The lifestyle of individuals who use intravenous drugs makes them vulnerable to infection. People with an addiction repeatedly inject substances with immunosuppressive effects that are frequently in contaminated diluents. Immunologic defenses also are compromised by the simultaneous abuse of alcohol and tobacco and by personal neglect. The ongoing opioid crisis in the early iv drug use twenty-first century in the United States increased the risk for hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV as drug users share contaminated injection devices.

IV Drug Abuse Blown Vein

Keeping the area clean through washing at injection sites can help prevent abscesses from further damaging a person’s body. It can also happen if you have a substance abuse problem and use needles. In addition to the repeated needle insertion that can blow veins, the substance you inject can contribute to blown veins.

Intravenous (IV) Opioid Use: What You Need to Know

Complications such as development of an epidural or paravertebral soft tissue abscess can also be readily identified on MRI. The “imaging psoas sign”, high T2 signal within the psoas musculature, is also suggestive of drug addiction treatment discitis/osteomyelitis in suspected spinal infection 21. An important differential to consider are Modic type 1 changes which are presumed part of the spectrum of endplate signal abnormalities seen in degenerative disease 20. Modic type 1 changes are considered acute/subacute and also cause low T1 and high T2 endplate signal intensity.

• Medical follow-up for venous disease may be required if your condition has advanced to a severe or advanced stage.
• Skin-popping can be uncomfortable, and the bump you create may hurt a bit.
• The history of drug use is often not forthcoming, such is its illicit nature, creating further diagnostic difficulty.
• Don’t apply creams, salves or oils you use to treat your track marks or bruising until the injection wound has begun to close (a couple of hours after injecting) otherwise you might cause an infection.
• Even with new needles, a person can still get an infection if they don’t properly clean the injection site.

Preventive Care Recommendations

Depending on why you’re getting IV opioids, there may be alternatives your doctor can use. You may have concerns about opioid use disorder (OUD), but this is extremely unlikely from short-term IV opioid use. Keep reading to learn more about the benefits and risks of IV opioid use. There is no cure for AIDS, but there are manymedicationsthat can be used to slow the progression of the disease and provide relief from some symptoms. Using recreational IV drugs is dangerous and will certainly lead to serious health problems with continued use (or even a single use). If you or someone you know is using IV drugs, you want to be aware of these serious health concerns.

Clostridial infections

Some injectors like to do this several times, ostensibly to rinse out any drug solution that remains in the syringe. Because of all the blood involved, you might want to refrain from booting if you know you’re going to be cleaning your needle and syringe and allowing someone else to use it. Be sure to thoroughly flush your needle and syringe with water after booting if you plan to re-use it at a later time, so that blood doesn’t clog the needle. Hopefully, there are things in this manual that will be new and helpful even to those of us who have been injecting for a long time. However, reading about how to inject and actually doing it are two different things.

Intravenous Drug Use–Related Complications of the Hand and Upper Extremity

Vein damage from IV drug use can lead to chronic venous disorders (CVD). The places on the body people most commonly inject illicit drugs are the arms, hands, and feet. Research has shown that people injecting into their legs are more likely to develop venous ulcers. Some of the first signs and symptoms you will notice include swelling, stinging, bruising, and darkening of the skin around the area. Blown veins occur when a needle or intravenous line is inserted into the vein, but the vein is pricked and leaks. According to the World Health Organization or WHO, people who inject drugs are at increased risk of HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and viral hepatitis B and C (HBV and HCV), in addition to overdose.

IV drugs damage veins due to the nature of repeated injections, often in the same areas. This is further complicated and exacerbated by poor injection technique, infections, and irritation from chemicals. For example, opiates such as heroin can become physically addictive after only a few injections. Dependency is problematic because it causes withdrawal symptoms when usage is stopped, leading to difficulties in stopping IV drug addictions.

Habits for Proper Mental Health

Track marks are one sign of IV drug abuse, and there is no “safe” level of engaging with IV drugs like heroin, methamphetamines, fentanyl, and more. Bruising around the injection site is common and is a major physical sign of drug use. Small scabs, scarring, discoloration, redness, swelling, and more are all still common at these injection sites.

With stronger and more intense reactions, IV drugs can raise the risk for serious medical complications and overdoses. While overdosing and death are the most serious health problems related to IV drug use, there are numerous short- and long-term health complications. Some of those complications, like HIV, can spread and create public health problems. Cellulitis is a common bacterial skin infection that can result in red streaking of the skin, tenderness, inflammation and pain in the infected area. If cellulitis is left untreated, it can cause serious complications and health problems. The hepatitis virus can cause hepatitis A, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, the most serious of the hepatitis viruses.

Skin-popping speed can be very painful, may cause an abscess, and will take a long time for the body to absorb. If you get the shakes after doing a few shots, it may be helpful to have a friend inject you if you are not using alone. Because the quality of speed varies so dramatically, a tester shot is a good idea. As  important  as  preparing  your  drugs  as  cleanly as possible is injecting them as safely and as carefully as possible. Research has shown the number of Americans who reported using heroin in the last year has been increasing each year since 2007.

Can Shooting Up Cause Blood Clots?

Venous insufficiency has a known association with injection drug use. But it can also be caused, or influenced, by other behaviors and risk factors. Venous insufficiency from injection drug use can be identified by a number of symptoms — although this can vary somewhat based on comorbidities and your substance use history.