Needles

[LeonBrooke]

I'm afraid of needles. I hate them when they go into me, and I'm very afraid of having blood tests.

This, however, won't make me a bad nurse because I don't mind sticking them in other people.

What I want to know is, how widespread is this fear of needles? Is there anyone who will admit to it? And is it more common in men than women, as I have observed in my friends?

[Drew]

Hmm, it's a pretty widespread thing, I reckon.

However, I would hate it in specific places, where they take the blood from doesn't bother me...

[LeonBrooke]

One day we were practising blood-sugar level testing on each other, and I was so scared by the tiny needle going into my finger that I vasoconstricted right up and they couldn't get any blood out of me.

I would be able to tolerate needles in my hands and arms, but never in my thorax, abdomen or legs.

[Drew]

Anywhere near my wrist and you can get lost and my feet too :\

[LeonBrooke]

I have a pamphlet all about how to safely use IV drugs. It explains how to safely inject into the femoral vein in the groin when all of your other veins have collapsed. Horrific. :eek: I could never be an IV drug user.

[J4MIE]

One day we were practising blood-sugar level testing on each other, and I was so scared by the tiny needle going into my finger that I vasoconstricted right up and they couldn't get any blood out of me.

That isn't a needle :s You hardly feel it at all... I do that at least twice a day and inject myself four times a day. I hardly feel it and do it without thinking really.

[veeten]

J4MIE, you're one too, huh?(Diabetic)

It's true, you do get used to it after a while. The best way is to vary the areas when injecting, that way you don't get sore in one place.

btw, what mix do you use? Mine is 70/30. :)

[oily oaf]

Years ago when I was on the bodybuilding "juice" I purchased some ampules of an intramuscular drug (Dianabol if memory serves) which had to be injected into the buttock area with an intramuscular syringe the size of which would have had Red Rum cowering in his stable :(
When I first attempted to administer the gear I suffered from what golfers call "the yips" whereupon I would bring the needle down rapidly to the target area and then freeze just before entry.
Eventually I got mad and decided to grab the bull by the horns and go for it full tilt which resulted in me plunging "the works" right in to the hilt so that about 4" of needle went straight in to my pert young jacksie.
As Michael Jackson once remarked OOOOOOOOWWWWWWW.
I eventually mastered the technique however and was going great guns until I hit the sciatic nerve and spent 2 days crawling around on me hands and knees and getting Mrs Oaf to lift me on and off the chodbin when nature called :(
I did add an inch to my triceps though :D

[Ian McC]

I have a pamphlet all about how to safely use IV drugs. It explains how to safely inject into the femoral vein in the groin when all of your other veins have collapsed. Horrific. :eek: I could never be an IV drug user.


Ugh, thanks for that :s

[Donney]

I'm not afraid of needles, but my brother is, and one of my best friends is too. They come close to fainting when needles are around them.

[Knock-on]

I was in hospital for a couple of weeks having my leg put back together a couple of years ago and had more needles chucked in and out of me than you can shake a stick at. You just become immune to it and realise that after the first sharp prick, there is nothing to it.

However, it always made me smile when hearing everyone else comment to the nurses that "I don't like needles". I always wanted someone to say "That was fun, can we do it again?" :D

[LeonBrooke]

I'm not afraid of needles, but my brother is, and one of my best friends is too. They come close to fainting when needles are around them.

That's like me, except I retain consciousness. My blood pressure and heart rate shoot up, and I suffer, but I stay conscious.


That isn't a needle :s You hardly feel it at all... I do that at least twice a day and inject myself four times a day. I hardly feel it and do it without thinking really.

Precisely. But as a one-off in a practice session at university, I was on the verge of collapse.


However, it always made me smile when hearing everyone else comment to the nurses that "I don't like needles". I always wanted someone to say "That was fun, can we do it again?" :D

Well, I once had a nurse show me a huge scar on his hand from where he'd let someone practice venepuncture on him. A second later he offered to let me practice on him too :confused: . When I get to that part of my education I'll be looking for him :) .

[LeonBrooke]

Ugh, thanks for that :s

I have it purely in a professional capacity, of course... not for advice... ;)


I got it when I was on a placement with the methadone service, along with a great many other disturbing pamphlets.

