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Injection site reactions are a common side effect and this often mild. They often present as a slight redness or itchiness and are generally self-limiting. They can appear and disappear spontaneously throughout your treatment journey.
If you find yourself experiencing a reaction at the injection site, here are some practical tips to help manage this:
Cold compresses: Place a cold, moist towel on the injection site to relieve itching. If you would like to use an ice pack, make sure you put a thin cloth between the ice pack and your skin, and use for no more than 20 minutes at a time.
Avoid bath products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate and fragrance: Try gentle, soap-free and fragrance-free washes during your bath time routine.
Trial antihistamines: You may visit your local pharmacy and speak to your pharmacist to purchase an over-the-counter antihistamine to help with any redness or itchiness. Please follow pharmacist's instructions.
Use topical anti-itch cream: You may visit your local pharmacy and speak to your pharmacist to purchase an over-the-counter anti-itch cream to apply on the irritated site to soothe itching. Please follow pharmacist's instructions.
To help prevent irritation when injecting, please trial the following suggestions:
Icing the site: Apply an ice pack to the injection site about 15 minutes before you plan to administer your medication. Numbing the skin will temporarily reduce pain and serve as another distraction. This will also help reduce swelling post-injection.
Changing your injection site: If the reaction is occurring on your abdomen, try injecting in the thigh or vice versa.
Warming up injection: Try taking the medication out of the fridge 30 minutes before inject to allow it some time to warm up. Injecting cold medication may cause pain and stinging.
If you experience any tenderness, increase in size, swelling, fever or any form of discharge with your injection site please withhold further doses of your medication and reach out to our Medical Support team. You can easily message them here for guidance and support tailored to your needs. We would also appreciate it if you could attach a photo of the affected area for our Medical team to review.
In certain cases, experiencing fever, severe pain or swelling alongside other symptoms at the injection site may warrant immediate medical attention. Visit the emergency department or call emergency services at triple zero (000) if you experience blistering or oozing at the injection site, muscle aches, upset stomach (nausea), headache or dizziness, severe itching or a hives breakout, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat.