How to Inject Your TRT

Your medication has arrived, and it's time for your first injection. Feeling a bit nervous is completely normal. Almost everyone is before their first one. The honest truth is that it looks harder than it is, and once you've done it once you'll wonder what the worry was about.

This is your simple step-by-step guide, written and checked by our Australian doctors. Take your time, follow each step, and you'll be fine. Your prescription tells you the parts that are specific to you, like your dose and your needle. And if you're ever unsure, your care team is one message away.

Get set up

A few things before you start:

• Wash your hands with soap and water, and dry them.
• Lay everything out: your vial, a syringe and needle in the sizes your prescription lists, a couple of alcohol wipes, gauze, and your sharps container with the lid open and within reach.
• Know your spot. Your TRT injection goes into muscle — usually the side of the shoulder, just like in the video above. Your prescriber will confirm your spot. Use a different spot each time so the same site isn't injected twice in a row.

Draw the dose

Wipe the vial top with an alcohol pad. Pull air into the syringe equal to your dose, then inject the air into the vial — this prevents a vacuum.

Invert the vial and slowly draw your prescribed dose. Tap to release any air bubbles, then push them back into the vial before disconnecting.

Prep the site

Wipe the injection site in a single outward circular motion with a fresh alcohol pad. Let it air-dry for 10–15 seconds — injecting wet pads will sting.

Inject

Insert the needle straight in at 90°. Push the plunger slowly and steadily, around 10 seconds per mL.

Keep the needle in for a few seconds after the dose is delivered to stop backflow.

Withdraw and dispose

Remove the needle at the same angle, press gauze over the site for 30 seconds. Drop the entire syringe and needle straight into the sharps container — do not recap.

A good habit: keep a simple notebook and jot down the date, dose and spot. It makes rotating sites easy and gives you a clear picture of what's next.

Where to get your supplies

We don't sell injection supplies. You'll need three things, all available from pharmacies and Australian medical suppliers:

• Insulin syringes
• Alcohol wipes
• A sharps container

Used needles never go in the household bin — return your full sharps container to a pharmacy or council collection point.

Key takeaways

• Wash your hands and lay everything out before you start, with the sharps container open and within reach.
• Your prescription is the source of truth for your dose, needle, angle, and injection site.
• Inject air into the vial first, then draw your dose slowly and clear any bubbles.
• Let the alcohol dry before injecting, and push the plunger slowly — about 10 seconds per mL.
• Used needles go straight into the sharps container, never recapped, never in the bin. A notebook log of date, dose and spot makes rotating sites easy.

Message the care team if: redness is spreading, there's a hot or painful lump, swelling, a fever within two days, or you think you've used the wrong dose or vial. Get in touch before your next injection rather than pushing on. And if you ever just want a hand or some reassurance, we're genuinely happy to talk you through it. The first one is the hardest part, and you've got everything you need to do it well. You've got this.