How to choose a vein

Choosing a vein

Some veins are less risky to inject into than others – here’s a quick guide:

Less risky

The veins in your arms are less risky for injecting than other parts of your body.

1. Inside of your elbow: veins here are the safest place to inject. They are quite big and close to the surface.
2. Forearm: the veins here are smaller and deeper than the inside of your elbow. This means you’re more likely to:

• miss the vein or go through it
• hit an artery, nerve or bone

If you do inject into a vein in your forearm, make sure the needle is pointing away from your hand and towards your elbow.

Risky

1. Hand: the veins in your hands are small and collapse easily, so inject as slowly as possible. Your hands may also have more bacteria on them than other parts of your body, so if you can, wash your hands with soap and water or use new alcohol swabs or hand sanitiser gel before you inject.
2. Leg: If you inject too quickly, you can end up with a collapsed vein or a missed hit, so inject as slowly as possible and make sure that the needle points away from your foot and towards your heart. This helps to reduce the risks of dangerous blood clots.
3. Foot: The veins in your feet are smaller and more fragile than the ones in your hands. Your blood also flows slowly in your feet because they’re a long way from your heart. This means you’re more likely to get a collapsed vein or a missed hit.
   
   You can help to reduce these risks by injecting as slowly as possible.
   
   Your feet may also have more bacteria on them than other parts of your body, so if you can, wash it with soap and water or use new alcohol swabs or hand sanitiser gel before you inject.

The slow blood flow in your feet also means that your vein takes longer to heal after a hit.

How to reduce your risk of infections 

Very risky

It’s very risky to inject into these parts of your body.

1. Groin: injecting into your groin is very risky. The veins in your groin (femoral veins) are very deep. They’re also very close to the main nerves and arteries going into your leg. This means you’re more at risk of damaging a nerve or hitting an artery, and it also raises your risk of wounds, infections, and dangerous blood clots.
   
   
2. Neck, breast, armpit, wrist, penis and deep veins: It’s never safe to inject into your neck, breast, armpit, wrist or penis, or to dig around for deep veins.

If you are thinking of injecting into these areas, speak to staff at your local needle and syringe service. They can help you find less risky alternatives.

Watch out for ‘new’ veins when injecting

When veins collapse and get blocked, you may notice ‘new’ veins growing nearby.

These aren’t actually new veins. They are smaller veins that have become swollen because they’re carrying the blood from the blocked vein.

These swollen veins are very weak and usually burst if you try to inject into them.

They’re a sign that your veins are badly damaged.

Talk to staff at your local needle and syringe service. They can help you find less risky alternatives.

Never inject into an artery

Any blood vessel that has a pulse is an artery.

Arteries carry blood from your heart to other parts of your body. The blood pressure in arteries is much higher than in veins.

You won’t get high if you inject a hit into an artery.

It’s also dangerous. Among other things, it can:

• split the wall of the artery
• cause bleeding that’s difficult to stop

You may have hit an artery if:

• you feel pains like electric shocks as you start to dig
• you feel a sudden cramping pain as the needle touches the artery
• the blood is pink or bright red when you draw back
• the plunger pops out as you try to inject (this is because of the high blood pressure in the artery)

If any of these things happen to you, take out the needle and apply firm pressure with a clean tissue or cotton wool. You may need to seek medical advice if you accidentally hit an artery.