Can someone else give me my IVF injections?

Yes. Partners are routinely taught to do it, and clinics will show you both at the same appointment.

What happens if I inject an hour late?

For stimulation drugs, an hour either way is not usually a problem — but call your clinic to confirm rather than guessing, and never guess with the trigger shot.

Injections and medication

Do IVF injections hurt?

6 min read · updated September 2026

Short answer:Most IVF injections are given with a very fine subcutaneous needle into the fat of the stomach and feel like a brief sting rather than pain. The medication going in can burn slightly, and bruising is common by the end of a cycle. The trigger injection and any intramuscular progesterone are the two that people find noticeably more uncomfortable.

This is the question almost everyone asks first, usually while looking at a fridge full of boxes and wondering what they have agreed to. The honest answer is that the injections are the least bad part of IVF, and that the first one is the worst because you have never done it before.

What each type feels like

Stimulation injections (Gonal-F, Menopur, Bemfola, Fostimon)

Subcutaneous, into a pinch of stomach fat, with a needle around 4–6mm. The skin prick is minor. Menopur is the one people mention — it stings as it goes in, and going slowly helps more than anything else.

Antagonist injections (Cetrotide, Orgalutran, Fyremadel)

Similar needle, generally easier, though Cetrotide can leave a small itchy red welt for an hour or two. That is a local reaction, not a problem.

The trigger

Often a slightly larger volume, sometimes intramuscular into the buttock or thigh. It aches more, and the timing matters far more than the comfort — take it at the exact minute your clinic specifies.

Progesterone in oil

Only used in some protocols, and the one genuinely uncomfortable injection: a longer needle, into muscle, often daily for weeks. Warming the vial in your hands, injecting slowly and walking afterwards all reduce the ache.

Things that actually help

Take the medication out of the fridge 20–30 minutes early. Cold fluid stings more.
Ice the spot for a minute beforehand, or press firmly with your thumb for ten seconds.
Inject slowly. Speed causes the burn, not the needle.
Rotate sides each night — left, right, left — and stay two inches away from your navel.
Push the plunger fully, count to five, then withdraw. It stops the drug tracking back up the needle path.
Do it at the same time every evening. Routine beats willpower.

Bruising, small lumps and tenderness across the lower stomach by day eight are normal and not a sign you are doing it wrong. Ring the clinic for spreading redness, heat, or a fever — those are different.

If you are needle-phobic

Say so at your consent appointment rather than hoping it resolves. Clinics deal with this constantly and have real options: pen devices with hidden needles instead of vials and syringes, a nurse-led demonstration and a practice run with saline, and — where the protocol allows — a partner or district nurse giving the injections instead of you.

One more thing worth knowing: the dread is worse than the doing, and it fades fast. By the middle of the second week most people are giving their injection while half-watching television. That is not stoicism. It is just how quickly this stops feeling like a medical event.