[LeonBrooke]

Eventually I got mad and decided to grab the bull by the horns and go for it full tilt which resulted in me plunging "the works" right in to the hilt so that about 4" of needle went straight in to my pert young jacksie.
As Michael Jackson once remarked OOOOOOOOWWWWWWW.

eugh, OOOOOOOOWWWWWWW indeed... :eek: IM needles are only meant to go in by maybe two inches!

[BaldyMan]

I can't even watch them on TV programs when it's not even for real.
Nice to know I'm not the only one that don't like them!

[CarlMetro]

I could never be a heroin addict, I don't like needles at all, especially those huge things they have in dentists. For me the worst ones are those cannula thingies that hospitals stick in you for IV drips :eek:

[Dave B]

I've had so many injections and blood tests that I really don't care anymore.

The only time I've ever been remotely bothered was the first time I had to give myself a subcutaneous injection (in my ample tummy) - I stuck the needle in with no problems, but I couldn't bring myself to pull it back out!

[Knock-on]

The only time I've ever been remotely bothered was the first time I had to give myself a subcutaneous injection (in my ample tummy) - !

Bugger me!! Do they do needles that long :p :

[Caroline]

Needles don't bother me at all , but I get quite upset when I see how distressed kids get when they have to have them.

[BaldyMan]

The only time I've ever been remotely bothered was the first time I had to give myself a subcutaneous injection (in my ample tummy) - I stuck the needle in with no problems, but I couldn't bring myself to pull it back out!

Why does balloon spring to mind?
Must admit it would worry me as well!

[jso1985]

I have a pamphlet all about how to safely use IV drugs. It explains how to safely inject into the femoral vein in the groin when all of your other veins have collapsed. Horrific. :eek: I could never be an IV drug user.

:s
I'm a bit scared of needles even if I'm going to stick into someone else, and that's not really good if I pretend to be a MD. and it didn't help when learning to put IV drugs my classmate just missed my arm vein and everything went wrong from there :s :s

[Hazell B]

Yes, fear of needles is more common in men than women - or so my mate Ang says after her A&E stints. She also claims men get things stuck in themselves, but we'll leave that topic well alone :s

One of my friends is diabetic and has been for many years. She was injecting into her belly for about a year before the new 'pens' came out and her treatment altered somehow. That's the one place I would draw the line if I had to inject - no idea why but it really disgusted me :(

While I'm no fan of being injected, I don't mind it too much. Give blood, and that's a fat needle of course, without a second thought.

[oily oaf]

Yes, fear of needles is more common in men than women - or so my mate Ang says after her A&E stints. She also claims men get things stuck in themselves, but we'll leave that topic well alone :s

One of my friends is diabetic and has been for many years. She was injecting into her belly for about a year before the new 'pens' came out and her treatment altered somehow. That's the one place I would draw the line if I had to inject - no idea why but it really disgusted me :(

While I'm no fan of being injected, I don't mind it too much. Give blood, and that's a fat needle of course, without a second thought.

Good for you Hazell
To give blood is something we should all aspire to.
All my lot are donors but I was turned down as unsuitable due to steroid abuse all those years ago.
Blimey you would have thought it would be out of my system by now :(
(paws at ground, completes clear round and devours proffered sugar lump before shaving palms of hand)

Seriously I do wish I was eligible to take part

[Hazell B]

I'm not always allowed to, so know the feeling.

Steroids aren't my problem, mind :p :

[Drew]

Yes, fear of needles is more common in men than women - or so my mate Ang says after her A&E stints. She also claims men get things stuck in themselves, but we'll leave that topic well alone :s


Ah, the old Tomato Ketchup bottle routine. No way would I ever want to work in A&E, must be a horrible job

[LotusElise]

Quite a lot of the ladies in my family are or were nurses and they all know stories like that.
My favourite one is the chap who was window-cleaning in the nude and fell off his ladder right on to his bottle of Windolene, apparently.

As for needles, they don't bother me much, unless they are in my mouth and then they do make me a bit tense. It's quite surprising because I'm usually a total baby with any kind of medical procedure. I also had a panic attack while having my head x-rayed once, because the EVIL radiologist insisted on clamping my head so I'd keep still. It was a big steel thing like a g-cramp on a frame, like something out of a horror film.

[Hazell B]

I've always thought the falling off a ladder onto a bottle story an urban myth. There's a few dozen versions, all on a theme.

