If testosterone is part of your plan, there's a good chance it's a weekly or twice-weekly intramuscular injection you'll do yourself at home. That sounds like a bigger deal than it is once you've done it a few times — but the first time, nobody should be handing you a syringe and a PDF and calling it a day. We do a live teach-back on your first injection: you draw it up and give it while we watch, over video, and correct anything before it becomes a habit. This page is here so that session isn't the first time you're seeing any of this.
What you'll need
- Your testosterone vial, at room temperature
- A drawing needle (usually 18–20 gauge) and a separate injecting needle (usually 22–25 gauge, 1–1.5")
- A syringe sized for your dose
- Alcohol swabs — at least three
- Gauze or a cotton ball
- A sharps container (an empty laundry detergent bottle works if you don't have one yet — we'll get you a real one)
Two needles matters more than it sounds like it should: the one that punctures the rubber vial stopper dulls slightly doing that, and a dull needle makes the injection itself hurt more than it needs to. Draw with one, inject with a fresh one.
Where it goes
Most guys self-inject into the vastus lateralis — the outer thigh muscle. It's easy to reach one-handed, has enough muscle mass to take the volume, and doesn't require a mirror or a second person the way the glute does. Find it by mentally dividing your thigh into thirds, top to bottom, and aiming for the outer-middle third. Some patients prefer the deltoid (upper arm) or have a partner do glute injections instead — we'll figure out what fits you during your visit.
The process, step by step
- Wash your hands. Soap and water, twenty seconds, before you touch anything.
- Set up a clean surface. Lay out your supplies somewhere disinfected and well-lit.
- Swab the vial top. Wipe the rubber stopper with alcohol and let it air dry — don't blow on it or wipe it off.
- Draw up your dose. Pull air into the syringe equal to your dose, inject that air into the vial, invert it, and draw up slightly more than you need. Tap out any air bubbles and push the excess back into the vial so your dose is exact.
- Switch needles. Cap the loaded syringe, remove the drawing needle, and attach your injecting needle.
- Prep the injection site. Swab the skin in a circular motion, center outward, and let it air dry completely — alcohol that's still wet stings going in.
- Inject. Insert the needle at a 90-degree angle in one smooth motion, most of the way in. Aspirate briefly (pull back slightly on the plunger) to make sure you're not in a blood vessel, then inject slowly and steadily.
- Withdraw and press. Pull the needle out at the same angle it went in, then press gauze to the site for a few seconds. Don't rub it — testosterone is oil-based and rubbing can push it into surrounding tissue and irritate it.
- Dispose properly. Needle straight into the sharps container, uncapped. Never recap a used needle by hand.
A few things people don't expect
Rotate sides each injection — same site every time leads to soreness and scar tissue buildup. A little bruising or a firm spot at the injection site is normal; spreading redness, warmth, fever, or a site that's still painful and swollen after a couple of days is not, and is worth a message to us. If you ever draw back and see blood in the syringe, don't inject — withdraw, discard that needle and syringe, and start over with a new site.
Why we still do the first one live
Reading this and doing it correctly under your own eyes for the first time are two different skill levels. Needle angle, how much to aspirate, how slowly to push the plunger — these are things we catch and correct in real time, not things a page can fully teach. That's standard practice for any new self-injection, not a Flintlock-specific hurdle. Everyone gets it, and everyone's glad they did.