Swelling, Redness, Bruising And Soreness After Injecting Speed Into Arm. Applied Ice. Is It Infected Already?

Posted on Fri, 6 Jul 2012

Question: Hi, I injected speed/crack into my arm tonight, I'm guessing I missed but I didn't feel a sting but a few seconds after it started to swell, got really red all around, now slightly bruised and sore to touch, I have an icepack on it n the lump isnt as noticeable but still swollen in general area, iv heard about these symptoms being signs of abses's but would this relate to me as I got the symptoms within a few seconds of injecting, is it infected already? Any advice on Wat to do, also any doctor/home treatment on how to make it less noticeable :-(

Answered by Dr. Pavan Kumar Gupta (3 hours later)

Hello and thanks for the query.
Most likely you have developed a hematoma which is a collection of blood beneath the skin caused by accidental puncturing of the vein while injecting the drug.
It is not an abscess.
Just keep applying ice pack and nothing else.
This will resolve of it's own.
Before resolving it will leave behind purple blue stain which ultimately goes away in few days.
Nothing to worry.
I hope to have answered your query however you can revert to me for any further query
Thanks and best of luck.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar