Injection site lumps: Causes?

[synonymous]

First injection was in my glute with a regular gauge needle. No problem. No lump.

Second injection was my left delt. This time I used a slin instead to see how that would worked (Backloaded). I liked it because I could see more accurately how much I could draw and pin. Had some swelling and slight soreness the next day but only noticed the lump yesterday (Day 4 after injection) and thought maybe it was something else. No redness or heat. I worked shoulders the day of my injection so I thought that might be it.

Third injection: Decided to do right delt and I actually used the slin to draw the test and pin. No soreness after injection, no lump. Massaged it a little. But because I had a cold I went straight to be bed (I probably shouldn't have worked-out out that but I was feeling OK until halfway through my routine. It was back and hamstring day).

Today, I've got a small lump in my right delt. My left delt lump is now in day 5. If there's no tension in my delt, there's little soreness. So I can sleep on my shoulder etc. If I raise my delt up and apply pressure to the area, then I get soreness and what feels like an extra inch of muscle.

So...is this likely due to using slins instead of your regular gauge needles? Or am I just not going deep enough? Something getting caught between fat and muscle? How long does it normally take for the lumps to go away? And it sucks to have a cold...just thought I would through that out there...

 

[Megatron28]

How deeply are you injecting and do you have a lot of fat in the area where you injected?

 

[epmaximustx]

I literally logged in to ask a similar question. I started injecting. I used a 25 g 3/4 needle in right thigh. 5 days later and I have a medium size lump in my thigh. My legs are somewhat lean. I'm not worried about the discomfort. More concerned about any danger if I hit a vein or did something wrong.

 

[synonymous]

How deeply are you injecting and do you have a lot of fat in the area where you injected?

I looks to be about an inch in size, and I'm injecting all the way in. Little fat around my delts but no striations or anything.

 

[Megatron28]

That should be deep enough to be intramuacular.

 

[synonymous]

That should be deep enough to be intramuacular.

Yeah...I would think so. My glute shot didn't have any lump but I used the standard long needle for that.

Maybe I pressed down too hard to fast? Tomorrow will be 1 week since my left delt injection and I still have a lump there. My right delt go sorer as my left delt got slightly better. Will be doing a glute shot tomorrow.

 

[synonymous]

Last Thursday I injected glute with the longer needle. Got the lump. My right and left delts are fine now.

Is this a possible cause: As soon as I swab the area, I inject. Right after I finish the injection I swab right away again. Is the alcohol perhaps seeping in and irritating the muscle?

 

[Megatron28]

Last Thursday I injected glute with the longer needle. Got the lump. My right and left delts are fine now.

Is this a possible cause: As soon as I swab the area, I inject. Right after I finish the injection I swab right away again. Is the alcohol perhaps seeping in and irritating the muscle?

You should let the alcohol dry completely before injecting. And don't blow air on it from your mouth to make it dry faster. Fanning it with your hand is OK though.

There is no need to rub the injection sit with alcohol after injecting. But it will not seep into the muscle either.

 

[synonymous]

Well, the lump is now a little bigger and a little red. Not sure if that's me touching it, or me moving around. It wasn't like this the first injection into the glute. It's a bit warm to touch, but no fever or flu like symptoms.

ETA: I had a great workout today.

ETA2: Does a fever always accompany an infection if something went wrong with the injection?

 

[synonymous]

Will starting antibiotics prevent the forming of an abscess if this is what I think it is...worst case?

 

[methos0123]

It should not be warm to the touch! If it's warm and getting redder/bigger, you should get it looked at. Antibiotics work depending on what you are infected with...some antibiotics don't work on some bugs.

 

[synonymous]

It should not be warm to the touch! If it's warm and getting redder/bigger, you should get it looked at. Antibiotics work depending on what you are infected with...some antibiotics don't work on some bugs.

Guess I'm going to the docs tomorrow. This sucks.

Could it be poor IMJ technique? The redness and swelling are going length wise, not up to down. It's all in the fat of my upper ass cheek. In the mirror the redness seems to have gone down a bit...I think I was just massaging it too much today. But best to be safe.

Would I be safer icing or heating? I'm getting differing views on Google.

 

[Rockem]

What lab are you using?

 

[synonymous]

what lab are you using?

op

 

[THE-DET-OAK]

you should not be getting lumps from your test, maybe one or 2 on the first couple injects but thats it.

I would get some new stuff bro. Abscess is nothing to mess around with.

 

[synonymous]

Update:

Went to the dermatologist. Told him everything. Steroid use is legal in Japan. No looking down on me, especially since this is HRT.

These are his opinions:

First injection I got lucky. Second injection I backloaded with a slin and there wasn't enough needle for that to be IM. Or barely enough thus the bump and pain. Still deep eough though that I was able to absorb it.

Then, when I hit my right glute again I probably didn't go deep enough and hit it at a poor angle causing some swelling. The skin is a light pink and there's just a 'little' warmth. Possibly a slight infection but not something that would become an abcess. He prescribed antibiotics and said it should clear in 3 to 4 days. He showed me a book and pointed out what an abcess would most likely look like. He also said that if in 2 days it isn't any better or if it's worse, go back for draining, although the chances are low from what he can tell.

I asked about injection sites. He told me to stick with delts ad to simply leave a good inch or so between spots on the delts. He also said to massage it in and not let it settle. So one of the best times for injections would be preworkout.

Last night I did a delt shot. I don't know if you can go too deep but I had a little of the oil seep back followed by some blood. I did asperate. No pain, no bump. Now, 12 hours later I have a little pain but no bump. Bumps so far arrive 2 or 3 days later. Doctor told me it was likely muscle inflammation and that it's possible that it will always do that until I switch back to pharmaceutical grade.

Opinions?

 

[Megatron28]

Get 1" needles for IM injections. 25 guage. Start with pinning deltoids and quads. They are both easy to reach and pin. As you get more proficient you can try glutes or ventroglutes.

 

[synonymous]

Thanks.

I was an idiot in thinking my slins were 1". They were 1/2"...thus the lumps I assume. Current injection in my left delt is lump free with no pain. Right quad is still sore, lump size hasn't changed, still just a light pink and a little warm to touch but no real pain except the pain in thinking I have an abscess...hope things get easier. Wanted to workout today, hamstrings and quads. Decided not to until this current lump goes away. Don't want to give it any reason to get bigger.

 

[methos0123]

Good to hear you got things straightened out man!

 

[THE-DET-OAK]

when injecting 2x a week you should have 4-6 inject sites