5 Tips for Selecting the Right Syringe Needle

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Are you having trouble trying to figure out which syringe needle is the one you need? Learn how to select the right syringe needles here.

With around 25% of adults being afraid of needles, it can make it difficult for a good portion of the population to get vaccinations, a blood test, or an IV drip put in. The average person in good health can expect to experience around 165 needle sticks during their lifetime.

For people living with a chronic illness or those in the medical field, the size and type of syringe needle that's used is important. It can be confusing to know what kind of needle and syringe you need.

In this guide, we'll go over five tips for choosing the right type of syringe needle as well as the different types of needles there are.

The Different Types of Syringes

Let's start by talking about the various types of syringes. They may all look the same at first glance, but they're not. Many of them are disposable and when you purchase a syringe, it'll come with or without an attached needle.

Luer Slip / Luer Lok

With a Luer Lok syringe, a needle is inserted into a syringe. It's then twisted to form a locked, tight connection. This ensures that needles can't accidentally get removed and there's no leakage.

A Luer Slip style of syringe only requires a push of a needle into a syringe. After that, it's ready to go.

ENFit Syringe

An ENFit syringe is designed to reduce the risk of feeding tube misconnections. This helps improve overall patient safety. They're also coloured purple so you can clearly differentiate between them and other types of syringes.

Oral Syringe

An oral syringe is used to dispense liquid suspensions or solutions. You can use one to administer nearly any medication available as a liquid. They're also great for gradually decreasing or increasing the medication dosage.

The Uses of Syringes

Syringes utilise a plunger to push out whatever liquid is in the barrel through a hollow needle. Syringes are used to treat a wide variety of conditions. Some of the ways they're used include:

• Botox Syringes: Used to administer Botox or another form of the Botulinum toxin
• Hypodermic Needles: Syringes that use this type of needle inject extra fluids or other substances
• Insulin Syringe: Syringes that inject insulin

Whatever your need for syringes and needles, it's important to know their various uses and how they work together. There are various syringe sizes based on what you're injecting.

The Parts of a Syringe

Syringes have several different parts. The first part is the tip. This piece can come in a variety of shapes and types.

They include:

• Luer Slip Tip: The tip is shorter in length and in the centre part of the syringe
• Luer Lock Tip: The most commonly used type of tip, it's small and lets the needle securely and quickly attach to the syringe

The barrel is the next part of the syringe. You'll find volume markings on the barrel that'll help you measure the right amount of liquid you need. The size of the barrel can vary from very large to slender.

The flange is at the base of the barrel. It's the part of the syringe that gives the user something to hold.

The final piece of a syringe is the plunger. It pushes into the barrel, forcing the liquid out of the tip. Now that we're familiar with what a syringe is and how it works, let's talk about needles.

How to Select the Right Syringe Needle

Needles are very simple in design. They have a sharp point, a hollow centre, and finally, a hub, that affixes them to the syringe. The needle's shaft comes in different lengths that get measured in inches.

Gauge sizes measure the diameter or thickness of a needle. The tip of the needle is typically bevelled. This allows for easier puncturing.

Selecting the right needle is important. Let's talk about our top five tips on how to pick the right syringe needle.

1. Select the Right Gauge

Selecting the right gauge depends on skin thickness and the depth of the injections. The smaller the gauge number, the larger the width or diameter. In contrast, the higher the number, the thinner the width.

Needles that have a larger diameter also have thicker walls. As a result, they'll be more durable and stronger. They support the penetration of denser skin and more viscous liquids.

A smaller diameter needle (higher gauge) offers less pain for the person being injected. It's also a good option for medications with a low viscosity. Typically the most common gauges used are 26 and 27.

If you're looking for piercing needles, you'll likely need 20G or 18G.

2. Choose the Correct Length

When selecting the length of the needle, the length you go with depends on the individual's size. An adult will need a longer needle than a child. You'll also have to consider where you'll be inserting the needle.

Some medications can be absorbed directly under the skin. Others will have to be injected into a person's muscle.

Intramuscular injections get injected into the muscle. It's deeper than the subcutaneous layer of skin.

You'll need to use a longer and thicker needle for this type of injection. Explore needles that are an inch or slightly longer. 23 to 25 G is the gauge you're looking for.

Another thing to consider is how much body fat your needle will have to pass through. A thinner person could use a needle that's an inch long. Someone that's heavier might need a needle that's slightly longer.

Subcutaneous injections are injected into the fatty tissue located below the skin. They're shallow shots, so you need a short and small needle. Usually, a 27 to 30 G needle that's around 1/2" long will suffice.

3. Measure the Skinfold's Thickness

One thing you'll want to do is measure your skinfold. Choose an area on your thigh, arm, or abdomen. You'll typically want to go with the area you'll be most often injecting.

Squeeze the skinfold with your forefinger and thumb. Pull the skinfold away from the muscles but ensure you're not just pulling your skin.

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Measure the tissue that's between your forefinger and thumb. An ordinary ruler will work for this.

If you're doing subcutaneous injections, the size of your needle should be 1/3" of the thickness of the tissue. For intramuscular injections, the needle should be 2/3" of the thickness of your tissue. Finding out this measurement will give you more information when selecting the length of your needle.

4. Evaluate the Needle Bevel

The slanted surface of the needle, the bevel creates the tip. It helps the medications or fluid get injected into the skin. Bevels are often described as being short, medium, or long.

The purpose of a well-designed bevel is to allow the needle to penetrate the skin far easier. The person administering the injection will also have to apply less force.

The bevel isn't vital to an injection's success but it is important. The bevel should always be facing toward the bone during an injection. This helps reduce trauma and decrease a person's discomfort.

5. Consider What the Needle Is Being Used For

As we talked about earlier, the type of needle you use depends a lot on what it's injecting. If you're using the needle to inject Botox, you'll want an incredibly thin needle.

The most common gauge used for Botox injections is 30. However, an even smaller needle that's 32 G has been used as a way to reduce the amount of pain caused by Botox injections. 32 G is two times as thin as a 30 G one.

If you have diabetes and have been experiencing pain from an insulin pen injector, you can eliminate that issue by changing your needle size. Thin and short needles can deliver insulin just as effectively as ones that are thicker and longer.

Medications, like insulin, are effective when they're injected into the fatty tissue just below the skin. Having a long needle isn't necessary. If you do inject insulin into your muscles, it'll be used up much more quickly and potentially cause bruising.

Typically, needles for insulin pens are 29 to 32 G and 4mm to 12mm in length. Since the skin is around 1.6mm thick, a 4mm needle is long enough to penetrate the skin.

Determining the viscosity of whatever medication or fluid you're injected as well will also play a part in effectively choosing the right gauge of the needle. There are many factors to consider. You want to choose the right one that causes as little pain and discomfort as possible.

Trust in UKMEDI for Your Needle and Syringe Needs

It can be confusing trying to figure out what type of syringe needle you need. Educating yourself on both syringes and needles will give you the information you need to make an informed decision. If you have any questions, our team of caring staff is available to help you make the right selection.

Needle/Syringe Selection & Usage

Needles and syringes can be a high safety risk if handled improperly. Understanding the proper use, safe practices, disposal, and various needle and syringe options available to lab personnel are important to minimize the exposure to harmful hazardous chemicals in research laboratories. Avoid using needles if safe and effective alternatives are available.

• Needle and Syringe Options
• Syringe Fittings
• Selecting the Appropriate Needle
• Needle and Syringe Safe Practices
• Additional Safety Measures

For detailed information on needle and cannula selection, use, and safety, including illustrated instructions on air-free and pyrophoric handling techniques, see Safe Handling of Cannulas and Needles in Chemistry Laboratories.

Needle and Syringe Options

Types of Syringes

Disposable

Polyethylene barrel with a rubber-tipped plunger (usually black rubber)

• Pre-lubricated with silicone oil; may contaminate samples.
• Satisfactory for aqueous solutions.
  • Very reliable seal
  • Often used for medical practices
• NOT RECOMMENDED for organic solvents which often dissolve the oil and swell the rubber, causing the plunger to jam.

All polyethylene (NormJect®)

• Compatible with almost all chemicals.
• Lubricant-free; does not contaminate samples.
• Recommended for organic solvents.
• May swell if exposed to certain solvents (e.g., hexanes)

Reusable

Glass Syringes

Glass bodied syringes are available in two basic types. The first type mates a glass barrel with an accurately ground bore with a similarly accurately ground solid non-compliant plunger, which may be made from glass or stainless steel. In this type of syringe, there is no seal between the barrel and the plunger, rather liquid or gas escape is prevented merely by the barrel and plunger fitting together with extremely small clearance. The second type of glass syringe uses a barrel with a polished interior and a plunger with a compliant head (PTFE) which fits tightly by virtue of its elasticity.

