I've read that this is a common side effect of this med Sandra - one of the reasons I chose to go with Avonex --these meds for MS have such nasty side effects -- wish they could find something better for us -- keep after the drug company about it -- I've heard that some people use ice over the area before or after the injection too to help decrease the side effects.

Hi all... I realize that we all give different advice on what to do both before and after injecting.. the information I shared was from a BetaPlus Nurse.. and may have been specific to Betaseron... I have been on Beta for almost 4 years and so far so good, but if anyone has been told not to rub, then please do as you have been told by your health care professional.. or contact the nurse support that is available to most of the meds that we are prescribed...

hello.. i am on betaseron since dec 2010.. not many side effects i am happy to say ..take 2 aleve prior to injecting and i use a warm cloth on the area before injecting and a cool cloth after .. i gently massage the area to make sure the meds go in .. the next day i used to rub with bacitracin to make sure there is no possibility of infection and if the area turns into a raised bump or hemotoma I go for a deep tissue massage and that has helped .. i am thankful this has happened just a handful of times. so far so good...for the red spots i rub with cocoa butter and they go away within a week or so.. just in time for the next rotation of shots :-)

@Tracey/Sandra. . .I heard 1-2 min afterwards to rub/massage around the injection site to distribute the med. . .One time my injection site did become necrotic, it was in my 1st year of tx and I was glad it didnt get any bigger. . .my doc said I wasnt giving it deep enough. I have not had that problem since.

I'm on Rebif.

I have been having skin issues also and am also on Copaxone. Not as bad as your skin issues but my skin is dry cold itchy and hypersensitive to anything touching my toes or feet. Burns and tingles and stings. Good luck. My pain doctor is going to have a compounding pharmacy crush up actual pain medications and make them into a cream for me so I will not have all the systemic responses to the pain medications.