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People diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) need HGH injections to maintain a proper HGH level. Any patient can get injections in a medical facility. However, you may save your time on hospital visits by learning how to administer HGH yourself.
Before you start self-injecting HGH, you must receive a prescription from your practitioner. The doctor will instruct you on how and where to inject HGH. To help you remember the instructions, we put together all the required information on how to inject HGH. A proper technique influences the results of your HGH therapy, so we suggest strictly following the guidelines you receive from your therapist.
Where to inject HGH?
HGH is usually administered into fat tissue. Subcutaneous injections (s.i.) result in slower drug absorption, which recreates natural HGH release. The studies suggest the subcutaneous route for injections is more potent in maintaining an HGH concentration in blood plasma during the day than intramuscular injections. Besides, s.i. are less painful and much easier to self-inject.
The best places where to inject HGH are the abdominal area, thighs, upper arms, loins, and back. According to the research, the abdominal area absorbs HGH better than the thigh. It’s essential to switch injection sites to avoid lipoatrophy. Repeated injections into the same area may ruin fat cells and form a dent in your skin.
How to take HGH?
Depending on the brand, the human growth hormone may come in different pharmaceutical forms. The medication form affects the way the drug should be taken. Legit manufacturers always provide instructions on how to inject HGH. Still, don’t hesitate to ask your doctor to teach you how to self-inject. Apply the dosage your doctor prescribes you, and don’t change the HGH brand without a consultation.
Preparing for HGH injection
HGH medications come in several forms. It can be a powder, prefilled or preloaded syringes, or pens. Depending on the medication form, you should learn how to get the correct dose and how to make an injection.
If your drug comes in powder, you should first delude it with bacteriostatic water. The general rule for mixing dehydrated HGH is to make it slow to avoid lumps in an active substance. Use different syringes for injection and reconstitution.
Prefilled pens might be more convenient, as you don’t have to prepare the drug and the administration is simple. Also, pens contain several doses and can be reused until the drug runs out. Keeping HGH in vials often leads to spoiled drugs.
Although HGH medications differ in their forms, safety rules for injecting HGH are common.
Here’s a list of general recommendations before injecting HGH:
- Keep your HGH out of extreme temperatures to preserve its bioactive properties.
- Take the pen or vial out of the fridge to warm it up to room temperature.
- Make sure the liquid is transparent. Don’t use cloudy liquids.
- Use sterile needles to reconstitute the powder and inject HGH.
- If you use syringes, be sure you press out the air from them.
Injecting HGH: A step-by-step guide
Having your HGH shot prepared, you can now administer HGH. Be careful with choosing the right injection site, as every individual is different, and the amount of adipose tissue at different body parts may be distinct.
Here’s a simple guide on how to take HGH:
- Take a sterile thin needle suitable for subcutaneous injection.
- Choose an injection site, disinfect it and grab the skin with your thumb and a pointer.
- Quickly insert the needle into the skin between the fingers.
- If you use a syringe, put a needle at an angle of 45 degrees. Prefilled pens should be inserted at an angle of 90 degrees.
- Inject the drug and pull out the needle after a few seconds.
- Don’t press too hard on the injected spot, and don’t rub it.
- Dispose of used needles.
The best place to inject HGH is an abdominal area, but remember to rotate sites to avoid adverse reactions. You may feel a slight discomfort right after the injection, but it’ll quickly go away. Should you have any concerns or notice any unusual reaction, visit your doctor.
Best time for HGH shots
You can get the most significant effect of HGH injections if you take them in correspondence with natural HGH release. Our body secretes HGH in pulses, and the most powerful of them occurs 2-3 hours after going to bed. The best time for HGH injections is an hour before sleep so that the body could accept HGH naturally. However, it’s not a good practice to take a full daily dose at a time as it can pose your health in danger.
Divide your daily dose into two or three HGH shots. You can take it regardless of your meal schedule. According to several studies, taking HGH right after or before a meal does affect insulin resistance. The evidence suggests HGH levels elevate 4-5 hours after injection and remain so during the next 8-12 hours. Insulin spikes after food intake don’t affect the effectiveness of HGH therapy.
It would be best if you put the effort into building a consistent routine of your injections so that your organism can adjust to the received HGH amounts.
The best HGH brands and how to use them
The HGH market offers a variety of products containing the human growth hormone. Some of them are legal and well-tested, and some are not. According to the research, most of the HGH available online are ineffective and distributed illegally. Purchasing HGH without a prescription may be dangerous to your health. So, it’s best to stick with HGH the doctor prescribed you and buy it in a certified pharmacy. The best HGH injection brands include Omnitrope, Norditropin, Saizen, Genotropin, and Humatrope. You’ll find the general rules on how to inject them below.
Omnitrope
You can get Omnitrope in pen cartridges or vials. Cartridges should be loaded in an injector device before usage. Cartridges can hold 5 mg or 10 mg of HGH. When you use the pen for the first time, you should prime the pen as the manufacturer instructs. Pens have a special mechanism to set a dose. When the cartridge is empty, just insert a new one.
If you prefer vials, you’ll need to reconstitute HGH with bacteriostatic water. The vial has 5.8 mg of HGH and should be reconstituted with 1.14 ml of solvent. After you dilute HGH, take the syringe for injection and fill it with a prescribed dose. Inject the medicine as instructed above.
Norditropin
Norditropin offers several devices to ease up the injection process. FlexPro pens come with HGH amounts of 5, 10, 15, and 30 mg. You can set the dose right on the injector device. For patients who can’t tolerate needles, the manufacturer offers needle covers that hide the needle during the injection.
Saizen
Saizen is available in vials that contain 5 or 8.8 mg of HGH. You can either reconstitute it with a syringe or use a click-easy device that contains 8.8 mg of HGH and a solvent. After you dilute HGH, inject it with a syringe or use a cool-click device that has no needle. It disperses HGH through a tiny hole in the skin using high pressure.
Genotropin
Genotropin offers a device that is preloaded with two cartridges: one contains 5 or 12 mg of HGH, and the other contains a diluent. The device is multi-dose, so you can use it until the HGH runs out. You can also use disposable single-dose syringes that come with 0.2 to 2 mg of HGH.
Humatrope
Humatrope comes in both vials and cartridges. The amount of HGH available for vials is 5 mg, and for cartridges 6, 12, or 25 mg. You can obtain HumatroPen and load it with cartridges, or inject HGH with a regular syringe. The needle cover for the pen is also available.
What are the side effects of the injections?
Subcutaneous injection is a simple procedure that doesn’t require professional medical assistance. However, patients who self-inject any medication subcutaneously may experience minor pain, swelling, redness, or other discomforts.
Local reactions on subcutaneous injections are temporary and don’t need any treatment. If you have unexpected inflammation or severe skin reaction, address a doctor.
If you forgot to press out air bubbles from a syringe, it shouldn’t cause any adverse effects. Fat tissue can absorb the air with no consequences unless the air affects blood vessels nearby. If you notice a bump on your skin after the injection, it means you’ve probably injected HGH not deep enough. If you did so, ask your doctor to revise the way you make injections and improve your technique.
Get an HGH prescription
Injecting HGH by yourself is a task most GH-deficient patients can handle. All you need to do is ask your practitioner to teach you injection techniques and self-inject several times under supervision. Anyway, remember to keep your hands and all devices sterile when you inject HGH. You can always look through our guidelines on how to inject HGH if you need a reminder.
It’s crucial to use only a doctor-prescribed HGH obtained in certified pharmacies or medical facilities.
Before you start injecting HGH, consult with a doctor. A professional specialist will take all the required tests and prescribe you HGH shots that will meet your personal needs. Properly chosen medication and the right dosage will make your HGH therapy more effective. Besides, supervised therapy is a healthier way to achieve your goals, than self-treatment.
If you want to start your HGH therapy, drop us a line, and our consultants reach out to you to discuss further steps of the therapy.
