You should always use new, sterile equipment. Re-using equipment increases the risk of contamination and bacterial infection.
You can get sterile injecting equipment for injecting PIEDs at any primary needle and syringe outlet.
It is very important that you never share any equipment. Sharing any equipment can lead to the transmission of blood borne viruses (BBVs), such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV.
It is safest to only inject yourself. If you are unable to, the person injecting should ensure they wear gloves and never recap the needle - place it straight in the sharps bin. Be aware of your personal space to ensure there are no risks to others around you.
Reusing equipment increases increases the risks of contamination, bacterial infections, and injection site damage.
You will also need access to a sharps disposal container to safely dispose of your equipment, which you can get from an NSP. Some gyms may also have sharps containers. Everything you use for the injection should go in a Hard plastic container. This must be disposed of in a community sharps bin.
It is safe to use any hard plastic as a sharps container as long as it is correctly disposed of in a big community sharps bin when it is full. Again, it does not matter what kind of container the sharps are in. Everything is incinerated once it's picked up from the community sharps bins.
Examples of alternative sharps bins are:
- Protein powder containers
- Ice cream containers
- Laundry detergent containers
- Any other hard plastic.
You will need a needle that is long enough to reach your muscle and thick enough for the drug to pass through. You should use a large needle (e.g. 19G or 21G or 23G) to draw up the drug and a new 23G needle to inject the drug. Make sure the needle length is 1-1.5 inches (2.5 – 4cm).
NSP workers are able to provide advice on injecting equipment if you would like to discuss it further.
1. Top outer quadrant of glute muscle.
2. Outside quad muscle.
3. Deltoid muscle of arm.
Updated 13 January 2025