# Oops-subcutaneous injection draws blood **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 9, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269 "2004-05-09T05:58:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269/1 "2004-05-09T05:58:36Z")
OK, here’s the situation: Ever since I had bariatric surgery last April, I’ve been self-administering Vitamin B injections into my abdominal fat. I follow pretty standard procedure to avoid hitting major blood vessels (insert needle, draw back plunger slightly and look for blood being drawn in, etc.) but this time after all of that I must have pushed the needle in a bit further or something, because when I pulled the needle out I got a pretty good amount of blood coming out of the injection wound, and now a few hours later I can feel a little “knot” beneath the skin at the injection site that is a little painful if I give it a little squeeze. How bad is this? Do I need to see a doctor about this, or what? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269/2 "2004-05-09T07:06:14Z")
First off, I’m not a doctor, nurse or other health care professional. I used to give intramuscular injections to someone every other week as they couldn’t stomach (ha ha) the idea of giving themselves a shot. (Theirs were done in the butt, so proper and safe self-administration is challenging.) Unless you were using a really long needle and risked injecting into or poking vital parts, there’s not much that can be done, I suspect. My guess is you may have completely run through a blood vessel on the way to the deeper location where the medication was injected, and when you withdrew the needle, it started bleeding. My layman’s expectation is that you’ll have that little knot and a bruise for a while, but suffer no harm from it. If it remains painful, gets red, or anything else really unsettling, call your doctor to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269/3 "2004-05-09T07:35:48Z")
I’d be more worried if you were bleeding as a result of a supercutaneous injection. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269/4 "2004-05-09T14:50:39Z")
I’m not a physician, but I’ve given myself tens of thousands of shots. > [@Cuckoorex](#): > > I follow pretty standard procedure to avoid hitting major blood vessels (insert needle, draw back plunger slightly and look for blood being drawn in, etc.) but this time after all of that I must have pushed the needle in a bit further or something, because when I pulled the needle out I got a pretty good amount of blood coming out of the injection wound, and now a few hours later I can feel a little “knot” beneath the skin at the injection site that is a little painful if I give it a little squeeze. > > How bad is this? Do I need to see a doctor about this, or what? No. This is entirely normal and a common thing for me (happens about once out of every 20 shots). Sometimes it is a result of pushing the needle in a little too hard when pushing the plunger, sometimes you can slash a blood vessel on the way out, etc. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269/5 "2004-05-09T15:48:57Z")
I will second what **Una Persson** said. IANAD, however IAAV. The reason you pull back on the plunger is to see if the bevel of the needle is sitting in a vessel. When you do not get a flash of blood that does not mean you did not lacerate a vessel on the way in. Assuming you have normal coagulation (no bleeding disorder) then using ice right after, than moist heat later on is probably all you would need for discomfort. Also wise to stay away from the immediate area for any injections until the area is back to normal. And don’t chase cars;) ---
**Author:** ![griffen2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce7236/32.png) [@griffen2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffen2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269/6 "2004-05-09T20:29:32Z")
Consumption of yellow snow is also inadvisable 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2004, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oops-subcutaneous-injection-draws-blood/244269/7 "2004-05-09T21:31:40Z")
Thanks. Seems like everything is fine; I was just worried that I had somehow screwed up in an “OMIGOD YOU ONLY HAVE 12 HOURS TO LIVE” way… And I _try_ to resist the yellow snow, but it’s so…so…_chromatic_…