In this video I attempt to explain the culprit behind post injection pain and the lumps from Testosterone Enathate.
Manufacturing process: From what I've gathered from others who seem to have an idea of what's going on this is a known issue since the manufacturing of raw Test E which changed in China years back. Bad pip and knots/lumps. There is no way to avoid this unless you get raws or premade gear from a different country that does not use the same method as China.
The Gremlin: Apparently the culprit is the use of phenol/carbolic acid during the manufacturing process which may have changed sometime around 2017. I'm not a chemist so I cannot verify this but feel free share any knowledge you have.
Pain mitigation: Some say warming up the oil before pinning can make a small difference, it has helped me a little. The assumption is the compound is crystallizing making the issue even worse and/or injecting cold oil doesn't help either. It hurts every time, sometimes more sometimes less.
Z pinning method has helped me a little. Pull/stretch the skin over to the side then perform the injection. After removing the needle let go of your skin the oil won't leak as much between the muscle and the fat. If you experience leakage it will feel like the pip is moving down from the injection location, it is not pleasurable by any means. Applying ice to the area may help alleviate pain.
Pip localized at injection location. I've heard applying a heating pad to the injection location might help mitigate the pain. I've heard massaging the injection location might help relieve the pain.
Pin size: Needle size is irrelevant for the main issue at hand. For my needs 1 1/2 inch pins are too long of a needle and causes me more pain than 1 inch not because of the injection but because of the needle size. 30 gauge, 25 gauge, 23 gauge, still knots. Pushing the oil in very slow, still lumps. Quad, glute, ventroglute, delt, pain.
Carrier oils, solvents, and dosage: For me different carrier oils makes zero difference and the same for UGL or homebrew, knots lumps and pain for 7-14 days. Lower concentration, lower BB lower BA, it still causes pain. 1.5ml 1ml .5ml it doesn't matter.
Possible solution: It has been said homebrewing Test E at 110c for 20-25 minutes should allow the phenol/carbolic acid to evaporate. I have yet to hear anybody claim 100% success. This is what I already do so I couldn't imagine it being much worse if this is curtailing most of the issue. People may be overheating and damaging their final product.
Final thoughts: I've heard people trying other esters and having little to no pip. I've heard of other compounds with the enathate esther causing the same pip issue.
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