Recently we have gotten a lot of questions about needle safety, not the clinical aspect of needling but the actual needle itself. There has been discussion about silicone that is on the needle causing health issues so I contacted Mike Bailey from Lhasa one of the major distributors of needles for his take, this is what he said:

Here is the quick and easy explanation:

Seirin has about 2mm of silicone on the tip. This aids in the smooth insertion and helps avoid damage to skin at the insertion point. The silicone used on Seirin specifically is a medical grade silicone made in the US. It’s not water soluble and can not be left behind in the body. It’s NOT the same silicone that was used in breast implants for instance. To really drive this fact home I’ll put it in perspective for you - every medical needle used in hospitals, for injections, for syringes, etc. (including insulin syringes) are all fully coated in silicone. Many times they have up to 16,000x more silicone than what’s on a Seirin. If you consider the volume of those needles used in this country paired with the fact there has never been a case where this has caused any adverse reaction, it’s quite easy to prove that it’s safe (and effective). I’ve worked in the needle industry for 20 years and I have honestly never heard any negative reaction from silicone.

The most common issue with needles is a nickel allergy. Every needle made from surgical stainless steel has nickel in it. For some people this can cause a red, itchy bump at insertion or more severe based on their allergy. Seirin and DBC have some of the lowest nickel content of all needle manufacturers.