Injecting - Post-Injection Care?

[HiThErOsMiThErO]

So Swiv had this question floating around for a while now, ever since swim started banging crystal meth on and off a few years back; the girl had shown Swim the ropes and did the infection for for Swim until he was confident, said that after removing the needle tip and swiy bleeds a little or missed at all not to apply and cold water or wet towel to the area. She said only warm instead of cold. Such as a washcloth with hot water ran through it.
Swim understands others use a warm towel to help bring the blood vessels to the skin's surface before injection. swim himself doesnt see problems from applying a wet cloth on swim's arm after injection to sooth the area if any unforeseen discomforts should arise, warm or cold. Friend of swim also told swim that cold towel on any bumps/blisters/bruises would cause them to harden/swell more/stay longer.
This kind of make not much sense to Swim, but that could also because
1) Swim has had a very nice shot within the hour.
2) Sim is not formally educated about IV use.

-Thanks in Advance.

HitheroSmithero

[mbarnes0]

SWIM doesn't know about cold causing bumps/blisters/bruises to get any worse, he has never had any get worse due to cold.

SWIY is right about the warm water/cloth bringing veins closer to the skin's surface, making them easier to hit. SWIYs friend may have suggested a warm compress after a shot because if any dope was missed the warmth and the pressure of the compress helps the body tissue absorb the dope that didn't get into a vein.

Methamphetamine is not absorbed by body tissue well, so greater care must be taken to prevent missing. Because the body doesn't absorb meth very well, missed shots are more susceptible to infection/abcess/etc. than say a missed heroin/opiate shot.

If a shot of methamphetamine is missed it will be quite painful and the area around the injection site will quickly swell some and turn red. Apply a warm cloth to the injection site and apply pressure, gently kneading/massaging the area. Do this 4-5 times a day until there is no pain, swelling, or redness.
Monitor the area of the miss for signs of infection/abscess. These include:
-Swelling of the area that doesn't stop after a day or two
-Redness around the area that doesn't go away or gets worse
-The area is warm to the touch compared to other parts of the body/skin
-Pus/Discharge from the area

If SWIY thinks the site could be infected it is important to seek medical treatment right away.

Some other better injection techniques:
-New rig every time one is available
-Never, ever share any equipment, especially if touched by anything that has also touched blood
-Wash/sterilize hands/arms/injection site and use as clean of a prep area as possible
-Don't alcohol swab immediately after injection as this prevents blood clots from forming
-Many, many, many more. Please check the forums and the documents archive on IV drug use for lots of other harm reduction and safer/better injection information.

[HiThErOsMiThErO]

Swim offers much thanks to mbarnes0 for a thoughtful response. Swim always welcome and appreciate good answers and suggestions and swim even put them to use the other night. Swim was having a long day and he probably should have taken a break because his veins were not appearing for him. So swim poked around, at first trickle of blood swim plunged right away, well... apparently swim went all the way through cuz whenb swim pulled back out, but still hurt and assumed that a tiny bit more dribbled out on the way out.... big lump for 10 hours, warm compress, rubbing, staying hydrated, and resting were very good, 24 hours later swim had no lump..

MAKE SURE SWIY STAYS HYDRATED AFTER A MISS.. TO KEEP SWIY'S SKIN AND BLOOD BETTER "OILED" AS IT ATTEMPT TO REMOVE TOXINS...