Give a Heparin Shot

Heparin is a blood thinner commonly used to treat a variety of cardiovascular issues. Due to its potentially serious impact on your body, Heparin should only be used under the guidance of a medical professional. Giving Heparin, though, is a simple procedure. As long as you verify the medicine is safe, properly prepare it, and inject it in a recommended fashion, you shouldn’t have a problem giving a Heparin shot.

Steps

Examining Heparin Before Use

  1. Make sure the medicine has been stored correctly. Heparin should be stored at room temperature. It should not be exposed to heat, extreme cold, or direct light. If your medicine has frozen at some point, you’ll need to discard it.[1]
  2. Look at the expiration date. After you’ve made sure the medicine has been stored appropriately, look at the expiration date. Verify that the medicine is still good. If it is not, do not use it.[1]
  3. Note the prescribed amount. Before injecting Heparin, you need to make a good note of the amount of the drug you need to inject. This is important, as too little of the medication won’t have the desired effect and too much could hurt you.
    • It is best to write down the amount of Heparin you need to inject so you’ll know how much you need to fill your syringe with.

Preparing Heparin

  1. Wash your hands. Before you handle the syringe or vial of Heparin, you should wash your hands thoroughly. This is important, as failure to wash your hands could introduce bacteria to the syringe – resulting in infection at the injection site.
    • Use antibacterial soap.[2]
  2. Remove the cap and roll the vial. Your vial of Heparin will be covered with a plastic cap. Make sure to remove the cap and discard it. Then, take the bottle in your hands and slowly roll the bottle back and forth. This will mix the medicine in preparation for injection.
    • Do not shake the bottle.[3]
  3. Wipe the top of the bottle with an alcohol swab. This will sanitize it and lower the chances of infection. If you don’t wipe the top, you could introduce bacteria into your body.[3]
  4. Pull back the plunger of the syringe. Remove the cap of the needle and avoid touching it. Then, pull back the plunger of the syringe to the point that corresponds with the amount of medicine you will need to inject. This will fill the plunger with air.[3]
  5. Push the needle into the rubber stopper of the vial. Firmly insert the needle into the rubber stopper of the vial. Push it in a steady fashion. Then push the plunger of the syringe down. This way, the air from the syringe will go into the vial.[3]
  6. Turn the bottle upside down and pull back the plunger. After you injected air into the vial, you’ll need to flip the bottle upside down while the needle is still in it. Then, pull the plunger back to the point specified by the prescription.
    • Make sure not to get any more or any less of the medicine than the doctor has recommended.[3]
  7. Tap the syringe to remove air bubbles. Take a good look at the syringe to see if there are any air bubbles in it. If there are, you need to hold the syringe and bottle steady and tap the syringe several times. After doing this, the bubbles should move to the top of the syringe. Then, push the plunger down so the bubbles are shot back into the vial.
    • After injecting bubbles back into the bottle, withdraw the plunger again so you can get an appropriate amount of Heparin.
    • Tap the syringe while you are still holding it and the bottle upside down.[1]
  8. Remove the syringe and needle from the bottle. Carefully withdraw the needle from the bottle. Then, place the bottle down. At the same time, make sure the needle doesn’t touch anything.[3]

Injecting Heparin

  1. Pick a spot to give the injection. Choose a spot on your body where you want to give yourself the shot. You can inject it into your abdomen, thighs, or upper arm. Ultimately, the site of injection is up to you. To decide, you may want to consider the discomfort involved and possible bruising.[4]
  2. Pinch a small fold in your skin. Using your fingers and a thumb, pinch some of your skin together. By doing this, you'll create an area of extra skin and fatty tissue where you can inject the Heparin. If you don't do this, you could wind up injecting the Heparin into your muscle.[3]
  3. Insert the needle. Take the syringe and push it into your skin at a 90-degree angle. The needle/syringe should stick straight up from the point of injection. Make sure you push the needle all the way into the pinched-up fold of your skin and into your fatty tissue. After it is in, let go of your skin and push the plunger on the syringe down.
    • Do not push the needle into your muscle.
  4. Push down on the plunger. After you've inserted the needle, push the plunger down in a slow and steady manner. This will release the Heparin into your fatty tissue. Make sure not to push down too quickly, as you need to provide time for the Heparin to spread out from the site of injection.[3]
    • Leave the needle in for 5 seconds after you’ve pushed the plunger down.[3]
  5. Remove the needle and bandage yourself. Steadily withdraw the needle at the same angle you inserted it. Place the syringe down and press a piece of gauze against the injection site. Hold it until the injection point no longer bleeds.
    • Discard the gauze and cover the injection site with a Band-Aid.
    • Discard the needle in an appropriate container.[3]

Things You’ll Need

  • Heparin
  • Needles
  • Syringes
  • Alcohol wipes
  • A disposal container for needles and syringes

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/Heparin-intravenous-route-subcutaneous-route/proper-use/drg-20068726
  2. ↑ http://www.uwhealth.org/healthfacts/stroke/6915.pdf
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.9 https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000661.htm
  4. ↑ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1857645

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