How to do your Wegovy shot: video walkthrough and technique guide

Choosing where and when to inject

Before you pick up the pen, you have two practical choices to make: the injection site and the time of day. Wegovy can be injected into the abdomen (at least two inches from the navel), the outer thigh or the upper arm. All three sites are equally valid pharmacologically, so pick the one that is easiest for you to reach consistently, many people settle on the abdomen for everyday use and rotate between sections of it week to week. Injecting into the upper arm is harder to do solo; it is better suited to doses given by a carer or partner.

Time of day is flexible. Wegovy can be taken at any time, with or without food. What matters is picking a day of the week and roughly the same window within it, this is less about pharmacokinetics and more about habit. A note in your calendar or a phone reminder on, say, Sunday morning reduces the risk of a missed or double dose. If you need to shift your injection day, the practical advice on taking your Wegovy shot covers the minimum gap you should maintain and when to tell your prescriber.

Storage matters here too. Wegovy pens are kept refrigerated between 2°C and 8°C; for the exact room-temperature window allowed before use, always check your Patient Information Leaflet, the figures differ between pen formats and should not be guessed. Take the pen out a few minutes before injecting so it is not ice-cold against the skin.

The injection itself: what the video will show you that words alone cannot

A video walkthrough (such as the Wegovy injection video guide) is valuable precisely because certain steps are spatial. Watching someone pinch the skin correctly, position the pen at a 90-degree angle and hold it steady after the click gives you a reference that no written description fully replaces. Here is what to look for.

Clean the skin with an alcohol swab and let it dry fully, injecting into wet skin stings more. Pinch a fold of skin gently with your non-dominant hand; this lifts subcutaneous fat away from muscle. Place the pen flat against the skin at 90 degrees, press firmly to unlock the safety, then press the injection button. You will hear or feel a click. Hold the pen in place for a full ten seconds. This pause is the step most often skipped in a rush, and it matters: releasing early can mean part of the dose remains in the pen tip. Remove the pen in a straight line, then release the skin pinch.

The semaglutide injection technique video walks through this sequence in real time, which is often easier to follow than reading it, and our Wegovy use video is also worth watching before your first injection to build confidence with the pen. The NHS patient information for semaglutide also covers the correct injection method in detail, see the NHS guide to semaglutide for the clinical summary.

What to do after the shot, and when to ask for help

A question our prescribers hear most weeks is what a normal injection site looks like versus something worth reporting. A small red mark, mild itching or slight swelling at the site is common and usually settles within a day. Rotating sites consistently is the most effective way to prevent more persistent local reactions. Do not rub the site after injecting, it is not necessary and can irritate the skin.

The side effects most people notice in the early weeks are gastrointestinal: nausea, loose stools, indigestion or a feeling of fullness that arrives quickly at mealtimes. These tend to be most noticeable in the days after a dose and often settle as your body adjusts. Staying hydrated and eating smaller portions helps. For a thorough overview of what to expect, the Wegovy treatment guide covers the side-effect picture in detail.

Get medical help promptly (do not wait for your next scheduled review) if you experience severe stomach pain that spreads to your back, persistent vomiting that prevents you keeping fluids down, signs of an allergic reaction (swelling of the face or throat, difficulty breathing), or any symptoms that feel disproportionate. The MHRA's Yellow Card scheme lets you report any suspected side effect directly to the UK medicines regulator, and doing so helps improve safety data for everyone using these medicines.

Sharps disposal is not optional. Every used needle and pen must go into a proper sharps container; most local councils provide free collection. A sharps container keeps used pens safe until collection day. For a full step-by-step written companion to this page, the Wegovy injection step-by-step guide covers the process from pen removal from the fridge to safe disposal.

If you are ready to begin treatment or want to discuss your current injection technique with a prescriber, start your free consultation with our clinical team. Every case is reviewed by a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber, not automated software, and the same prescriber is available for aftercare seven days a week.