The one I know is true (I knew the person involved, which is why I was told it) was more about him owning up to inserting the item, then saying his wife wasn't next of kin and his daughters were all away on holiday. In case of emergency, ring his male bowling partner ;) :laugh:

[LotusElise]

No, nurses and A&E doctors up and down the country still hear that story and variations thereof, like "I forgot I'd left it in my bed and when I woke up it had just disappeared."
Not to forget all of the "hoovering in the nude" stories as well.

[LeonBrooke]

I could never be a heroin addict, I don't like needles at all, especially those huge things they have in dentists. For me the worst ones are those cannula thingies that hospitals stick in you for IV drips :eek:

For a very long time I didn't know how cannulas were inserted. Now I know, I'm quite (comparatively) relaxed about them - it's nowhere as bad as I'm imagined.


I stuck the needle in with no problems, but I couldn't bring myself to pull it back out!

That's weird. I was afraid the first time I put one in someone that it would break off after I'd inserted it.


:s
I'm a bit scared of needles even if I'm going to stick into someone else, and that's not really good if I pretend to be a MD. and it didn't help when learning to put IV drugs my classmate just missed my arm vein and everything went wrong from there :s

That's the reason I'm never going to let anyone practice on me.


Yes, fear of needles is more common in men than women - or so my mate Ang says after her A&E stints. She also claims men get things stuck in themselves, but we'll leave that topic well alone :s


I plan to specialise in urology, so no doubt I'll hear some disturbing stories...


Quite a lot of the ladies in my family are or were nurses and they all know stories like that.
My favourite one is the chap who was window-cleaning in the nude and fell off his ladder right on to his bottle of Windolene, apparently.

As for needles, they don't bother me much, unless they are in my mouth and then they do make me a bit tense. It's quite surprising because I'm usually a total baby with any kind of medical procedure. I also had a panic attack while having my head x-rayed once, because the EVIL radiologist insisted on clamping my head so I'd keep still. It was a big steel thing like a g-cramp on a frame, like something out of a horror film.

Ah, Lotus, not while I'm eating! :eek: The only time I've had a head X-ray they strapped me to a table and hung me upside down with my head about eight feet from the floor... or at least that's the way I remember it. I was six.

I could never donate blood, because of the needle/cannula. But I always have a handy excuse, such as "I'm too young" (which doesn't work any more) or "I don't weigh enough" (which also doesn't apply any more)...

[J4MIE]

J4MIE, you're one too, huh?(Diabetic)

It's true, you do get used to it after a while. The best way is to vary the areas when injecting, that way you don't get sore in one place.

btw, what mix do you use? Mine is 70/30. :)

Yup, sure am. I used to use 70/30 but now use a combination of Novorapid and 80/20.

[FrankenSchwinn]

i'm not afraid of them, nor do i think it's horrible or anything, it's just a natural bodily reaction..... i actually like to watch people getting poked with needles or cut open or bloody film scenes. it's just that there is some kind of reaction in my body where i just end up puking and feeling really ill after i see it or experience it. strange really. and i've tried getting used to it many times but it never worked. that's why i never got addicted to heroin.

[Dave B]

I've always thought the falling off a ladder onto a bottle story an urban myth. There's a few dozen versions, all on a theme.

Someone who works in our local A&E told me of a couple of teenage lovers who came in highly embarrassed because... well, let's just say they'd somehow lost a ping-pong ball.

The story itself isn't that special, but I just want to know at what point they'd tried everything and had to finally admit that their only option was to seek professional help. That must have been the most difficult and embarrassing decision of their lives! :laugh:

[Hazell B]

I plan to specialise in urology, so no doubt I'll hear some disturbing stories...



All of which I firmly believe you should share with us :D

Dave, the pingpong ball story has got me wondering how I'd try to get it, erm, out. It's a poser, sure enough :laugh:

[LeonBrooke]

i'm not afraid of them, nor do i think it's horrible or anything, it's just a natural bodily reaction..... i actually like to watch people getting poked with needles or cut open or bloody film scenes. it's just that there is some kind of reaction in my body where i just end up puking and feeling really ill after i see it or experience it. strange really. and i've tried getting used to it many times but it never worked. that's why i never got addicted to heroin.

That's weird, liking something that immediately makes you feel ill. I find that it's much worse looking at photos of wounds than it is looking at wounds in real life.


All of which I firmly believe you should share with us :D

Well I've had two student placements on an urology ward. One story involved a guy and a rubbish truck. I didn't hear any details, mainly because I didn't want to, but the - largely female - nursing staff seemed to enjoy talking about it endlessly :dozey:

I have had to watch urinary catheters being inserted and removed.You can get some very wide-bore ones... :eek: I got laughed at so much the first time I ran in terror...

