Daily Tips

An intramuscular shot of insulin can help correct, or bring down, high blood sugars more quickly then standard subcutaneous (or under the skin) injections. Typically, an intramuscular shot of lispro will begin to lower an elevated blood sugar within about 5 minutes. It will finish acting about 1 hour sooner than your usual subcutaneous injection, and it will have your blood sugar close to target within about 3 hours. The deltoid, or shoulder, muscle is the preferred site for intramuscular injection.

Never inject long-acting lente, glargine, or ultralente insulin into a muscle, and don’t use this method for your regular mealtime doses of regular insulin. You should talk to your diabetes care provider about when and if intramuscular injections may be right for you.

Tip of the Day courtesy of Dr. Richard Bernstein, author of Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution.

Cleanliness is next to a good test.