WEBVTT - Why Are Different Injections Given in Your Arm, Rear, or Elsewhere?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel Bomb Here. When you walk into

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<v Speaker 1>a doctor's office to get a shot, as sometimes it's

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<v Speaker 1>a surprise. Most of the time you can count on

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<v Speaker 1>getting an injection in your arm, but occasionally they'll pitch

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<v Speaker 1>you a curveball and injected into your rear end or

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<v Speaker 1>even your belly. So why is this? It generally has

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<v Speaker 1>to do with the type of medicine being injected, the

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<v Speaker 1>volume of the dose, and how quickly or slowly the

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<v Speaker 1>medicine needs to be absorbed into the body. So today

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<v Speaker 1>let's talk about the four basic types of medical injections.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you don't like hearing about needles, but you've

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<v Speaker 1>made it this far, now might be a good time

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<v Speaker 1>to stop or skip to the next episode. Okay, okay.

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<v Speaker 1>The first category we're talking about is intravenous injections. These

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<v Speaker 1>go directly into the vein and deliver medicine really quickly.

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<v Speaker 1>They're normally delivered in the back of the hand or

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<v Speaker 1>the front of the elbow. Next up, intramuscular shots. These

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<v Speaker 1>are injected directly into a muscle where the medicine is

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<v Speaker 1>absorbed a little more slowly by blood vessels. The most

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<v Speaker 1>common locations for these are the deltoid muscle of the

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<v Speaker 1>shoulder that's the meaty bit above the bicep, and the

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<v Speaker 1>gluteous medius of the bum, which is the meaty bit

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<v Speaker 1>at the upper outer quadrant of each buttock. In young

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<v Speaker 1>children who may not have developed these muscles yet, the

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<v Speaker 1>thigh muscle might be used instead. Then we've got subcutaneous injections.

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<v Speaker 1>These are given into fatty tissue where there's less blood

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<v Speaker 1>supply and therefore the medicine is taken up by the

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<v Speaker 1>body more slowly. These are generally injected into the abdominal fold.

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<v Speaker 1>And finally, there are intradermal injections. These target the middle

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<v Speaker 1>layer of the skin and are absorbed the most slowly

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<v Speaker 1>of all. Common injection sites for these include the inner

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<v Speaker 1>surface of the forearm and the upper back under the

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<v Speaker 1>shoulder blade for the article of this episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuff Work. Spoke with Libby Richards, a faculty

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<v Speaker 1>associate at the Perdue University School of Nursing. She explained

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<v Speaker 1>the injection site is driven by how the medication is absorbed.

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<v Speaker 1>Some medications, like insulin, need to be absorbed slowly, so

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<v Speaker 1>fatty tissue without much blood flow works better. Medications injected

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<v Speaker 1>into the muscles are absorbed faster than fatty tissues, but

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<v Speaker 1>slower than intravenous. For example, it's coming for antibiotics and

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<v Speaker 1>diuretics to be administered intravenous LYE, whereas many vaccines, hormone shots,

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<v Speaker 1>and allergy medications are injected intramuscular LYE. Vaccines are often

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<v Speaker 1>injected into muscles because muscles contain more immune cells than

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<v Speaker 1>other injection sites. These immune cells will immediately recognize the

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<v Speaker 1>stuff that makes the vaccine work, uh the weakened or

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<v Speaker 1>non operational or otherwise non infectious bits of virus material

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<v Speaker 1>that the vaccine contains, so those cells will quickly start

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<v Speaker 1>to prepare your body to fight the real thing should

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<v Speaker 1>it invade. In addition to the type of medicine, doctors

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<v Speaker 1>and nurses need to think about how much medicine needs

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<v Speaker 1>to be injected and whether a specific muscle is large

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<v Speaker 1>enough to hold that much medication. Richard said, a muscle

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<v Speaker 1>tissue can generally hold more volume than fatty or subcutaneous tissue,

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<v Speaker 1>so that's another consideration when choosing an injection site. When

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<v Speaker 1>the volume of medication is a consideration. A larger muscles

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<v Speaker 1>such as the buttocks or thigh may be used instead

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<v Speaker 1>of the arm. Plus some medications can cause irritation to

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<v Speaker 1>delicate blood vessels. In this case, muscle is preferred as well.

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<v Speaker 1>And even with all of these considerations, you can still

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<v Speaker 1>ask your doctor if they can give you an injection

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<v Speaker 1>in your preferred location, Richard said, Sometimes it comes down

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<v Speaker 1>to patient preference and convenience. The arm is often easier

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<v Speaker 1>to access and preferred by patients. M Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article why are some shots given on

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<v Speaker 1>the arm and some in the bum? On how stuff

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<v Speaker 1>works dot com written by Jocelyn Shields. Brain Stuff is

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