According to the American Diabetes Association, 1.9 million Americans require insulin to keep their Type 1 diabetes under control.
This requires the daily use of a pen, inhaler, pump, or syringe to replace the body’s insulin levels and maintain good health.
If you have diabetes and prefer to use a syringe for your daily dose, you need a needle to inject the insulin.
There are several types of insulin syringes to choose from. Your choice can affect how efficiently this procedure works to maintain insulin levels.
Keep reading to find out more about administering insulin with each type.
What Is an Insulin Syringe?
Insulin syringes are disposable plastic tubes with a needle. They’re meant for single use.
Pharmaceutical companies mark their products with number lines, measured in milliliters, as follows:
- 0.3 ml syringes
- 0.5 ml syringes
- 1 ml syringes
These markings allow for precise measurement of your insulin dose, making it easier to choose the best one for your needs.
Types of Insulin Syringes
The size of the barrel affects how much insulin the syringe can hold, while its gauge determines the needle you can use with it.
Some people find thinner needles less invasive and painful. Longer needles penetrate further into the skin, so it’s safer to use a shorter needle to avoid going too deep when administering a subcutaneous insulin injection.
These are the main types of syringes available:
0.3 ml Syringe
These syringes have a barrel that contains under 30 units of insulin. They’re marked in single-unit intervals.
You use five-millimeter long, 28 gauge needles with these syringes.
0.5 ml Syringe
A 0.5 ml barrel requires an eight-millimeter long, 29.3 gauge needle. These syringes can hold under 50 units of insulin and have single-unit markings.
1 ml Syringe
Marked in 2-unit intervals, 1 ml syringes hold more than 50 units of insulin. They work best with a 31 gauge, 123.7 mm needle.
How to Choose an Insulin Syringe
Your daily prescribed dose is the most important thing to consider when choosing a syringe for insulin. It’s important to administer the dose in one shot to avoid discomfort.
If your dose is close to the maximum capacity of a syringe, it’s best to choose a larger one. This makes it easier to handle the syringe.
If you take several doses of insulin per day, you may need multiple syringes. For instance, if you need 10 units at night and 35 units in the morning, you’ll need one 0.3 ml syringe and one 0.5 ml syringe every day.
Where possible, you can experiment with different needle sizes until you find one that’s most comfortable for you.
Finding Your Happy Medium
It’s best to check with your doctor before making any major changes to your treatment routine and discuss any concerns you have with them.
As a person with diabetes, it’s important to take extra care of yourself to maintain good health.
Simple things like choosing the right types of insulin syringes, regular exercise, and a healthy diet can help make your diabetes easier to manage.
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