Can you be strategic with Humira injection sites?

Hi guys, it's been a while, which is a good thing.

Overall I've been doing well with Humira and even with my low pain threshold I'm able to do the injections without too much of a problem. But every once in a while I seem to hit a spot that just kills.

I use the pen, not the syringe, and I always do the stomach, never the thigh since I hear that's more painful. I abide by the rule of rotating around four general areas around the belly button, at least 2 inches from the belly button. I notice that the top two spots usually hurt more than the bottom two, probably because there's more fat toward the bottom.

Instead of asking for general tips for reducing pain, I'm wondering if any of you have figured out which specific areas to avoid. Also, would it be bad if I decided to just alternate between the bottom two spots instead of doing top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right?

I use the pen as well and just went to weekly dosing. I always inject in the stomach because the thighs hurt like the devil! I follow the clockwise method (12 sites), and I find above the belly button hurts more too. I'm not skinny (165 lbs) so I don't think lack of fatty tissue is the problem LOL! I've had two c-sections, so my lower abdomen is numb anyway, and those sites hurt a lot less. I've never used it, but you could ask your doc to prescribe lidocaine cream to apply before your dose. Might help with the pain. Good luck!

Great question, I tend to go to the same four spots on my stomach, alternating sides each week and parallel to belly button and about 2 inches below. The lower shot is better for me, probably because there is more fat there. Hopefully someone can chime in with some additional advice. I did one of my loading dose shots in my thigh and it was not good, stung and hurt so bad.

Bacon Girl said...
The other sites (abdomen, top of thigh, and bicep) usually end up being intramuscular injections instead of subcutaneous.

Ahh, see that's interesting, that's kind of what I was getting at because I heard people talking about it before, but I couldn't remember the terminology. So I wonder how you can avoid intramuscular sites on your abdomen.

iPoop said...
You're best to inject Humira into areas with fat deposits, to avoid intramuscular injections and the pain associated with them. It's one of those things where being toned and fit, or just skinny due to UC-weightloss can actually work against you and cause pain at injection sites. We all should have areas with a little bit of fat deposits, whether it is our tummy, inner-thighs, butt, or triceps. I don't believe it really matters at all where on your body you do the injections. It just has to be subcutaneous (just below the skin) and preferably into fat. If you have areas where you are exceptionally toned or strong then they might be all muscle and not a good injection site (a runner with strong legs, etc.).

Okay, so just look for the fat? That probably means really avoiding above the belly button, hope that's okay. I'd contact my Humira ambassador, but I can never seem to reach an actual person.