• Stainless steel and glass plunger (liquid tight)
  • Ideal for organic or aqueous samples that do NOT precipitate, crystalize, or react with glass.
    • Do NOT use for strongly basic solutions (e.g. NaOH).
    • Do NOT clean in a base bath.
    • Stainless steel plungers should not be used for liquids that corrode stainless steel (e.g. HCl, Bromine solution).
  • Unsuitable for very viscous liquids which may cause unusably stiff plunger movement
  • Very sensitive to being jammed by dried deposits&#;requires diligent cleaning
  • Plungers and syringes are accurately ground to fit each other.
    • Plungers are not interchangeable. Attempting to swamp plungers between syringes may result in jamming or leakage.
    • Plungers cannot be replaced if lost or damaged.
  • These types of syringes should NEVER be used with pyrophoric liquids for the following reasons:
    • The plunger has no restraint or detent to prevent it from being pulled completely out.
    • Liquid can be pulled by capillary action between the plunger and the barrel.
    • Most pyrophoric liquids easily generate deposits which will jam the syringe.
• PTFE plunger (liquid and gastight)
  • Metal or glass plunger with tight fighting PTFE piston on the end.
  • Compatible with most liquids.
  • Plungers are interchangeable and can be replaced.
  • Disadvantage is that plunger movement may be very stiff, especially for larger sizes (&#;10 ml).

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Syringe Fittings

Most syringes and needles fit together using the Luer system, which consists of a standardized male taper on the syringe and a corresponding female taper on the needle. Although most commonly used on syringes and needles, these fittings are also available on cannulas, valves, and other accessories.

Luer Slip

• No locking mechanism.
• Quicker to fit (simple insert of needle into the syringe).
• Needles should be tightly pushed on with a twisting motion to ensure a secure fit.
• Relies on friction to keep needle in place.
  • Oil or grease on the Luer tip may prevent the needle from staying in place.
• When used with a syringe filter under high pressure, extra care must be taken as the Luer joint may burst apart.
• Should not be used for extreme hazard materials such as pyrophorics.

Luer Lock

• An external screw thread engages with lugs on the needle to positively lock it in position.
• Provides greater resistance to needle detachment and higher safety.
• Suitable for use with pyrophoric materials.
• Recommended for use with syringe filters to reduce risk of joint bursting apart under pressure.

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Selecting the Appropriate Needle

Hypodermic

Length

• The needle should be long enough to reach the liquid comfortably.If the needle is too short, this encourages the vessel to be awkwardly tipped, which may cause spillage.
• A long thin needle:
  • Can cause excessive resistance to liquid flow, especially for viscous liquids.
  • Increases the risk of accidentally pulling the plunger out of the barrel when withdrawing liquid.
  • May fall off due to excessive pressure or cause liquid to leak between barrel and plunger.
• Avoid unnecessarily long needles as they are awkward to handle and buckle if thin.

Diameter
The external diameter of the needle is sized according to a standardized system of gauges. Smaller gauge numbers correspond to a larger diameter. The largest common diameter is 14 gauge. For short needles (&#; 2 in.), 16, 18, and 20 gauge are useful for general lab activities such as injecting liquids through septa. The thinnest needles for general use are around 24 gauge, although thinner needles are also available. Consider the following when selecting a needle diameter for an application:

• Appropriate gauge size depends on viscosity and hazard of the liquid.
• Thin needles can be hard to handle.
  • A thin needle can easily bend or break when piercing a rubber septum. This can cause an increased risk of materials aerosolizing and leaking.
  • Increased dead volume with smaller gauge size may cause difficulty when priming the syringe.
  • Viscous samples may be difficult to extract.
  • Slower withdrawal rates may be necessary to prevent over pressurizing of the syringe.
• A wide needle may cause damage to a rubber septum resulting in a clogged or defective needle.

Cannulas

A hollow, double ended needle.

• Used to safely transfer gases or liquids between two vessels.
• One end may be blunt while the other end pointed or both ends may be pointed.
• Material is usually stainless steel but PTFE is available for special purposes.
• Designed for transferring and handling of air-sensitive materials between reaction vessels.
• Various bore sizes and lengths are available depending on usage.

Safer Needle Devices

The most basic way to increase needle safety and avoid needlestick injuries is to use blunt ended needles whenever possible. Blunt-ended needles are not suitable for injecting liquid through rubber septa but they have numerous other uses including measuring liquid, transferring liquid between vessels, and applying adhesives.

Various kinds of safety needles are available as an engineering safety device to reduce the risk of needlestick injuries. They all work on the principal that after using the syringe and needle, the sharp point is protected either by some kind of cover or by the needle retracting into the syringe. Safety needles are a safe alternative to recapping of needles, which is normally prohibited as a hazardous activity. Safety needles are of particular utility in health care settings or when working with animals.

