How to Measure Insulin Needles

Familiarizing yourself with an insulin needle is the best way to ensure a safe, proper injection of insulin. Measuring the insulin needle can be a little tricky for someone who's not familiar with the procedure, and you should be very careful the first time you perform an injection yourself. If you've never done it before, measure the insulin needle and make the injection under the supervision of a trained professional.

Instructions

• 1

  Familiarize yourself with the insulin needle, or syringe. The cap fits over the needle's tip. The barrel is the long chamber where the insulin is held. The lines on the barrel are marked by insulin units. The number of units depends on the amount of liquid the barrel holds. A barrel that holds 1/4 mL of liquid will hold 25 units; 1/3 mL will hold 30 units; 1/2 mL will hold 50 units; and 1 mL will hold 100 units. The plunger is the rod that fits inside the barrel and is used to draw insulin in or push it out. The end of the plunger that's in the barrel has a rubber seal, which is used to determine how much insulin is inside the barrel.

• 2

  Choose the appropriate syringe size. This depends on how many insulin units you need to inject. Choose the smallest size possible. For example, if you need 20 units, choose the 1/4 mL syringe size because it holds 25 units. Do not go up to the 1/3 size.

• 3

  Remove the cap from the insulin needle to expose the needle's tip.

• 4

  Place the needle's tip into the container that's holding the insulin, and slowly pull back on the plunger until the rubber seal reaches the appropriate number of units. If you need 10 units, for example, the tip of the rubber seal should be aligned with the line on the barrel that reads "10." Once completed, the insulin needle is ready for injection.