The whole arm is full of veins and pumping with blood, why can’t they just inject it anywhere or move downwards, down the arm? Why do they HAVE to inject it in the beginning of the bicep/beginning of arm area?
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Because some treatments can cause severe damage if injected in muscles, fat, and even in veins if they’re not diluted
As for the site, “begining of bicep” or down the arm, it depends on why they are injecting it. When we pass a cannula for long infusions, we put it in the forearm or hand so you can fold your arm with ease. Whereas when it’s just a single syringe or quick dose, the vein in your elbow, “median cubital vein”, it’s easy and the fluid will go directly to the heart.
As for why in the vein, the injection is given in the vein so it goes directly into the heart and then is diluted and distributed to the body. If I inject an antibiotic into your arm muscle, sure it’ll slowly enter circulation, but it won’t be able to achieve the same therapeutic concentration as injecting it into a blood vessel.
That is a common area to use because there is a pretty consistent, fairly large vein there that is close to the surface. The veins closer to the hand tend to be smaller, and it may be hard to get a big enough needle into them without going completely through the vein, missing it etc. Veins in the hand/forearm tend to “roll” around more, also making them harder to use.
There are a couple reasons why the inner elbow is the perfect spot for most injections. First many larger veins run close to the surface without much tissue above them making finding the vein safer and less damaging. Next the inner elbow is a relatively protected spot that won’t be moving around or scraping against much if an needle needs to be left in for future administration of medicine.
Now that isn’t the only injection site. Many vaccines or other drugs are injected into the muscles. In emergencies various locations like the groin or neck can be used to access arteries and rapidly introduce medicine to the blood. We even occasionally have to use a medical drill to drill into the shin bone (Tibia) and inject medicine directly into the bone marrow.
First: not every injection is given in the same spot. The location of the needle differs based on what is being injected and why. They don’t HAVE to use the upper arm, it’s just a very easy place to do so.
For the majority of people, most jabs in their life are immunizations/vaccinations. Those are generally injected into muscle tissue because that’s the best tissue to do so. You can google ‘why vaccinate into muscle’ to learn more. Your upper arm just happens to be convenient and a nice big juicy muscle to inject into. When sitting in a doctor’s chair or on a bed, the doctor can most easily inject it into that part without you having to do anything. Just relax your arm. An IV drip, on the other hand, usually goes into the lower arm. It needs to stay in there for a longer time (usually several hours or days, and semi-permanent catheders can stay for months for long-term therapies). The lower arm is a straight part that doesn’t bend unless you break the bone, making it ideal for IV placement. It allows for full mobility of the arm too.
I’ve received jabs into my lower arm too nearer to the elbow, when getting multiple jabs in 1 day and both upper arms had already been stabbed.
There are multiple categories of injections, each having their own proper protocols and guidelines for where and how they should be given.
The reason that healthcare professionals need to inject the needle directly into the vein is because veins are the blood vessels that carry blood back to the heart. When a needle is injected into a vein, it allows the medication or other substance to be directly transported into the bloodstream. If the needle was injected into an area outside of the vein, the medication would not be able to reach the bloodstream as efficiently. Additionally, injecting a needle into a vein is generally less painful than injecting it into other tissues.
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