If you haven't had one already or need a refresher, please book an Injection Training Session.
You can also add an Injection Training Session when requesting a Treatment Recommendation form.
Bleeding after an intramuscular (IM) injection is relatively common and typically not a cause for alarm. This can happen for a few reasons, like nicking a small blood vessel during the injection. The human body has lots of small blood vessels in the muscle and subcutaneous layers, making it possible to pierce one with the needle.
- Needle size and injection technique can affect the likelihood of bleeding. Even with a consistent technique, slight variations in your body or differences in the exact injection site can cause different outcomes.
- Using 90% of a 1.5-inch needle is generally enough to reach muscle tissue, but individual bodily differences or minor differences in the chosen injection site can affect this.
- Quickly removing the needle might cause more bleeding than pulling it out slowly, though this is not usually the main cause of bleeding.
- Immediately putting pressure on the injection site for a minute or two after removing the needle can manage bleeding. This helps stop the bleeding and with closing the skin’s puncture.
- If there is continuous bleeding, significant swelling, signs of infection (such as redness, warmth, persistent pain, or fever), or if bleeding after injections becomes a recurring issue, we recommend seeking advice from a healthcare provider. You can book a session with us to get get advice on this.
- We recommend changing injection sites for regular injections to minimise tissue damage and the risk of complications.
- We recommend monitoring the injection site for reactions in the following days and maintaining proper hygiene to prevent infection.