[Hazell B]

. I find that it's much worse looking at photos of wounds than it is looking at wounds in real life.


Glad you've said that, because I do too. Not done any human medical stuff, but did my equine veterinary cert and some other animal based things, and loved the real wounds but wasn't as keen on the photo books. Maybe it was because the animals pictured looked so in pain and I couldn't judge how bad it was, I dunno. In the flesh they rarely appear bothered by horrible looking wounds and procedures.




..... urinary catheters .....You can get some very wide-bore ones...

You want to see the ones they put on horses to make HRT for menopausal women :eek: (Which is wrong, wrong wrong, by the way :( )

[LeonBrooke]

Glad you've said that, because I do too. Not done any human medical stuff, but did my equine veterinary cert and some other animal based things, and loved the real wounds but wasn't as keen on the photo books. Maybe it was because the animals pictured looked so in pain and I couldn't judge how bad it was, I dunno. In the flesh they rarely appear bothered by horrible looking wounds and procedures.

That could be it. In a photo it looks horrific and painful and it's all up to the imagination how the person is feeling. But in real life you can see and hear how it is for them. And reality is never as bad as your imagination.


You want to see the ones they put on horses to make HRT for menopausal women :eek: (Which is wrong, wrong wrong, by the way :( )

I'm talking about them in men. To me that alone makes it worse ;) :eek: .

And HRT is wrong. All sorts of dire health consequences, and for what?

[Hazell B]

Isn't synthetic HRT better, health wise? I know the stuff made from pregnant mare's urine is dire and downright cruel (but will women even believe what it's made of, let alone the health risks? No!) but thought manmade was better.

Most women are offered it here. I will be in few years time, so should really read up on it some day :s

[LeonBrooke]

Isn't synthetic HRT better, health wise? I know the stuff made from pregnant mare's urine is dire and downright cruel (but will women even believe what it's made of, let alone the health risks? No!) but thought manmade was better.

Most women are offered it here. I will be in few years time, so should really read up on it some day :s

I don't know about the comparative effects of synthetic and horse, but I imagine synthetic is better. All I know is that menopause would be preferable. Of course, I'll never know that for sure myself... I'll just have to ask my theoretical wife.

I take it you plan to turn down HRT?

[CarlMetro]

loved the real wounds

I've always thought there was something not right about you you know ;)

[LeonBrooke]

I've always thought there was something not right about you you know ;)

There is a certain fascination in looking at wounds, trying to gauge how bad they are, how they'll heal, etc. A large part of my holiday rest-home job is looking for signs of pressure sores.

[Hazell B]

Carl, what Leon said! It's simply interesting, though I never knew why until he said it like that. Honestly, I live for moments like the cat's recent gammy leg (though wouldn't allow them to get septic on purpose of course :p : ) and somebody's horse getting a huge gash that seeps pus and they ask me to visit and clean it daily :D

HRT - no idea. Depends how I feel and what's available. Wouldn't ever take a horse based drug and actually have refused one for one of my own horses (hormone) to take away his 'coltish' interest in mares and get him back being ridden again. Synthetic HRTs are vastly more expensive so not offered very often unless the patient asks specifically.

[oily oaf]

Little nursing anecdote for you Leon

When my daughter was training to be a nurse at a London childrens hospital the sister in a lighter moment showed the wide eyed girls some x rays taken of some strange gentlemen who'd thought it rather jolly to shove a variety of objects up their bomb bay.
One depicted a light bulb wedged in some geezer's colon.
After an awkward silence one of the students piped up "How ever did he manage to swallow that without breaking it?"

Ah bless ;)

[LeonBrooke]

Carl, what Leon said! It's simply interesting, though I never knew why until he said it like that. Honestly, I live for moments like the cat's recent gammy leg (though wouldn't allow them to get septic on purpose of course :p : ) and somebody's horse getting a huge gash that seeps pus and they ask me to visit and clean it daily :D

HRT - no idea. Depends how I feel and what's available. Wouldn't ever take a horse based drug and actually have refused one for one of my own horses (hormone) to take away his 'coltish' interest in mares and get him back being ridden again. Synthetic HRTs are vastly more expensive so not offered very often unless the patient asks specifically.

