You did it, you decided to begin your HCG weight loss journey and mixed your injections as instructed here. Your injections are ready, but are you? Most medical offices will go over how to inject your human chorionic gonadotropin hormone each day, but many patients realize that once they’re on their own, in their own home, that they panic and forget almost everything they were told!
The idea of sticking yourself with a needle can cause some worry, but people on the HCG diet do it each day with little to no issue. If you are concerned, or are currently panicking, don’t worry. Injecting HCG is easy and relatively painless, and there are a few ways you can make it an easy part of your day.
Preparing for your HCG Shot
Human chorionic gonadotropin injections are called a subcutaneous injection, since the HCG hormone is injected under the skin. You likely want to give yourself this shot in the mornings before you day gets too hectic, not just to stay in a routine, but because HCG administration can sometimes cause sleeplessness.
But before you can even worry about injecting the HCG, there are some crucial steps you need to follow beforehand. It’s worth noting here that this is all about routine. You need to turn this process into a habit. Not only will this ensure that you never miss an injection (or accidentally repeat an injection), but also that you always follow proper, safe, and effective procedure. Here’s what you need to do first:
Get Prepared
- Wash your hands and have your supplies organized in an easy to reach manner.
- Roll the vial of HCG between your palms slowly to warm it up, but don’t shake it since it’ll bring down the effectiveness of the HCG.
- Sterilize your HCG vials top and your injection site with an alcohol swab before you begin.
- Keep children and pets out of the room while you sterilize your supplies, just to make sure there is no chance of contamination that can happen if they accidentally touch your supplies.
**Though the members of your household may be very well behaved, accidents and curiosity do happen!
How to Inject HCG
As said before, you need to wipe the injection site with an alcohol pad, but be sure it dries before you inject the HCG, otherwise it may sting a bit. Open your syringe package and plunge the needle inside of your HCG vial. The amount you take out may be different, but most people will need their HCG injection dose to reach to around the 12.5 to 15 mark on their syringe.
Your doctor or pharmacy will let you know how much to fill for each injection if your syringe uses different numbers. 12.5 is the lowest dosage amount you can take on the HCG diet, but if you are feeling very hungry on that dosage you want to talk to your health care professional about taking a different dosage to offset your hunger. If you notice small air bubbles in your syringe, hold it upside down and gently tap the side to get the bubbles to move to the top.
Now onto the fun part, injecting your chosen brand of HCG (as I write about here). For most people the first time is the hardest one to do, so be sure you are sitting down. As mentioned above, most will use a subcutaneous method of injection (injecting into fat tissue). Using your clean hands, gather a flabby portion of your stomach, to the right or left of your belly button, but don’t hold it too tightly. Take a deep breath in, and then push the needle in while you breath out. Push the plunger of the syringe in very slowly, and if you feel a sting, pull out slightly and reposition the needle into the fatty part of your stomach.
NOTE: Some people also choose an intramuscular injection method for HCG. And although this article focuses on the more popular subcutaneous method, it is worth mentioning this method also. Intramuscular means that the HCG is injected directly into the muscle. The process to this is similar to subcutaneous injection, except you will use 2 fingers to stretch skin on top of your muscle (popular sites include the shoulder and buttocks). You hold the skin in this position throughout the entire injection. Of course, you’ll want to follow the exact instructions provided by your doctor if you choose this process.
Remove the needle out, apply pressure to the area and be proud of yourself, you just finished your HCG injection!
Where to Inject HCG
Now that you know how to inject HCG daily, you might run into an issue where you are losing fat and your usual injection site is becoming rather painful. There are a few other HCG injection sites that you can use if this happens, or if you need to change up your routine because your usual spot is bruised.
The belly area is where most people inject their HCG, and as long as you are not too close to the belly button you can inject into any area that has a good amount of belly fat. Most people stay in this area since that is where most of their fat is.
Here's a helpful video about belly injections.
You can also inject into the thigh, the outer area of your upper arm, or the hip area. The hips and arm may be a bit harder to inject into, so if you want to try these areas you will probably need help from someone else in the household. If you are unable to get help you can use a table to rest your upper arm on and then inject into your arm that way.
When injecting into your thigh you want to stay away from the inner thigh, and instead use your hands to find the zone of your thigh where you can safely inject. If you take one hand widthwise above your knee, and another at the top of the leg, then anywhere in the uncovered area is fine to inject into.
Injection Tips
- If you are worried about pain from the needle, you can use an ice cube to slightly numb the area before you inject, though many dieters find they do not need to use this after the first few days.
- Don’t change up your injection sites unless you are feeling pain from the area or are experiencing bruising or extreme hunger. Sometimes your injection site can be the cause of your hunger, since the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone is not being administered into the body correctly. This often happens if you are trying to get to a hard to reach area and are unsuccessful.
- Hunger can also come from the wrong dosage, so be sure you are filling the syringe correctly. Filling the syringe with just slightly more HCG in it may be beneficial when you are tapping out the small bubbles in the syringe, since they will take up space that you won’t really notice until you’re hungry and it’s not even lunch time.
Other Areas of Concern
When it comes to injecting HCG, the “how to” is often not your only concern. In this section, we’ll examine some other frequently asked questions about HCG injections.
Do I Need a Prescription?
Perhaps the most common question about HCG injections is whether a prescription is required. Generally speaking, in most Western countries (including the USA) a prescription is required to receive HCG injections. You will need to get HCG from a pharmacy, which will require you to produce a prescription from a physician.
That being said, this process might be easier than you think. With the advent of telehealth, you can often receive a prescription over the phone, and many online sellers of HCG injections will help expediate this process for you.
However, be sure that you stick to legitimate sellers of HCG. If the offer seems too good to be true, it probably is. You want to be absolutely sure that you are buying HCG from a trusted supplier that is staffed with real licensed physicians. Not only will you be sure that you are buying real HCG injections, but you can also be prescribed the proper dosage to work with your diet plan.
Can Men Do HCG Injections?
There is a common misconception that has circulated among the HCG diet community that HCG injections are not suitable for men. We actually wrote a whole article about this, but let’s quickly dispel this rumor here.
Simply put, if you’re a male patient who is worried about HCG treatment, try to put these worries aside, because the HCG diet is safe and effective for men. Provided you follow proper procedure and stick to doses prescribed by your doctor, men can experience positive results on HCG just as women can.
A primary concern (especially among men) is how HCG might affect testosterone levels. And while HCG does somewhat effect testosterone, a doctor will prescribe you an amount that is safe, so that you will not have to worry about this factor. In fact, it is often the case that HCG can actually help men who have low testosterone.
As you can see, and we can’t stress this enough, the HCG diet is safe for anyone as long as you follow your doctor’s recommendations!
Conclusion
Learning how to inject HCG isn’t the difficult part, that part is overcoming your fear of doing it wrong, or that it will hurt. As long as you are following your doctor’s instructions, and not rushing yourself too much at the beginning, you’ll find that it’s far easier and much more painless than you originally thought. And don't forget that dieters community is always there to support you and share the experience in blogs with posts and videos.