Adults who dread needles can also request topical anesthesia to reduce pain, and those with serious needle phobia may find that cognitive behavioral therapy can offer useful strategies, so that they can help their children get that annual flu shot-or come in for their own.Īnd that, of course, is the whole point: making it easier to do the thing that keeps you safe, said Dr. You can trace the development of needle fear as children grow up about a quarter of adults continue to fear needles, she said.
“Do your best not to make it a big event,” Dr. It’s kind of amazing to see, in the clinic, how children vary in their approach to needles.Įven by the age of 5, there are kids who are proud to show you that it’s no big deal, or interested to watch the needle go in - and of course, there are kids who are terrified, crying so hard before they get the shot or the blood draw that it’s hard to believe the actual needle makes any difference at all.Ĭhildren who remember extreme distress will be much more frightened the next time around. “Getting immunizations doesn’t absolutely have to lead to a lot of distress and pain.” “Immunizations are necessary, but the pain is not always necessary as a side effect,” Dr. “The idea is to tell kids with words what’s going to be involved in the procedure - a pinch, pressure on your arm, then it goes away - this bothers some kids, doesn’t bother other kids, we’re going to try to find a way to help you so it doesn’t bother you.”Īnd then, she said, parents can bring along the iPad or the iPod or whatever is most likely to distract.īut it’s also the clinic’s job to build in distraction techniques, and to build in those other strategies for minimizing the pain of getting shots. “Everybody’s anxious when they don’t know what is going to happen to them,” Dr. On the other hand, parents should help prepare children beforehand, so they know what’s going to happen, and know that they have some strategies for coping. “A lot of parents spend a lot of time on, it won’t hurt too much, it’ll be O.K.,” Dr. “Encourage children to deep breathe, count backward from 10,” Dr.
Parents should instead concentrate on helping with distraction. There’s some evidence suggesting that more extensive parental reassurance is actually correlated with more prolonged distress - though that doesn’t tell you whether more child distress prompts more parental reassurance, or whether more parental reassurance prolongs the distress. Cohen said, on how parental behaviors affect children’s distress. For example, in the past, doctors and nurses were sometimes taught to add an extra step - pull back on the syringe to make sure the needle hasn’t inadvertently landed in a blood vessel that’s no longer recommended. And modifications in immunization technique can reduce the pain.
#Painful shots skin
Parents can ask the pediatrician in advance for topical anesthetics that can be applied to the skin before the shot is given. Turns out, there’s a lot of research on what makes immunizations less painful - and what helps children handle them without too much distress. But others will burst into tears at the thought. On hearing this news, some children will shrug and roll up their sleeves. For the first time since FluMist was introduced 13 years ago, everyone is supposed to get the shot. That’s because a federal health committee decided that nasal flu vaccine (the brand name is FluMist) should no longer be used because it has been less effective in protecting people the past couple of flu seasons. This flu season, many children who were expecting drops in their nostrils are going to get needles in their arms instead.