Injecting - Arm going numb when shooting into wrist(sometimes)

[m.swinehart81]

So swim has an issue that he isnt sure what he should do about it. Swim just did a shot, everything went fine, swim was feelin good, and then all the sudden he felt a suttle tingle go through his hand and out through his pinky finger (smallest finger). His smallest finger is now completely numb!
Swim did the shot in his wrist. If you were to look at the palm of your hand the shot would have been on the left side and about an inch to an inch and a half down from where your hand meets your arm.
Swim has had things go numb before but its never lasted very long. His pinky finger has now been numb for about 15 minutes...
Anyone have any ideas why swims pinky finger would be numb? Opinions on what should be done? Opinions on how long it might last?

Reputation Comments on this post:

Great question to ask. Many people can benefit from this same type of question and now knowing the answer

[mugwump77]

not sure which hand i'm looking at here. lol. i would assume your friend booted on the pinky side of the hand.

now i'm no doctor, but your friend may have nicked a nerve, or maybe (more likely) the shot didn't go exclusively into the vein, meaning some spillover into a nerve.

again, i'm no doctor, and i would think if this persists that a visit to an actual doctor would be prudent. now if i were to guess the outcome i would imagine this side effect would evetually fix itself provided no further injections are done near the site.

most likely the toxins of the spillover have irritated the nerve and caused temporary numbness. the important thing is that one is sure the finger is still getting circulation. keep us updated on how things are going with your friend.

[m.swinehart81]

Thanks Mugwump. It is on the pinky side of swims wrist on his right hand. I first thought it could be the nerve but I would think if that were the case it would have happened rapidly but it didnt. Swim said it didnt go numb for a good 5 minutes after he did the shot. He said the shot went fine too.
This whole spillover thing definitely sounds like a very logical possiblity though. As for right now swims pinky is still numb. It has been probably about an hour to an hour and a half since it all happened. Im hoping that swims finger fixes itself. I know how much he hates going to the doctor. Especially for something related to IV'ing heroin. I sure wouldnt want to go to the doctor for something like that anyway...

[east_of_eden]

swim HATES going to the doctor for heroin related problems, it goes back to that thread on how much society looks down on junkies.

swim has had this numbness thing happen before (and it seems like it usually is in the fingers) maybe something about the circulation there? but swim doesn't think it should stay that way for more than a couple hours.

let us know what happened. hope swiny is ok.

[Junkhead23]

Pacman reckons SWIY will be fine. He has has this happen before due to a miss that was he thinks a through and through (one that registered but wasn't in.If this occurs near a vein in the hand it can bring numbness, swelling and pain

[m.swinehart81]

Swim's pinky finger is all better! He passed out last night and when he woke up this morning his pinky finger was feeling normal again. I appreciate the advice though and so does swim! The last push of the shot swim did kind of made his wrist sort of... ache...??? I dont really know how else to describe it. Swim said it wasnt the sharp shooting pain of a miss but more like what you feel hours after missing. Funny thing is, swim said it happened right away...??? It seems kind of odd to me but what can ya do?
Either way, swim's finger is feeling like its old self again!

[thebige]

After the fact swim would say a nerve hit.............also swim is not a doctor.
But when swiy sticks metal into your body along with unknown chemicals and cuts,these things are to be expected ......Staysafe.....

[Wallet]

SWIM is happy that SWISwine's finger is all better. SWIM has been having the same issues with his right hand ( Been going on for a couple weeks now. Not really sure what to do about it but it still has strength so he isn't worrying yet.


Just curious Swine, why so much negative rep?

[mugwump77]

true that. from all the swine posts i've read he seems a-ok, i'm betting it was an initial problem learning to swim. am i right?

[m.swinehart81]

yes, very correct. when I first became a member I put the price of things and I also self incriminated. All without knowing I shouldnt do those things. I made the mistake of posting before reading the forum rules. A dumb mistake...
Thanks for all the info though guys. Definitely made swim a little more comfortable knowing there are some people out there willing to stear him in the right direction with difficult situations!!

[Ill~Will]

A few times now swim has shot into the big vein on the top of his wrist
and had his entire arm go numb, really not very fun at all.

Can anyone shed some light on why this is happening?

[SmokeNmirrors]

Is this a different dope then what swiy normally gets cause maybe its the cut. Also coke will do that if swiy misses so maybe there is some coke cut in with the dope but that's highly unlikely. How long does this last for? Cause most likely its something its cut with that maybe swiys body is allergic too.

[Ill~Will]

Swim is not sure about that, it only seems to happen when swim
uses a dull rig to inject with and has to push really hard into the
large vein, swim still gets a rush but soon after his arm goes numb
up to the elbow.

Swim uses H4 usually only cut with Dormin (sleep aid)

[adzket]

there are many nervs that run threw your wrist to your hands which r 1 of the most sensitve parts of the body. swiy could of slightly damaged 1 of them swim has befor it takes a while to clear up last time 6 months 4 total feeling to come back. u say it's when swiy uses a dull rig r they shure there not going all way threw vein? thus missing part of hit even though geting blood and still geting high. if so the gear and citric would definaly be fucking with swims sensation this is usaly much shorter time to get beter than nerv damage few days to a week. and they may not neserseral notice as only issing a bit and it beeing inside the wrist. swim has done this severl times. if it carreys on go to see your doctor or nearest a&e

[Ill~Will]

Swim figured it had something to do with a nerve, swims junk doesn't
have citric in it since it is H4 and the weird numbness only lasted maybe an
hour at the most

swim it is almost positive it is from the needle going all the way thru the vein

[adzket]

yeah definatly now swiy said only an hr of numbness, some of gear would of missed and just put pressure in wrong place. it happens.

[Ill~Will]

thanks for explaining that to swim, had him wondering

[Thor1394]

Definitley sounds like you are damaging a nerve. A friend of SWIMs did something similar to this a couple years back giving himself something the doctors told him was called saturday night palsy(sounds like "paul-zee") Anyway it usually occurs in people who get drunk or fall asleep sitting up resting on the hands cutting off circulation to the nerves and damaging them but he got it by stabing his nerve causing his arm to go numb and unusable for a little over two weeks. So if this keeps occuring when SWIY shoots there he may want to find somewhere else before he does something a little more serious.

[Ill~Will]

Thank you for sharing swiy's story, swim no longer uses this spot, he only did when he was having trouble hitting other veins. Swim now uses the elbow crook and the large veins on his forearms

Doesn't sound like fun to lose all usage of ones arm for any amount of time!

[helene]

Your arms are literally full of nerves, and hitting one whilst trying to find a vein can be really fucking painful. Depending on whether you just brush it with the needle, or go straight through it, and how big the nerve is, the sensation can range from a fairly mild, electric-shock type of feeling that just causes you to jump a bit, to an intense throbbing pain, that results in swelling, numbness and/ or tenderness for days, even weeks afterwards.

Strangely enough, in swim's experience, she tends to hit a nerve a lot more often when attempting to inject into areas that have been really hammered in terms of IV use. The main example being the area around those (now defunct) "starter veins" in the crooks of swim's arms. Nearly all the veins in that area are pretty much un-useable now, and are covered in gristle and scar-tissue. These areas have grown much more sensitive over the years, in terms of neural twinges and shocks encountered when trying to hit up, rather than less so, as some may expect.

Swim imagines this is due to repeatedly damaged nerves not ever being given the chance to repair themselves fully, in that as soon as they started to heal, a needle would be stuck in again, further preventing recovery. Also, perhaps the thicker scar tissue and gristle causes the nerves to deform slightly as well.

Strangely enough, although the damage to her nerves doesn't present itself as numbness or loss of sensation at the site of the injection, swim does have an area of skin on the back of her left hand that is permanently slightly numb to the touch. As swim can't recall an exact incident that caused this numbness, she guesses it must be yet another accumulative side-effect of years of thoughtless over-use of the veins further up her arm, and the associated damage to her neural pathways.

H