obvious, and B) I save that one for the "special" shots. You know, the one you try to get your money's worth with, just shy of the seizure threshold hehehe. For the sake of hiding it from my SO and my coworkers I have to stick with a very few places easily hidden (ankles- easy to hide, but hard to hit and the back of my hands- easy to play off as work injuries, but quickly building up massive scar tissue and hard fucking veins.

I know the problem is the sheer number of the shots combined with not a lot of choice of rotation sites. I just can't help my self, you know. . .

Also, what is up with this? When I use my happy vein in the elbow, I hit clean quick and barely leave a mark since I only do it once or twice per session. No bruise, and the little poke heals in two days. Then, all of a sudden a week later, I end up with one of those greenish yellow bruises forming out of no where. Seriously like 5 days after the fact. Why is this not an immediately noticeable bruise? Why does it take so long to form? I mean, shit, if I hit the veins on my forearm they almost always bruise. But they do so immediately and clear up in a day or two.
Delayed action bruising? Seems strange. . .

All,
Thanks for the hints and replys!

Even though you are hitting veins that leave no mark or bruise immediately, there may be bleeding under the site that becomes visible as that yellowish-greenish bruising a few days later.
60-70 shots a day is a lot. It is no wonder you have nothing to hit and coke may cause more damage than opiates.

One question....What type of needles are you using?

[Somanax]

Not to mention the vasoconstrictive effect C has,makes it harder to hit a once useful site




SOMANAX

[Chemical_Boy]

Even though you are hitting veins that leave no mark or bruise immediately, there may be bleeding under the site that becomes visible as that yellowish-greenish bruising a few days later.
60-70 shots a day is a lot. It is no wonder you have nothing to hit and coke may cause more damage than opiates.

One question....What type of needles are you using?

Ones that are way too big 25g. They are the only ones I can get.

1 1/4 inch 3ml 25ga

It's like hitting a vein with a train spike.

[Chemical_Boy]

Even though you are hitting veins that leave no mark or bruise immediately, there may be bleeding under the site that becomes visible as that yellowish-greenish bruising a few days later.
60-70 shots a day is a lot. It is no wonder you have nothing to hit and coke may cause more damage than opiates.

One question....What type of needles are you using?


Yeah, I know.
It was more like 20-30 shots over the period of two days, but some of them required a little bit of "tunneling" to find a hit which is what resulted in so many poke holes.

I still have some good places to hit, but I use them only once in a great while for preservation's sake. I don't rotate away from the easily hidden spots that I use as much as I should for two reasons-
A) This is supposed to be a short-term project- if I keep blasting this much coke over the long haul, a couple of hard to hit veins are going to be the least of my problems.
B) Though these spots are very easily hidden, they aren't the best (i.e. ankles. . .). This means I still have my elbows to work on if I really have to (which are big, fat, happy, thirsty veins, but it keeps me in check, because it is hard to pass of IV marks in your elbow joints as anything but what they are.

So really, I have lots of good veins left. It's just the easily disguised ones that are becoming difficult. I knew this would happen when I started this run. I just didn't expect it as fast. Of course I didn't expect this coke habit to get so rambunctious so quickly. But that is just because I am an idiot who doesn't learn from their past mistakes;)