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Needle Free Injections

I've been on Sublingual1 Estradiol for a few years now and while it's mostly worked, it's very hard to maintain the dosing schedule. In addition to the dosing schedule, I've been very worried about continued access to HRT and the feasibility of keeping a back stock.
For those, and many other reasons, I've been exploring injections. In the search, I found a product that provides a (mostly) needle free injection for at home injections of HRT. I plan on writing more about it over time, but provided here are the basics that should help you decide if it might work for you.
Watch out for an upcoming blog post where I outline my timeline and issues! It'll be linked here when it's released.

How it works​

As a general rule, needle free injectors use fluid pressure to inject, rather than a needle. There are many kinds of needle free injectors, but the one I'm using is from Comfort In2. It's deceptively simple in that it's just an injector that utilizes a powerful spring to quickly eject fluid from a specialized syringe with a very small hole. The fast moving injection fluid breaks the skin and underlying tissues with a much smaller hole than your standard injection needle.
The depth of the injection is controlled by varying the strength of the spring. This is either done by selecting the SubQ3 or IM4 injector5 (the latter has a stronger spring) or by twisting the end of the injector for fine-tuning.

Definitions​

Injector ​

The Injector5 consists of a spring, trigger button, and threaded hole.

  • The spring is contained inside the injector and is charged using the Reset Lever or Pressure Box.
  • The trigger button and threaded holes are on opposite sides of the device.
  • The trigger button can be twisted to lock/unlock the button.
Syringe/Nozzle ​

The Syringe and Nozzle are the same piece. The Nozzle is that part that touches your skin and where the fluid leaves the Syringe.
It consists of a threaded end with a white plunger. The body of the Syringe is marked with .

There are two kinds of Nozzles/Syringes. One has a blue plunger tip and the other is orange. The only difference between the two is the size of the orifice. The orange one is larger and advertised for use with "thicker oily fluids", with TRT noted specifically.

Reset Lever ​

The Reset Lever is used to charge the injector by setting the spring. It consists of two handles connected by a hinge and a rod on the inside of the lever, next to the hinge.
One handle has a notch which holds the injector when you insert the Reset Lever Rod.

(to-do Reset Lever Diagram to be created)
Luer Adapter ​

The Luer Adapter attaches to a standard Luer drawing needle and provides an interface with the Syringe/Nozzle to draw fluid into the Syringe.
It is single use, but Comfort In says it can be used multiple time over the same day.

Vial Adapter ​

The vial adapter is a device that sits on top of the head of a vial and protrudes into the vial with a needle-like sharp point. The Syringe/Nozzle interfaces with the adapter to draw fluid into the Syringe. The vial adapter stays on the vial between uses, and can be used across multiple injections.
It's likely best suited for short term use vials to reduce waste, but it doesn't fit well enough for me to be comfortable using it for vials used across more than a few days.

Steps​

danger

I am not medically certified in any way. These steps are what I'm doing, but they may be wrong or need adjustment.

  1. Wash your hands.
  2. Lay out the pieces on a clean surface.
    • Injector
    • Reset Lever
    • Syringe
    • Vial/Luer Adapter
    • Vial of medication
    • Alcohol swabs
  3. Clean everything.
    • Injector
    • Reset Lever
    • Vial
    • Nozzle (After removing from packaging)
  4. Set the strength of the injector.

    This is done by twisting the threaded end of the injector until it matches the dose you intend to inject.
    (to-do Image of injector settings to be added)

  5. Insert the injector into the Reset Lever.
  6. Insert the Reset Lever's rod into the threaded end of the Reset Lever.
  7. Close the lever over the injector until it doesn't close anymore.
  8. Remove the injector from the Reset Lever and twist the button to lock it.
  9. Attatch the drawing needle to the end of the Luer Adapter
  10. Insert the syringe into the luer adapter.
  11. Draw air into the syringe a little past the dose you need
  12. Insert the drawing needle into the vial.
  13. Push the syringe plunger to put air into the vial
  14. Pull the syringe plunger to the desired dose.
  15. Screw the syringe into the threaded end of the Injector.
  16. Clean the injection site with an alchohol prep pad.
  17. Unlock the injector by twisting the button.
  18. Hold the end of the Nozzle to the injection site for 5-10 seconds.
  19. Press the button to inject the fuid.
  20. Hold the end of the Nozzle to the injection site for another 5-10 seconds.
  21. Wipe up anything that came out, including blood and sometimes a small ammount of medication.
  22. Bandage or otherwise cover the injection.
  23. Dispose of single use materials.
    • prep pads
    • Vial or Luer adapter
    • Drawing needles
    • Syyringe/Nozzle
  24. Clean and store multi-use materials.
    • Injector
    • Reset Lever
    • Medication
    • Cleaning supplies

Notes​

  1. Sublingual is a medication modality where the medication disolves under your tounge, reaching the blood stream faster and more directly than oral administration.
  2. https://injectneedlefree.com/
  3. SubQ stands for Subcutaneous, which describes an injection bepth below your skin.
  4. IM stands for Intra-muscular, which descrives an injection that enters your muscle.
  5. The device that pushes on the fluid for injection.