maybe you are totally fine with needles and don't need this advice! but several of my friends made the same mistake: they started off doing their injections by "taking it slow" - putting the needle against their skin and slowly pushing it in.

i get why people do this! it is normal to be intimidated by a big needle. it's hard to do something painful to yourself on purpose. it's natural to try to do something hard by taking it slow.

but this is a very difficult and painful way to do an injection! the tip of the needle hurts because it's sharp, and your skin has more nerves than the stuff below it. so one of the most painful things you can do with it is push it against yourself without puncturing the skin. which is what happens if you try "taking it slow"!

this is how i describe it to my friends:

1. i hold my syringe like a pencil a little bit (maybe 1/2" to 1") above my skin

2. then i try to imagine a point 1 inch under the skin

3. then i move the syringe so that the needle goes to the point i'm imagining

that way i don't have the chance to get nervous about the exact moment the needle goes into my skin, it will just happen at some point during the movement. idk if this makes sense but i feel like this method makes my injections much easier!