No one enjoys having injections, and while this is a common occurrence for those with diabetes, that does not make it any more bearable. What does make injections more tolerable, though, is the combination of insulin pens and a new accessory you may know about called TickleFLEX.
When compared to the standard syringe and vial method of administering insulin, insulin pens are a much more appealing option because of their convenience, portability, and ease of use. Additionally, insulin pens use a smaller needle, which equates to less pain for users.
While pain is reduced because of the smaller needle size, there is still a small amount of pain felt when injecting the pen. And for those with anxiety surrounding needles, the anticipation of the injection can cause their muscles to tense, making it more painful.
For anyone who administers insulin using a pen looking for a way to reduce pain, anxiety, and bruising associated with injections, TickleFLEX may be the solution.
What is TickleFLEX?
In a nutshell, TickleFLEX is an insulin injection aid that can fit on any insulin pen, providing a more comfortable, consistent, safer and worry-free process. It’s simple device that screws onto your pen device thus offering several benefits that you did not expect from a tiny gadget.
Reduces Pain
TickleFLEX contains soft, spiky fingers that press against the skin when injecting the needle. They then stimulate and saturate the local nerves, making it so you don’t feel the needle. This is a phenomenon called distraction analgesia, which is essentially a way to direct attention from one action (the needle) to another (TickleFLEX’s fingers).
Eases Anxiety
Do needles make you nervous? With TickleFLEX, your view of the needle is entirely blocked, so you don’t have to see it going into your skin. Additionally, TickleFLEX makes it so that you don’t feel it go into your skin either, helping to ease all sources of injection-based anxiety.
Removes Bruising
Bruising occurs when the needle goes too deep into the skin, but TickleFLEX helps with this. Its fingers pile up the subcutaneous tissue under the needle while also holding the pen steady and keeping it from going in too deep. The result is next to no bruising.
Reduces Needle Stick Injuries
TickleFLEX allows you to pinpoint the injection site due to its ability to keep the needle from slipping. This helps to prevent needle stick injuries while also making you more confident when administering insulin.
Who Is TickleFLEX Best For?
TickleFLEX is a handy, universal fitting attachment that can benefit a range of people with diabetes. Whether you bruise easily, hate needles, experience a lot of pain, or get shaky when trying to inject yourself, TickleFLEX offers a solution to make each injection easier.
TickleFLEX is also especially appealing for children with diabetes, especially those who are younger and are afraid of needles or cannot withstand the pain of the injection. To make the process of administering insulin easier, parents can use TickleFLEX to help ease their child’s pain and anxiety while still ensuring they get the insulin their body needs to function.
For example, Chloe is a 6 year old girl with Type1 diabetes who routinely takes insulin with a pen. Her injections used to hurt, but now with the help of TickleFLEX she takes her insulin with just a tickle.
Here is another great example. Jasmine is a young girl who battles diabetes. As part of her diabetes management she has to inject insulin on a regular basis because her body depends on it, she has no other choice. Injecting regularly with a needle gives her bruising. That all changed when she found TickleFLEX. Jasmine has significantly less bruises since she started using TickleFlex.
If you use insulin pens to administer insulin for yourself or a child, don’t hesitate to try TickleFLEX and see how much of a difference it makes in the injection process.
Lastly, you can extend your injection sites and stabilize the pen when you combine your TickleFlex with Flextend.

Jessica is a medical writer with an unquenched thirst to discover something new. She believes that medical content should be accessible to everyone and strives to write content that every single person can understand. When Jessica isn’t writing, she can usually be found reading a book with a dog cuddled in her lap.