Common misconceptions among patients with diabetes regarding insulin injection site selection include:
The temptation of “painless injections”
Behavior: Repeatedly injecting at a spot where injections cause little or no pain.
Truth: This is a classic sign of lipohypertrophy! Hypertrophic fat tissue has fewer nerve endings, so pain is reduced. However, insulin absorption in this area is severely impaired.
The less pain you feel, the more cautious you should be.
The myth of “relying solely on touch”
Behavior: Judging the presence of lumps only by palpation, assuming no palpable hardening means no problem.
Truth: Some forms of lipohypertrophy are flat, with no obvious bumps visible to the eye or detectable by touch. They can only be diagnosed by ultrasound.
Lumps are not always palpable, and invisible hypertrophy is even more common.
Strict rotation is therefore essential.
The inertia of “fixed-site injection”
Behavior: Rotating only within a small, palm-sized area (such as the abdomen or thigh), despite knowing rotation is needed.
Problem: Too small a range equals no real rotation! Essentially, the same tissue is still being repeatedly stimulated, which cannot effectively prevent lipohypertrophy.
You must combine major rotation (changing regions) with minor rotation, and distribute injection points widely within large zones.
The danger of “turning a blind eye”
Behavior: Never inspecting injection sites after injections.
Risk: Early lipohypertrophy or hardening cannot be detected in a timely manner.
It is recommended that patients with diabetes actively ask medical staff to check for lipohypertrophy during regular hospital follow‑ups, at least once a year.
For those already diagnosed with lipohypertrophy, more frequent checks are advised.