How To Inject Testosterone

Determination of testosterone levels. Testosterone for injection is usually in the form of testosterone cypionate or testosterone enanthate. These fluids come in different concentrations, so before injecting you need to be sure to look at your serum testosterone levels to determine the dose you want to take. Typically, testosterone is available in concentrations of 100 mg/mL or 200 mg/mL. In other words, some doses of testosterone have twice the concentration of other doses. Double-check your testosterone levels before injecting to make sure you’re taking the correct dose of the type of testosterone you’ve chosen.

Using suitable needles and syringes, sterilize them. As with any injection, it is important to use brand new and sterile needles to inject testosterone. Dirty needles can spread deadly blood-borne diseases like hepatitis and HIV. Use a clean, tightly closed syringe with a cap each time you inject testosterone.

• Another factor to consider is that testosterone is quite sticky and greasy compared to other injectables. Therefore, you should initially use a slightly larger-than-normal needle (eg, 18 or 20 gauge diameter) to suck out the required dose. A large needle tip can be very painful, so you will usually need to remove the larger tip and replace it with a smaller one for the actual injection.
• The 3 mL (cc) syringe is large enough to hold most testosterone doses.
• If you drop a syringe or needle, you should throw it away. Do not use again because syringes and needles are no longer sterile.

Wash your hands and wear clean gloves. To reduce your risk of infection, you need to keep your hands clean when injecting testosterone. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap and water, then put on clean gloves. If you accidentally touch an object or surface that has not been disinfected before the injection, you need to change your gloves to be safe.

Suck the testosterone dose out of the bottle. Your doctor will tell you the recommended injection dose – determine the dose based on testosterone levels. For example, if your doctor recommends a dose of 100 g, you need to take 1 ml of testosterone 100 mg/mL or 1/2 ml of testosterone 200 mg/mL. To get a dose of testosterone out of the bottle, you first need to draw an amount of air into the syringe equal to the required dose of testosterone. Then, use a sterile alcohol swab to wipe the mouth of the medicine bottle, insert the needle into the cap of the medicine bottle. Next, push air from the syringe into the bottle. Turn the bottle upside down and draw out the exact dose of testosterone needed.

• Inject air into the bottle to increase the air pressure in the bottle, making it easier for you to draw testosterone into the syringe. This step is especially important for testosterone because it is difficult to absorb because it is so dense.

Switch to a smaller needle tip. The large needle tip can be quite painful. There’s no reason for you to suffer this pain, especially if regular testosterone injections are required. To change the tip to a smaller one once the testosterone has been drawn into the syringe, you need to pull the needle out of the bottle and hold the tip upright directly in front of your face. Aspirate a small amount of air to create space between the medicine and the syringe tip so that the medicine does not leak out. Using the hand that is not holding the syringe (washed hands and wearing gloves) carefully open the cap and remove the needle tip, then replace with a smaller needle tip (eg 23 gauge).

• Note that the second needle tip must be unopened and sterile.

Push the air out of the syringe. Injecting air bubbles into the body can cause a serious health problem called an embolism . Therefore, you need to make sure that there are no air bubbles in the syringe when injecting testosterone. Do this through the suction procedure as shown below:

• Hold the syringe with the tip of the needle open and pointed straight up in front of your face.
• Observe for air bubbles in the syringe. Tap the side of the syringe so that the air bubbles rise to the top.
• Once there are no air bubbles in the syringe, you can slowly push the plunger to push the air out of the syringe tip. Stop pressing when you see a drop of medicine coming out of the syringe tip. Be careful not to spray or overspray the floor.

Prepare the injection site. Testosterone injections are usually intramuscular, ie, injected directly into the muscle. Two relatively easy and accessible intramuscular injection sites are the lateral thigh muscle (the upper, outer part of the thigh) or the gluteal muscle (the upper, back part of the thigh, such as the buttock). These are not the only sites for testosterone injections but are the most common. No matter where you choose to inject, you will need to use a cotton pad soaked in alcohol to wipe around the injection site. This step helps kill bacteria on the skin, preventing infection.

• If injecting into the gluteal muscle, you should choose the injection site above, outside the gluteal muscle. In other words, choose the injection site in the upper left corner of the left gluteal muscle or the upper right corner of the right gluteal muscle. These positions have the most accessible muscle tissue and help you avoid touching nerves and blood vessels in other areas of the glutes.

Injection. Hold the syringe containing the medication at a 90-degree angle to the sterilized injection site. Quickly prick the flesh with a quick and steady motion. Before pressing the piston, pull the piston back slightly. If blood enters the syringe, you need to pull the needle out and choose another location because the blood sucked out means that the vein has been injected. Inject the drug at a steady and controlled rate.

• You may feel slight discomfort, pressure, stinging, or mild burning. This phenomenon is normal. If your symptoms become severe or you feel severe pain, you should stop the injection and see your doctor.