How to Use an Insulin Pen in 15 Easy Steps
Key takeaways:
Insulin pens are small, portable devices that have made injecting insulin easier for many people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
It’s best to gather all the supplies you’ll need before using your insulin pen. These include the insulin pen, alcohol swabs, and a fresh pen needle.
When you start a new insulin pen, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before injecting. This can help make injecting your dose more comfortable.
After each injection, throw away the pen needle into an FDA-approved sharps container. You can also put the entire insulin pen in a sharps container when the pen is empty or has expired.
Table of contents
Over 30 million people in the U.S. live with diabetes. And 7.4 million of them use insulin to help balance their blood glucose (sugar) levels.
With time, injecting insulin becomes a routine task. But for many, it can be intimidating at first. Thankfully, insulin pens are convenient devices that can help make injecting insulin easier, especially when you’re new to the process.
So if you’ve just picked up a new prescription for an insulin pen, there’s no need to worry about the injection process. We’ll go over some basic steps of how to use an insulin pen. Soon enough, you’ll be able to inject your insulin like a pro.
What are insulin pens used for?
Insulin pens are prescribed for people with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes. People with Type 1 diabetes need insulin because their bodies don’t make natural insulin. People with Type 2 diabetes make their own insulin, but their bodies aren’t able to use it in the necessary way. So not everyone with Type 2 diabetes needs insulin to meet their blood glucose goals.
But if you do need insulin, insulin pens are often preferred to vials and syringes because they’re easier to use. Insulin pens are small, portable devices that eliminate the need to draw up insulin from a vial using a syringe. Instead, they allow you to select the number of insulin units you’ll be injecting by twisting a “dose counter” and pressing a button. This allows for less waste, fewer supplies to carry around, and overall easier use.
Are all insulin pens the same?
Although they may look very similar, every insulin pen is different. There are many insulin pens available, and each works in a slightly different way with different ingredients.
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Injectable insulin is split into five categories based on how quickly it starts working and how long it lasts. These include:
Rapid-acting, such as NovoLog (insulin aspart)
Regular/short-acting, such as Humulin R (insulin regular)
Intermediate-acting, such as Humulin N (human insulin)
Long-acting, such as Lantus (insulin glargine)
Ultra long-acting, such as Toujeo (insulin glargine U-300)
Your healthcare provider will prescribe the insulin type that fits your personal needs.
How to use an insulin pen in 15 steps
Below you’ll find 15 steps that explain how to use an insulin pen. These steps are just a general guide for insulin injection technique. But every insulin pen is unique. Ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for details on your specific insulin pen before injecting for the first time.
Gather supplies
1. Always start by washing your hands with soap and warm water.
2. Gather your insulin pen, a new pen needle, and two alcohol swabs.
Tip: When you are using a new insulin pen, take it out of the refrigerator about 30 minutes before you use it for the first time. Cold insulin can be more uncomfortable to inject.
Choose your injection site
3. Pick where you want to inject your insulin. Many people prefer the abdomen (about 2 inches from the belly button) because it’s easy to reach. But you can also inject into the upper thigh, upper arm, or buttocks.
Tip: Rotate sites between each injection. This may mean that you switch from one area of the body to another (such as changing from the left to the right thigh). But rotating sites within the same area (such as injecting in different spots in the left thigh) is also an option.
Add your needle
4. Take off the cap of the insulin pen. Wipe the exposed rubber with an alcohol swab, and allow it to dry. Don’t blow on it to dry it off quicker. This can contaminate the pen with germs.
5. Remove the paper tab on a new pen needle, and twist it into place on your pen. Each time you inject, use a fresh pen needle.
6. Once it’s in place, you can then remove the needle cap and needle shield.
Prepare your insulin pen
7. If you’re using a new pen for the first time, dial up 1 to 2 units. Press the injection button to let out any air bubbles (called “priming”). If you see a small drop of insulin come out the tip of the pen, it’s ready to use.
8. Dial up the dose counter to the number of units you’ll be injecting.
Inject the insulin
9. Wipe the area on your body where you’ll be injecting with an alcohol swab, and allow it to air dry. Don’t blow on your skin to try to dry it off faster.
10. When you’re ready, insert the needle at a 90-degree angle straight into the skin.
11. Press the injection button to release your insulin dose.
12. Hold the button down while keeping the needle inserted and count to 10. This helps make sure that you receive your full dose of insulin.
13. After you finish counting, remove the needle. Be sure to pull the pen straight out at a 90-degree angle, just like it was inserted.
Dispose of your pen needles
14. Carefully recap the pen needle. Twist it off of the pen, and place the needle directly into a proper disposal container.
15. Now you have successfully injected your insulin and can recap your insulin pen.
Tip: If you’re using the last remaining units of insulin in your pen for an injection, you can throw the whole pen into your disposal container (more on that later).
How can you tell if you properly administered your insulin?
If you carefully injected your insulin and have no severe reactions, you’re likely injecting properly. Counting to 10 each time you give yourself a shot is a good way to help make sure all of the insulin gets injected.
Injection site reactions can happen even with proper injection technique. These can include redness, itching, and swelling around where you injected the insulin.
These reactions don’t necessarily mean you’re injecting your insulin incorrectly. But if you experience more severe, persistent, or painful reactions, there may be another cause. In this case, you should contact your healthcare provider.
How many times can you use the same insulin pen needles?
You should only use each insulin pen needle once. Using the same needle more than once can be painful. This is because the needle becomes dull even after just one use.
Aside from the pain of reusing pen needles, you could also be at risk of bacterial contamination. Once used, pen needles are no longer sterile. Bacteria or other germs could potentially grow on them. Reusing needles may raise your risk of becoming contaminated with these germs.
How do you dispose of insulin pens?
Ideally, insulin pens and pen needles should be thrown away in an FDA-cleared sharps container. Insulin pens and pen needles are both considered “sharps.” A sharp is any object that has the potential to cut or pierce the skin. Sharps can be disposed of in a few ways.
You can purchase an FDA-cleared sharps container from your local pharmacy or a medical device supplier. But if you have a resealable container made of heavy-duty plastic, that will work too. An empty laundry detergent bottle is an example of an appropriate alternative to a sharps container.
Insulin pens should be thrown away after you finish all the insulin in the pen or by the pen’s expiration date — whichever comes first. Be sure to check your insulin pen for an expiration date, or ask your pharmacist if you’re unsure.
How to dispose of a sharps container
When your sharps container is full, there are a couple ways to get rid of it. Some sharps container manufacturers will pick up full containers from your house or let you mail them back. Other options include drop-off locations, such as local pharmacies, hospitals, or clinics. Depending on where you live, you may be allowed to tape the top of the container and throw it away with your regular trash.
For more information on specific disposal guidance in your state, you can call Safe Needle Disposal at 1-800-643-1643.
The bottom line
Using an insulin pen for the first time can be nerve-wracking. But learning how to use an insulin pen can help you prepare yourself. Tips like bringing your insulin to room temperature before injection and rotating injection sites can help make the process more comfortable. Your healthcare provider and pharmacist are great resources for questions about using your specific insulin pen.
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References
American Diabetes Association. (n.d.). Insulin basics.
American Diabetes Association. (2013). Injecting insulin: Taking shots safely, correctly, and with little or no pain. Clinical Diabetes.
Association of Diabetes Care and Education Specialists. (2020). Pro tips (and tricks) for easier and better insulin injections.
Singh, R., et al. (2018). A comparison of insulin pen devices and disposable plastic syringes - Simplicity, safety, convenience and cost differences. European Endocrinology.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2021). Safely using sharps (needles and syringes) at home, at work and on travel.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2021). Sharps disposal containers.
