GLP-1 injection sites: where to inject and how to rotate

The three label-approved sites

Everything below comes from the FDA prescribing information and instructions for use for Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Zepbound (checked 2026-08-18) — none of it replaces the instruction sheet that came with your pen.

Abdomen

The abdomen is the zone listed first on every label and the easiest to reach yourself. The one boundary the instructions draw is distance: stay at least 2 inches, about 5 cm, away from the navel. The labels also say not to inject into skin that is tender, bruised, red, or hard, or into scars and damaged skin — anywhere, not just here. That still leaves a wide band of usable skin on either side of the midline, which is why the abdomen anchors most rotation patterns.

Front of the thigh

The second option on all four labels is the front of the thigh. The instructions point to the front of the upper leg — the surface you can see and reach while sitting down, which makes it the easiest zone to use on yourself after the abdomen. Two thighs give a rotation pattern two ready-made spots per cycle, one left and one right, and the same rule applies here as everywhere: a different spot with each injection.

Back of the upper arm

The third zone is the back of the upper arm — the fleshy area on the back of the arm between shoulder and elbow. It is the one zone the instructions do not treat as self-injectable: all four instruction sheets say another person should give an upper-arm injection, and the Novo sheets put it in the site list as “only with help from someone else”. In practice the arm belongs to people who share injection day with a partner or caregiver, and it drops out of the rotation entirely for anyone injecting alone.

A rotation pattern that works

The labels say what to do — change the site with each injection — but leave the bookkeeping to you. A pattern that needs no notes if you inject alone: four spots on the abdomen (upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right, all clear of the 2-inch ring around the navel) plus both thighs. That’s six spots, and on a weekly product a full cycle runs about six weeks before any spot repeats. If someone else gives your injections, the two upper-arm spots extend the same cycle to eight and roughly two months.

To be clear about what that is: an organizational habit, not a medical instruction. The labels only require a different spot each time — an abdomen-only or thigh-only rotation satisfies them just as well, and your prescriber may prefer one. The eight-spot cycle simply gives each spot the longest possible rest without anything to memorize, and it runs on the same weekly rhythm as the dose dates from the titration date planner.

The weak point of any pattern is remembering where you are in it six weeks later. This page can’t help with that — nothing you tap on the map is stored, and the page won’t know your last site tomorrow. That part is what the GLP-1 shot tracker app is built for.

Rotation is also just one of several small logs that keep a GLP-1 routine running — what to track on GLP-1 covers the rest of them, and the pen storage timer handles the other pen question injection day raises: how long it’s been out of the fridge.

Rotating for one specific pen? The Ozempic shot log, Wegovy shot log, Mounjaro shot log, and Zepbound shot log pages walk through the full setup for that product — sites, dates, and storage together.

Two neighbours of this page cover the hardware rather than the map: GLP-1 pen needles explains which pens need a needle attached and which arrive with one built in, and sharps disposal covers where everything goes once the injection is done.

KeepAlong is an independent app and website. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly.