A potential complication of any injection is always an infection. The nature of taking something that is outside your own body and puncturing the protective layer that separates bacteria-resistant from bacteria-flourishing environments is a prospect few can understand until they actually take the plunge - with the needle that is.
For those who inject their bodies with AS 1-3 times per week, infection is lurking at all times. That's why it's imperative to create as sterile an environment as possible. Strict sanitary and sterile conditions help you avoid the transference of infectious organisms/ foreign particles into the body. Protocol of injection, in terms of cleanliness and sterility, is everything.
Types of Infections
There are two main types of infections possible from injections: Cellulitis and Abscess.
Cellulitis
Now you might think this means infection of the fatty tissue, but the word "cellulitis" actually means inflammation of the cells. It is an acute infection and spreading of that infection to the skin resulting in pain, edema and heat in the affected area. This type of infection can spread from skin to lymphatic system and is nothing to sneeze at! It can cause lymphangitis. Swollen glands are an earmark of cellulitis. The problem is cellulitis can be proliferated by many different types of bacteria. The most common - and most serious - is staphylococcus. Streptococcus is also a strain that can be present in cellulitis. Oral antibiotics are crucial to treating this - no way around it - and analgesics may be necessary to control pain (that's aspirin or an NSAID, such as ibuprofen). Recovery also includes elevating the affected area, if possible, to minimize swelling, and a good dose of ice, for a period of 7-10 days. If you let cellulitis go, you can end up in the hospital and face the prospect of removal of dying or dead tissue that cannot be saved by antibiotics. Once staphylococcus or streptococcus enters your blood stream and lymphatic system, you can become a very sick puppy! Don't take this lightly.
Abscess
Abscesses are more familiar - at least in term - to most bodybuilders because most have had one at least once at the site of an injection. An abscess is simply a localized collection of pus and fluid in any part of the body, that is caused by infection. They occur when an area of tissue has become infected, and are the body's way of sort of sequestering or walling off the infection to prevent spreading. A pustule forms, which is a combination of white blood cells that have rushed to the area, dead tissue, and bacteria or infection derived from foreign invasion. Most abscesses are septic (red, swollen, painful and caused by an infection) but some are sterile (caused by non-living irritants such as drugs). So when you inject a steroid and it stays in that injection pocket and does not absorb into the body, it can become a sterile abscess. These solid lumps often scar and remain. But a septic abscess can spread to other tissues and even enter the blood stream and cause blood poisoning (septicaemia) which can be life-threatening.
You must open and drain most abscesses. That's because, unlike most other infections, antibiotics alone won't take care of a well-developed abscess. On rare occasion an abscess will drain on its own, but generally it must be cut open by a doctor and drained. Packing material will then be placed in the void and remain in the cavity.
You can expect to be out of circulation, in both cases - cellulitis and abscess - for a period of 10 days to several weeks. Each involves a typical period of scar tissue formation, and may lead to residual muscle weakness.
Ways to Avoid Infection from Injection
Don't reuse needles from a past injection
Infection lurks on used needles, as does rotting blood and tissue
Needles are dull and can injure tissue and invite cellulitis
Don't inject one body part, plunge the needle and have a go at another in one session
Make sure you are using a sterile solution - contaminated product can cause infection
Counterfeit or dangerous drugs can invade something represented as AS and can cause blood and tissue infections
If someone is injecting you, make sure they know what they are doing
Don't stick a needle you've used into multi-dose vials - skin flora spreads infections
Don't share needles! Blood born diseases such as Hepatitis B or HIV can be transmitted via this practice.
Needles are cheap, keep a lot on hand to resist the temptation of sterilizing and reusing.
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