Blown Veins

[chemboy7]

Has anyone here ever blew a vein before? Believe it or not before today I never had, atleast I don't think I have. Earlier today, about 3pm, I did though trying to fix some Ritalin. Anyways, it was on the inside of my wrist in a really small vein and I couldn't get the tournequit off and had been having trouble finding a spot so I just let it go as slow as I could. Well, not even halfway through the shot the bastard popped on me; hurt like a bitch too. I knew I blew it because there was a small bruise (about the size of a dime) almost immediately. I just looked down at it though (it's now 7am) and the bruise now consumes the entire width of my wrist and is about 5-6" long, although it does taper down closer to my elbow to about an inch in width. My question is just how much bigger can I expect this fucker to get? How long until it stops growing? Will it just get darker in color. The blood should stop flowing through there soon, right? I'm not even gonna ask in the vein is salvagable or if it will heal, that's beyond wishful thinking and I'm used to having veins that are no good anymore. BTW, it's still pretty sore. I don't advise anyone to shoot in those tiny threads without letting the tournequit go and pumping in ever so slowly.

[ItsLupus]

I bust mine not due to needles but meds I take and it hurts like a bitch.The blood irritates the tissue so its sore and the bruise size?well it just depends on how much can get out before your body manages to stop the bleeding.These are not anything like a normal bruise and they are sore as piss.I have one on my leg that blew three weeks ago today and its still visible faded greatly but there.So expect them to be a friend for awhile and they usually spread out..mine was like yours dime size and within 2 days almost the palm of your hand and blue/green/yellow...really nice.Looked like I got hit with a softball.

IL

[chemboy7]

Yeah, I don't know how the hell I am going to expain this shit right on my wrist where everyone can see. The messed up thing is I have only had a few shots the past couple days after being sober for more than a year and both of my arms have scabby tracks on them due to having to search for veins and coming up short (which was bad enough, but I was gonna blame it on playing with my dog... I know it's not that believable, but what else can I say) but this is sooo much worse. To boot, in a couple days I have to go back and take care of my invalid grandmother (the reason I aint been around here in so long) and I have no idea how to explain it to anyone of my family members around there. I am honestly giving serious thought to saying something like I got it during kinky sex. They wouldn't ask anymore questions and I do currently have a couple hickeys to back it up.

[southernbelle]

I have, but I didn't do it to myself. It happened in the hospital once. Damn nurses blew a vein every time they came in to take blood until I told 'em I was gonna wring the next one's neck if she blew another one. That little comment got me a picc line. Those things are awesome!

[chemboy7]

So how big/dark did they get and how long did they last?

[ItsLupus]

You could probably get away with the dog comment..like a canine tooth caught you and you jerked and Holy shit look!Mine was like a bump on my leg when I rubbed my calf and felt it and it was sore then the sharp pain and a dime size bruise popped faint but a blue under the skin that you could tell was gonna be a nice one.I had to go get it checked cause the dr wanted to be sure it was a clot or the beginnings of a DVT.It went from a quarter size to the palm size in two days and it was a rainbow of colors seriously like I had been hit hard/fallen and struck solid.Even today(3 wks)it is still a very faint like purple that is faded out in spots but you can still see the outline.Ice it,try to keep it up and hopefully keep it from getting worse.

IL

[chemboy7]

Oh I was talking about the dog in the sense that he caused the scratty tracks, I don't think the same lie will work for this bruise. It really does look like someone was holding me down by the wrist and got too rough, that would probably fly better with my family. Hoping anyways...

[RxQueen]

yeah, go with the kinky-sex injury excuse. it'll guarantee no questions from nosy family members... well, unless your family's a lot weirder than mine.

and i blew one on the back of my wrist once. one of those tiny little fuckers near the center... it looked so obvious too. a pinprick mark directly over the vein, then a dark bruise that spread in a teardrop shape to cover the whole back of the wrist (like right between the bones that stick up on either edge... as if it woulda been likely to bump it on anything and have the bruise show up between the 2 spots where bones stick up!) the bruise even narrowed back down then to where it faded at the other end of the vein that blew. it couldn't have been more apparent if i'd have stencilled "stupid junky blew her shot" right on my hand with an arrow pointing at it!

[candy]

Originally Posted by chemboy7

Has anyone here ever blew a vein before? Believe it or not before today I never had, atleast I don't think I have. Earlier today, about 3pm, I did though trying to fix some Ritalin. Anyways, it was on the inside of my wrist in a really small vein and I couldn't get the tournequit off and had been having trouble finding a spot so I just let it go as slow as I could. Well, not even halfway through the shot the bastard popped on me; hurt like a bitch too. I knew I blew it because there was a small bruise (about the size of a dime) almost immediately. I just looked down at it though (it's now 7am) and the bruise now consumes the entire width of my wrist and is about 5-6" long, although it does taper down closer to my elbow to about an inch in width. My question is just how much bigger can I expect this fucker to get? How long until it stops growing? Will it just get darker in color. The blood should stop flowing through there soon, right? I'm not even gonna ask in the vein is salvagable or if it will heal, that's beyond wishful thinking and I'm used to having veins that are no good anymore. BTW, it's still pretty sore. I don't advise anyone to shoot in those tiny threads without letting the tournequit go and pumping in ever so slowly.

Hey Chemboy,
You are going to be fine.
A blown vein can be caused by a needle insertion into the vein. Sometimes it can be caused by trauma to the vein without actually puncturing it. If I were to insert a needle into your arm to start an IV, I will pierce the skin and hopefully end up in your vein. However, if I aim too deep on accident or in an attempt to catch a rolling vein, I may pierce through the other side of the vein causing the blood to leak out thus making the vein unusable. I can also try to draw blood through the needle then "flush" it with normal saline and cause the vein to blow even though the IV was a good stick. Blown veins are visible by swelling, redness, bruising, etc. The initial appearance is an enlargement of the vein. It is very important to keep a lot of pressure on the vein after pulling out of the needle to reduce these symptoms! Pressure will keep the blood from spreading beneath the skin. Also try to apply icepacks to reduce inflammation.
Always take off your tourniquet

[SHELLEY]

i haven't gone near a needle in almost a year
and my veins are STILL blown/collapsed

[Kristy85]

I always used to blow the small veins in my hands n feet. I'm just glad an old vein in my lower arm has come back as I'm using that one now...... until it goes and I'm back in the feet again - OUCH!!!

[Chemical_Boy]

This is kind of fucked up.... just goes to show the length to which we will go to hide our shit....

I blew a vein on the inside of my forearm once.... ended up with a bruise like you are talking about. To hide it, I took my arm and raked it across the sharp edge of a rough sheet metal stud- I work in a construction related field- which scraped most of the skin off (yes. this hurt like a mother fucker). Then I was able to tell people that I scraped it on a sheet metal stud while at work. Looked like road rash after I got done.

The huge scabs covered the bruise effectively. Trouble is, it took about six weeks to heal.

Yes, I am current on my tetnus shot

Wow... That is a fucked up story. I should be ashamed of myself.

But I am not. Just lightly amused....

[blutuesday]

IMO, when u shoot in a tiny vein, dont tie off!!!!!


I am the queen of shooting in tiny and superficial veins. (palms of hands, fingertips etc)

[candy]

Originally Posted by blutuesday

IMO, when u shoot in a tiny vein, dont tie off!!!!!


I am the queen of shooting in tiny and superficial veins. (palms of hands, fingertips etc)

OUCH! But you are right, don't use a tourniquet!