Air lock technique to minimize waste

[390120]

I usually use 3mL syringes because I get them for free but I recently used a 1mL syringe and realized how much product I'm losing after injection that is stuck in the barrel and needle of the syringe. Especially when reconstituting amounts such as 100mg of GHK-Cu with 3mL bac and injecting 0.1mL dosages.

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/DrWillPowers/comments/yv37fy/comment/iweyuva/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

place draw needle on syringe

draw air into syringe of equal volume to your injectable volume

insert needle into vial

inject air into vial

draw dose to measured amount

** draw additional air into syringe of about 0.2 - 0.3 mL

** use the markings on the barrel of the syringe to measure the volume of injectable with air still in syringe and the syringe vertical with the needle upwards. for example, plunger may be at 0.5mL, top edge of injectable where it meets the air may be at 0.3mL, which equates to 0.2mL of injectable. this gets tricky with a low dead space syringe because the low dead space portion of the plunger changes the measurement; you have use the neck of the syringe where the plunger stops at full close as the line you bring the injectable back up to in order to double check your measurement.

** if using low dead space needles, draw your 0.2 - 0.3 mL of air back into syringe

** change needle (should have zero injectable in it since you last drew air into syringe)

** leave air in syringe, but flip needle facing down and make sure injectable is on the needle side and air is at the plunger side. you may need to flick the syringe while holding it farthest from the needle, in order to get all the injectable to move down towards the needle away from the plunger; you want the air going through the needle last.

insert needle into body

inject injectable and air. all of it.

remove needle and dispose of everything

Does anyone do this?

I might give it a try tonight with my injection

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

How much do you think you’re losing?

A 25 gauge needles has a 0.01025” inner diameter.

If it is 1” long you’re losing 1.6 units. On a HUGE needle that most would draw oil with, not go sc with water based peps.

Many use 31 gauge, 1/2” length, that’s about 0.42u lost.

Injecting units of air to avoid a fraction of a unit lost is … baffling.

I’ve hit blood vessels a few times, yesterday in fact, no way I’m signing up to push anything more than an incidental bubble on purpose.

TLDR:

This person has zero interest in your health. Proceed with caution.

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

“ 0.2 - 0.3 mL of air back into syringe”

This ALONE should tell you they’re full of it. They probably mean 2-3 units but they’re saying 20-30 units.

Stay away from this one.

 

[390120]

How much do you think you’re losing?

A 25 gauge needles has a 0.01025” inner diameter.

If it is 1” long you’re losing 1.6 units. On a HUGE needle that most would draw oil with, not go sc with water based peps.

Many use 31 gauge, 1/2” length, that’s about 0.42u lost.

Injecting units of air to avoid a fraction of a unit lost is … baffling.

I’ve hit blood vessels a few times, yesterday in fact, no way I’m signing up to push anything more than an incidental bubble on purpose.

TLDR:

This person has zero interest in your health. Proceed with caution.

I pulled back my syringe after injection last night and found about .5mL in the barrel? It wasn’t the typical needle I usually use though so it may be because of the syringe type?

I was thinking you could prime the needle until you see the medication start to come out so you don’t inject air first, and slowly inject the GHK-Cu and watch the air as it enters the barrel before the needle and pull it out then, ensuring no air is injected

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

I pulled back my syringe after injection last night and found about .5mL in the barrel? It wasn’t the typical needle I usually use though so it may be because of the syringe type?

I was thinking you could prime the needle until you see the medication start to come out so you don’t inject air first, and slowly inject the GHK-Cu and watch the air as it enters the barrel before the needle and pull it out then, ensuring no air is injected

Check the syringe math. You’re missing a power of ten which can be dangerous. mL is different than units. If you have 50 units left over there’s other things going on.

 

[390120]

Check the syringe math. You’re missing a power of ten which can be dangerous. mL is different than units. If you have 50 units left over there’s other things going on.

Here’s what I do

I reconstitute a 100mg vial of GHK-Cu with 3.3mL of Bac water which gives me 0.1mL = 3mg

I’m currently using 3mg daily

I draw my 1mL syringe to 0.1mL and inject that air into the vial and draw until I get 0.1mL, I tap the syringe and get all the air bubbles at the top and push it back into the vial and draw again to the 0.1mL mark. Then I take the needle out of the syringe

I inject it subq into my belly and push plunger all the way down. I noticed blue still in the barrel of the leur lock connector so I pulled it back to see how much there was

After I removed the needle from my body I drew back the plunger and read from the graduated marks on the barrel there was 0.05mL of GHK-Cu still in the barrel

edit, i meant 0.05mL , not 0.5mL after i was reading what i wrote

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

reconstitute a 100mg vial of GHK-Cu with 3.3mL of Bac water which gives me 0.1mL = 3mg

It doesn’t. You’re off by x100 here.

1 mL is 100 units. You have 100 mg suspended in 330 units.

You have probably half a unit hung up, 0.15mg.

Don’t inject air, it is very bad.

There are many calculators on line.

