special subjects
Injection Drug Use
Diagnosis of Injection Drug Use
A doctor's evaluation Sometimes self-reporting Sometimes injection drug use is diagnosed when people go to a health care practitioner because they want help stopping use of the drug. Other people try to hide their drug use. Practitioners may suspect problems with drug use when they notice changes in mood or behavior in a person. They may then do a thorough physical examination. Signs of drug abuse may be apparent. For example, repeatedly injecting drugs intravenously produces track marks. Track marks are lines of tiny, dark dots (needle punctures) surrounded by an area of darkened or discolored skin. Injecting drugs under the skin causes circular scars or ulcers. People who inject drugs may claim other reasons for the marks, such as frequent blood donations, bug bites, or other injuries. Health care practitioners also use other methods (such as questionnaires) to identify abuse of some drugs and other substances and to determine the extent of drug use and its effects. Urine and sometimes blood tests may be done to check for the presence of drugs. If a drug use problem is identified, especially if the drugs are injected, people are thoroughly evaluated for Overview of Hepatitis , 