Insulin Pen: Types, Advantages, Disadvantages & Cost

Insulin Pen: An insulin pen is used to inject insulin for the treatment of diabetes. Insulin delivery systems such as insulin pens can make giving insulin shots much easier. The pens include an insulin cartridge, a dial to measure dosage, and a disposable needle. You may need a different pen for each type of insulin you use.

Types of insulin pen

An insulin pen is several different brands and models and falls into two distinct categories-

• A reusable pen: this comprises a replaceable insulin cartridge. Once empty, the cartridge is discarded and a new one put in.
• A disposable pen: this comprises a prefilled insulin cartridge. Once adopted, the entire pen unit is thrown away.

Most brands of insulin are available for use in pens, these comprise:

• NovoMix, NovoRapid, and Levemir by Novo Nordisk
• Humulin and Humalog by Eli Lilly and Company
• Lantus and Apidra by Sanofi-Aventis

Advantages of Insulin Pens

• The most significant advantage of the Insulin pens is to carry them with you at all times as they are transportable, even school going kids who have diabetes can use the same and they do not have to miss their daily dosage when they are away.
• Easy to use, particularly for older adults and children.

• It is very important for a diabetic patient to take the right amount of Insulin dosage. Ability to accurately pre-set doses using a dial.
• Memory features to record when and how much the immediate dose was.
• Finally, small and thin needle sizes that reduce fear and pain, are considered to be painless and hence are preferred over the Insulin syringes.

Disadvantages of Insulin Pen

Although there are several advantages to insulin pens, there are also some disadvantages. These include:

• The Insulin pens are more expensive as compared to Insulin usage in the bottles as well as the syringes.
• Not all types of insulin can be used
• Sometimes, the use of Insulin pens can cause a lot of wastage of Insulin.
• Some insulin is wasted with each use.

Cost of Insulin Pen

A refillable insulin pen may cost around $8- $40