Diabetes : Site rotation (BD Medical - Diabetes Care)

  
 

Injection sites
Site rotation

It is important that you don’t keep injecting your insulin in the same place.

Change sides using, for instance, your right thigh one day and your left thigh the following day and so on.
   
Each time you inject in to a site, make sure that you don’t inject in exactly the same place as you did last time. Move the place of the injection by about a finger’s width from the place you used the previous time.
There are site rotation guides available to help you rotate your injections. Ask your nurse if you want to use them.
   
If you always inject in the same place and/or reuse your needles more than once, your sites may become red, sore and lumpy. This is what we call lipodystrophy or "lipo".
Lipos can develop anywhere on your body where you inject.

Insulin injected into a lipo may not work properly and it may affect your blood sugar level. This is why it's very important to always rotate your injection sites and change your needle after each injection.