Examples of Safety Needles

• Blunt-Fill: A substitute for conventional needles.
• Self-sheathing : A shield that slides over the needle and locks in place.
• Retractable: Needle retracts into the syringe.
• Add-on Device: Hinged or sliding shield attached to needle.
• Eclipse Needles: An attached single-handed safety mechanism that locks over the needle.

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Needle and Syringe Safe Practices

1. Carefully assemble needle and syringe. NOTE: Use a Luer lock syringe where appropriate.
2. Carefully remove the cap from the needle.
3. Keep hands and body away from the sharp end of the needle and not in the &#;line of fire.&#; Ensure both hands are behind the plane of the needle.
4. Extract the necessary volume by slowly pulling back the plunger. NOTE: Take extreme care not to withdraw the plunger too far if handling hazardous liquids (e.g., pyrophorics).
5. When dispensing liquid, avoid excessive pressure on the plunger which may cause the needle to pop off.
6. Dispose of the uncapped syringe and needle in the appropriate sharps waste container immediately following use.
7. DO NOT re-cap needle &#; see Figure 3 and the Syringe Needle Disposal Safety safety flyer. Use a safety needle. Consult with EH&S () for approval if recapping needle is absolutely necessary.
8. Syringes with a greater capacity than 10 ml shall NOT be used to handle pyrophorics.
   • Large syringes are awkward and require excessive force to operate.
   • It is extremely easy to accidentally pop out the plunger on a large syringe, causing burning pyrophoric liquid to spill onto the individual.
   • Larger volumes of pyrophoric liquids should be measured by cannulating the material in and out of a measuring cylinder under an inert atmosphere.

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Additional Safety Measures

• Keep needles away from fingers and other body parts.
• Unattended Needles and Storage &#; Needles and other sharps must not be left unattended. When not in use, sharps shall be stored in an appropriate secondary container &#; see Figure 4.
• Bleed needles can be kept safe by sticking them in a rubber/cork stopper (using one-handed technique) &#; see Figure 4.

• Syringe with attached needle can be placed upright in a plastic centrifuge tube in a rack, flask, or other suitable container &#; see Figure 5.
• Do not leave unprotected needles on any surface.
• Do not break or shear contaminated needles to avoid injuries and aerosol generation.
• Utilize locking syringe units, safety engineered sharps, or needless systems whenever possible.
• Never reuse disposable needles.
• Promptly report all needlestick injuries promptly to DPS @ (213) 740- UPC or (323) 442- HSC.

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Rubber Septa

• Withdrawing liquid when nitrogen backfill is not required (e.g., pharmaceuticals, NOT pyrophorics or other air sensitive materials)
  • Never have any body part in the direction of travel of the needle.
  • Both hands should be behind the tip of the needle and the container should not be handled until the needle is fully inserted. Racks, clamps, or other means may be used as a form of stabilization.
    • If it is necessary to invert the container to remove air bubbles, be extremely careful not to accidentally withdraw the needle from the septa.

• Withdrawing liquid when nitrogen backfill is required (e.g., pyrophorics)
  • Always clamp the container.
  • Ensure that an appropriate needle length is selected to be able to withdraw liquid and remove air bubbles from the syringe without moving the container.
  • The container may be angled slightly &#; see Figure 7.

Syringe Filters

• Syringe filters are easy to over-pressurize and may pop off or burst. Several laboratory incidents have occurred in which this has caused a splash to the face.
  • Syringe filters can easily fall off &#; see Figure 8. If the material is low in hazard, the syringe/filter can be gripped with a closed fist to help contain a splash in the event the filter detaches.
• Use Luer lock syringes to provide a more secure connection to the syringe filter.
• Parafilm or PTFE tape may be wrapped around the filter and syringe connection to secure the filter. This may not prevent filter detachment under excess pressure, but does reduce its likelihood and may prevent splashing &#; see Figure 8.

• If filtering particularly hazardous materials, it is recommended to utilize a significantly lowered fume hood sash as a splash guard (e.g., 12 inches and lower).
• If the filter becomes blocked, resist the temptation to apply excessive pressure.
• When using very small syringes (e.g., tuberculin style syringes), take extra care as it is very easy to over-pressurize a filter and have it burst or pop off the syringe. Remember: Pressure = force/area. The smaller the syringe diameter, the higher the pressure for a given force applied.

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