One thing I plan to never partake of is prostate screening. Not only does it involve a blood test, but a few other investigations which can have dire consequences, including disappointment for the wife if you know what I mean. And prostate cancer just isn't that major to make it worth the risks in my opinion.


Little nursing anecdote for you Leon

When my daughter was training to be a nurse at a London childrens hospital the sister in a lighter moment showed the wide eyed girls some x rays taken of some strange gentlemen who'd thought it rather jolly to shove a variety of objects up their bomb bay.
One depicted a light bulb wedged in some geezer's colon.
After an awkward silence one of the students piped up "How ever did he manage to swallow that without breaking it?"

Ah bless ;)

lol!

I laughed for about five minutes after reading that! :D

[FrankenSchwinn]

That's weird, liking something that immediately makes you feel ill. I find that it's much worse looking at photos of wounds than it is looking at wounds in real life.

like i said, i've tried to get used to it, but i seem to not be able to. though it has gotten better in the past 10yrs, i'm affraid that if i ever have kids it could get worse and if they get injured i would be useless..... reason number 1267 not to have kids.

[LeonBrooke]

like i said, i've tried to get used to it, but i seem to not be able to. though it has gotten better in the past 10yrs, i'm affraid that if i ever have kids it could get worse and if they get injured i would be useless..... reason number 1267 not to have kids.

When it's your kids you'll feel differently, or so I understand... ;)

[LotusElise]

RE: HRT - my mum has been resisting it for ages. She would rather put up with the menopause symptoms which will calm down eventually, anyway.

[LeonBrooke]

RE: HRT - my mum has been resisting it for ages. She would rather put up with the menopause symptoms which will calm down eventually, anyway.

I think that putting up with the symptoms would be worth it to avoid the potential risks. However, I'll never know for sure as I'll never have menopause...

[Hazell B]

No, you boys will just go bald, get fat and start snoring like steam trains :p :

[LeonBrooke]

No, you boys will just go bald, get fat and start snoring like steam trains :p :

Disturbingly true and truly disturbing... I'd never thought of it that way... why did you have to remind me!? ;) :D

[Dave B]

No, you boys will just go bald, get fat and start snoring like steam trains :p :
Interesting use of the future tense... :(

[LeonBrooke]

I plan to experience eternal youth, or age trying :p :

[millencolin]

i had to get a needle today, in my gum... good ol filling

[LeonBrooke]

Ooh painful. That would be one of the most painful sites...

[cosmicpanda]

Ooh painful. That would be one of the most painful sites...

really?

When I had a deep gash in my wrist that needed stitching, they poked a needle aroud a bit to numb it, and that hurt more than any dental injections I've had.

And I didn't cut myself deliberately, somehow I managed to do it with an umbrella :eek:

[Dazz9908]

I once had abad cut to my arm and had to have stiches, that was ok, then they give me a needle for tetanus, Seamed fine thanked the Nurse for that and got up took two steps and hit the deck,, "I FAINTED!", Bugger, Couldn't believe it. I felt stupid and small for that, and ever since then quince if have to have to have needle, Haven't done it since but I think will happen again, making me look foolish once more. :rolleyes:

[Dave B]

A student nurse fainted watching me have a lumbar puncture. For added effect she hit her head on my bed on the way down!

[Mark]

You are not supposed to like needles, you would be very strange indeed if you did. But it takes all sorts :p

[LeonBrooke]

really?

When I had a deep gash in my wrist that needed stitching, they poked a needle aroud a bit to numb it, and that hurt more than any dental injections I've had.

And I didn't cut myself deliberately, somehow I managed to do it with an umbrella :eek:

Oh yes that would hurt too. Not the insertion so much as the moving around... :eek:


I once had abad cut to my arm and had to have stiches, that was ok, then they give me a needle for tetanus, Seamed fine thanked the Nurse for that and got up took two steps and hit the deck,, "I FAINTED!", Bugger, Couldn't believe it. I felt stupid and small for that, and ever since then quince if have to have to have needle, Haven't done it since but I think will happen again, making me look foolish once more. :rolleyes:

It's odd that you handled the stitches but fainted from the intramuscular injection... maybe it was just the last straw, so to speak.


A student nurse fainted watching me have a lumbar puncture. For added effect she hit her head on my bed on the way down!

Oh that would have been scary. you don't want to see your nure fainting :o I've never done that. I have always remained dignified in front of patients.