Can I reuse insulin pen needles?

Insulin is a very important hormone in our body, its main role is to reduce blood sugar, and our body once the lack of this hormone is easy to lead to the high glycemic index, so many patients with high blood sugar as well as diabetes need to use insulin-related drugs to treat. So can insulin pen needles be reused? What should I pay attention to when injecting insulin?

The dangers of reuse

First, there will be residual insulin crystals in the syringes of used needles. Repeated use will clog the needles, affecting the accuracy of the next insulin dose and unstable blood glucose control.

Secondly, after the first use, bacteria in the air and on the tip of the needle can enter the refill through the needle and contaminate the medication to affect the efficacy of the treatment after the first use, as well as increase the risk of localized infections when it is used again.

In addition, in order to reduce the patient's pain when injecting, insulin pen needles are designed to be very thin, and it is easy to break the needles in the body when reused, and the broken needles will travel in the body and are not easy to be removed. And repeated use tends to make the tip of the needle burrs, bends and barbs, leading to bleeding and abrasions at the injection site, and also exacerbating the pain. In the long run, repeated use of deformed needles can cause micro-trauma to the subcutaneous tissue, which gradually accumulates to form subcutaneous fat nodules. Hard knots affect the efficiency and speed of insulin absorption, reducing the effectiveness of drug delivery and making it more difficult to control blood glucose.

The information is from the Internet and is for reference only.