Q: I am planning on doing a cycle here really soon. I’ve only done about 3 in my life and of those three, I had help with all of them—even down to the size of needle I would need. I’m on my own now, and don’t have the help anymore. Can you tell me what size needle I’d need for each drug?
A: Some AS require a certain size because of their composition and because of differences in viscosity of the liquid, so there is a definite protocol there for thickness. However, one must also consider how long the needle ought to be and that’s where some people end up injuring themselves. With a needle that is too narrow in size, and a steroid that is oil-based or has crystals, all that will happen is a failure to be able to pull the substance up into the syringe. However, if using a needle that is too long, and is injected into a muscle like the quad or calf, it can cause irreparable tissue damage because it travels too deep into the muscle. For the purposes of this column, I’ll assume you’re talking both length and diameter of needle here.
Site determines the length of needle you’ll want to use. If it’s in the hip, an often-fleshier area of the body, then the needle can be a little longer to accommodate piercing flesh, fat and muscle. Needle length will also have to be altered when your body fat is either lower or higher than normal. There is no need to push a 2-inch needle into your hip if you are hovering around 6% body fat. Likewise, a one-inch needle will not penetrate that 40-pound post-contest weight gain either!
Mostly, a 1.5” or 1” needle will do the trick, but keep a few 2” points around for good measure if you have higher body fat or get bloated often. As for the barrel of the needle (how wide the hole is for liquid to pass through), you’ll want to keep it as small as possible to avoid injury, but keep a few sizes around that accommodate both oil based AS and crystal base AS. The drugs to which I’m referring in those two categories are true veterinary crystal-based Stanoxyl Depot (the human Winstrol from Europe is not crystal based) and oil based drugs such as in the testosterone family (excluding test suspension, which is not oil-based). Still, I don’t think there’s ever a cause to drop beneath an 18-gauge size. I prefer a 21-23 myself, but sometimes when you’re mixing substances in one 3cc syringe, it becomes difficult. Remember, you can also draw up into the syringe with one needle that’s a little bigger and screw on a smaller one if you are mixing.
Sometimes the mix of lighter viscosity AS will thin out the heavier viscosity additions and make it possible for you to use a smaller needle all around. But then again, it depends upon how paranoid you are about injections. Some people will only use a scant 25-gauge needle, and nothing bigger, and simply avoid the heavier drugs in order to stay with the smaller size.