I know a lot of people who reuse needles, whether because of the cost or laziness. I’m guilty of this myself, having spent weeks a a time jabbing myself with the same pen needle over and over before switching it out. Usually, I would only switch out the needle when I was switching out an insulin vial, which meant I could end up using a single needle DOZENS of times before finally realizing that I needed to change it.
I’ve written plenty of posts where I’ve shown the effect of using a needle mu;triple times, but I’ve never shown the effect on actual flesh. The above photo shows the hole that a needle makes in your skin. I fogey where I found the photo, but you’ll notice that it doesn’t indicate whether it was a fresh needle or not. Therefore, one is inclined to believe it’s made by a new needle. Under a microscope, that hole looks substantial. I mean, I can just picture cartoon microbes walking in with their suitcases to set up shop inside the tissues.
This photo shows why it’s important, not only to change out your needles after every use, but to make sure you clean your sites and especially during finger pokes, wash your hands before and after. This will prevent a whole batch of issues that I won’t ruin Saturday morning breakfast by describing…☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 