One of the main reasons many athletes are afraid to use injectable anabolic drugs such as testosterone is the painfulness of the process. They fear the pain that comes with intramuscular injections, as well as post injection discomfort (PIP). However, there is a way to make the injections almost painless. If you've done peptide injections before, you know that subcutaneous injections are painless when done correctly.
Similarly, anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS) can also be injected subcutaneously, but require certain rules to be followed.
Intramuscular injections allow for the injection of a larger volume of oil that contains the steroid. For example, 1 ml or even more of oil can easily be injected into the buttocks, but this amount cannot be injected subcutaneously.
However, if you inject a large amount of oil subcutaneously, you will see a noticeable bulging sac on your abdomen, which is not only unaesthetic (especially if you have a thin build), but also uncomfortable and can cause pain.
Subcutaneous injections of AAS take longer to be absorbed by the body compared to intramuscular injections. Therefore, it may take a few days for the oil sac to shrink after the injection and form a new one before the next injection.
The solution is to inject smaller amounts of AAS, but to do so more frequently and in different parts of the lower abdomen.
For example, instead of injecting 250 mg of AAS intramuscularly every 5 days, you can inject 50 mg subcutaneously daily or 100 mg every other day. It is important not to exceed 0.5 mL per subcutaneous injection.
Another reason to use a smaller amount of the drug per injection is that the insulin needles used for subcutaneous injections are very thin. This means that the oil slowly penetrates through the needle, and you will need patience during the injection. You need to insert the needle into your belly fat and wait up to 30 seconds for the oil to pass through the needle and into your body.
You should also consider that the absorption time of a subcutaneously injected drug is slow. This means that the time it takes for the drug to begin to take effect, accumulate in the body, and show its effects is longer.
Overall, intramuscular injections remain preferable and convenient, but using subcutaneous injections can help overcome the fear of injections, especially if you are only using testosterone.