 

[BNLFL]

Lots of thinking here. My way. I pull out to the amount required empty, push the air in, and draw out the liquid plus a mg, tap any bubbles and push the syringe to the required amount and blast away. This 100% my opinion and the way I do it.

 

[390120]

It doesn’t. You’re off by x100 here.

1 mL is 100 units. You have 100 mg suspended in 330 units.

You have probably half a unit hung up, 0.15mg.

Don’t inject air, it is very bad.

There are many calculators on line.

Everywhere i search online says small amounts of air injected subq is not harmful

And seems like the air lock method is commonly used, although for IM injections

 

[tendency]

The needle/syringe 'slop' can start to add up especially if you don't dilute much. eg, I use a 1ml syringe or 100 units. Typically, this will result in 5-6 'slop' units per injection.

Now, if you've diluted you product to, say, 10 units = 1mg then you're losing 1/2 mg per injection which can be significant wastage.

I typically dilute generously to minimize the mg loss.

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

Everywhere i search online says small amounts of air injected subq is not harmful

2-3u of air is unnecessary. Yes the incidental bubble is fine. The link led to a post saying 20-30units.

Zero extra air is unnecessary at best.

 

[390120]

The needle/syringe 'slop' can start to add up especially if you don't dilute much. eg, I use a 1ml syringe or 100 units. Typically, this will result in 5-6 'slop' units per injection.

Now, if you've diluted you product to, say, 10 units = 1mg then you're losing 1/2 mg per injection which can be significant wastage.

I typically dilute generously to minimize the mg loss.

That’s what got me on this tangent today, I would dilute with more but my Bac water supplier is on back order for weeks now

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

I use a 1ml syringe or 100 units. Typically, this will result in 5-6 'slop' units per injection.

Now you’ve got me curious.

Are you saying 5-6 units of slop on a 100 unit squirt of BAC going in?

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

That’s what got me on this tangent today, I would dilute with more but my Bac water supplier is on back order for weeks now

If you’re using 330 units of BAC you’re probably got the pep vial full, usually they’re 3mL. Maybe it’s a 5mL?

If you’re wanting to ease site reaction pull your shot then pull in some BAC, it’ll mix in the syringe.

 

[390120]

2-3u of air is unnecessary. Yes the incidental bubble is fine. The link led to a post saying 20-30units.

Zero extra air is unnecessary at best.

yea not the best link perhaps, I was just looking for something with a good general guideline of technique

If you’re using 330 units of BAC you’re probably got the pep vial full, usually they’re 3mL. Maybe it’s a 5mL?

If you’re wanting to ease site reaction pull your shot then pull in some BAC, it’ll mix in the syringe.

I filter it into a 10mL vial,

That's a good point about pulling in more BAC, that would also further dilute the concentration and lead to less loss of the peptide

I'm short on BAC though unfortunately, going to be a few weeks till i get more so I'm trying to make it last. I do have some NaCl or sterile water for injection I can get which could work

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

And seems like the air lock method is commonly used, although for IM injections

I keep seeing 0.2 to 0.3mL in several texts!

Look like the Reddit author copied what was found online.

If anyone has a reliable reputable source I’d love to see it.

I’m happy to be wrong if air lock is legit. It seems very contrary to everything else I’ve seen. I’ll keep digging in the meantime.

 

[tendency]

I usually use 3mL syringes because I get them for free but I recently used a 1mL syringe and realized how much product I'm losing after injection that is stuck in the barrel and needle of the syringe. Especially when reconstituting amounts such as 100mg of GHK-Cu with 3mL bac and injecting 0.1mL dosages.

Does anyone do this?

I might give it a try tonight with my injection

As for this technique, meh, personally I wouldn't want to be injecting that large of an air bubble. I'll just generously dilute to minimize the slop loss, that's my .02 cents anyhow.

 

[390120]

As for this technique, meh, personally I wouldn't want to be injecting that large of an air bubble. I'll just generously dilute to minimize the slop loss, that's my .02 cents anyhow.

I would probably just inject very slowly and stop once i see the barrel become clear of the peptide instead of pushing the plunger all the way

 

[Foggy-Hollow]

yea not the best link perhaps, I was just looking for something with a good general guideline of technique

I filter it into a 10mL vial,

That's a good point about pulling in more BAC, that would also further dilute the concentration and lead to less loss of the peptide

I'm short on BAC though unfortunately, going to be a few weeks till i get more so I'm trying to make it last. I do have some NaCl or sterile water for injection I can get which could work

Reporting back: short of finding an article from Harvard Medical (I won’t) I asked my BSN sister.

She says it’s 2-3 units of air. Not much but enough to clear out what may be hung up.

The research articles I came across say it helps with the burn. So it definitely is out there but for some reason the volume of air is off. TIL.

 

[390120]

Reporting back: short of finding an article from Harvard Medical (I won’t) I asked my BSN sister.

She says it’s 2-3 units of air. Not much but enough to clear out what may be hung up.

The research articles I came across say it helps with the burn. So it definitely is out there but for some reason the volume of air is off. TIL.

Thank you for looking into it, that is interesting to know