Unused and used syringe needle comparison - GIF

[Frank S]

Re: the army medic hitting the bone.

He probably hit the axial nerve, which goes around the upper arm just below the correct injection site.
And, he went too deep.

Intramuscular injections are to be intra(inside) the muscle, NOT against the bone.

You will often see pics of the COVID vax being given with the technician pinching the muscle - that's to increase the depth of muscle to be stabbed on less-than-muscular folks (like aged or children). It is wrong to do it with people who have significant fat - it just increases tha chance of injecting into the fat, which is the wrong type of tissue for an intramuscular vaccine to work in.

Also, if the injection is given too high up the arm, one can hit the bursa in the shoulder, which happened to my brother.
He got SIRVA (Shoulder Injury Related to Vaccine Administration). Google SIRVA and you'll find a zillion personal injury lawyers waiting for your call!
His shoulder was in terrible pain for months afterwards.

BTW: If you get ANY Adverse Event (pain, hives, rash, etc.) PLEASE report it on the VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) site that the FDA runs.
It is by using those reports that researchers can know what to research, and how to prevent them in the future - like better training on how to do intramuscular injections!

And, you do NOT need tobe a medical professional to report to VAERS. More data is better in this case.

I don't know what he hit but the needle was visibly bent but the injection did its job bleeding aside because my dislocated shoulder stopped hurting shortly afterwards.
Wouldn't know anything about the covid stuff, I don't go to cities so don't much care what goes on in them

[wjzemke1968]

Charles,

Curiously, my original family doctor, the one who delivered me, always gave his injections in the triceps muscle rather than the deltoid which is the usual and customary practice nowadays. He did so for precisely the reasons you cite, safety and less pain, and to this day I request that my injections be given in the triceps. If you think about it, the triceps is within easy reach, is not a small muscle, can be pinched as you described, and is constantly being moved which increases blood flow to the area to speed the healing process. Also, if the length of the needle is limited to about 5/8", then the hub of the needle can be used as a "stop" to keep from going too deep yet still achieve IM penetration. If the "needle stop" technique is used as described, this in turn makes possible a very rapid injection process; and if the needle is inserted into the muscle rapidly enough so that the cutting edge of it does not stimulate the pain receptor nerve endings long enough for them to "fire," then the whole process becomes almost painless. Granted, there are some medications which specify "deep IM into a large muscle mass," and for those meds the triceps is probably an inappropriate injection site. But for small volume, dilute, aqueous parenterals the triceps has distinct advantages. I also sincerely believe that the primary reasons that the deltoid muscle is used so commonly are those of convenience, effenciency, and professional ossification.