Saxenda journey videos: what the liraglutide science actually shows

What did @simplysmallscreations actually say?

The creator shared a personal injection tip: avoid injecting directly into stretch marks because, in their experience, it hurts more. They said, "if you have stretch marks, make sure that you don't put the needle right there in the stretch mark" and noted that injecting beside the stretch mark feels painless to them personally. They also showed their post-injection routine of recapping the pen and disposing of it in a sharps container, which is worth paying attention to on its own.

To be clear, this is anecdotal self-reported pain tolerance advice, not a medical protocol. The creator is not claiming clinical authority here, and they frame it explicitly as "a tip for me that I use." That framing matters when we evaluate what follows.

Does the science back this up?

There is real biological reasoning here, even if the creator did not articulate it in clinical terms. Stretch marks, known clinically as striae distensae, involve structural changes to the dermis including disrupted collagen and elastin fibers and altered nerve density, which could plausibly affect injection sensation.

Research on subcutaneous injection pain has largely focused on needle gauge, injection speed, and injection site temperature rather than skin texture or striae specifically. A 2019 review by Usach et al. in the Journal of Pain Research examined factors affecting subcutaneous injection pain and found that tissue composition at the injection site, including variations in skin thickness and subcutaneous fat depth, significantly influenced patient-reported pain scores. Stretch-marked skin has measurably different dermal architecture. Whether that translates to more pain during needle insertion is not directly proven in a randomized trial, but the mechanism is biologically plausible. The FDA-approved prescribing information for liraglutide (Saxenda) recommends rotating injection sites among the abdomen, thigh, and upper arm, but does not address stretch marks at all.

What did they get wrong (or right)?

They got the sharps disposal part right. Showing the pen going into a sharps container is responsible content and something a lot of injection tutorial videos skip entirely. Credit where it is due.

The stretch mark tip itself is neither wrong nor right in any evidence-based sense. It is an unverifiable personal observation. The problem is not that they are lying. The problem is that individual pain perception varies enormously, and what hurts one person may not hurt another. A 2021 study by Taddio et al. in Pain Reports confirmed that subcutaneous injection pain is highly subjective and influenced by anxiety, prior experience, and skin sensitivity, none of which are controlled for in a single person's anecdotal report.

What they did not address, and probably should have, is that injecting into fibrotic or scar tissue, which can be present with older stretch marks, may affect drug absorption. That is a more clinically relevant concern than pain alone, and it is absent from this video entirely.

What should you actually know?

If you are using Saxenda or any subcutaneous GLP-1 medication, the practical injection guidance that actually has clinical backing includes rotating sites to prevent lipohypertrophy, which is a buildup of fatty tissue that can impair drug absorption. A 2020 paper by Frid et al. in Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics found that injecting into lipohypertrophic tissue was associated with erratic insulin and subcutaneous medication absorption in a significant portion of patients studied.

The stretch mark avoidance tip may reduce discomfort for some people, and there is no reason to dismiss it outright. But it should not replace standard injection guidance from your prescribing clinician. Site rotation, injection depth appropriate for your body composition, and consistent sharps disposal are the evidence-supported practices that belong at the center of any injection routine.

• Always rotate injection sites across the recommended anatomical areas.
• Avoid injecting into areas with visible lipohypertrophy, which feels rubbery or lumpy under the skin.
• If stretch marks are extensive across your usual injection site, ask your prescriber or pharmacist about alternative locations.
• Pain during injection can signal poor technique, not just skin texture issues.