The other day, my mom was not feeling well, and so she was not thinking clearly, and got distracted while preparing her insulin. She thinks she might have actually forgot to put any insulin into the syringe! But she had pulled the syringe back enough to allow the air in, so she would have injected just air into herself. Is this dangerous? What could happen?
Kelsey
Favorite Answer
Air is only dangerous when it enters the vein. There's all this hype about air bubbles causing you to die. This is called an air embolus, and if an air bubble reaches your lungs you very well could die. However, the amount of air has to be a lot! Not tiny little air bubbles...
You have absolutely nothing to worry about. Notice that the air has to be injected into the vein. Insulin is always injected into the subcutaneous (fat) tissue. Even if she did inject a whole insulin syringe full of air into herself, it would have gone into her fatty tissue, not her vein, and therefore poses no threat. If she doesn't know if she took her insulin though, she needs to check her blood sugar often to make sure that her sugar doesn't get too high.
?
2
Anonymous
Very likely nothing will happen, except that her blood sugar may be a bit high from underdosing her insulin.
Insulin is injected into fat. Not muscle or veins or arteries, so its not dangerous to inject a bit of air by accident. Even a full syringe is not likely to cause any serious reaction, other than the high blood sugar from not getting her insulin.
It might cause infection or irritation, but its not likely. The air will be absorbed by the body over time.
To help your mom, try to avoid distracting her while she is doing her injection. If you have younger brother and sisters, try to get them to stay quiet while she does this. It does require some concentration.
Madalene
This Site Might Help You.
RE:
What happens if you accidentally inject yourself with air instead of insulin?
The other day, my mom was not feeling well, and so she was not thinking clearly, and got distracted while preparing her insulin. She thinks she might have actually forgot to put any insulin into the syringe! But she had pulled the syringe back enough to allow the air in, so she would have...
?
Injecting Air Into Muscle