Severe needle phobia

My 14yo daughter can’t have injections. She is unreasonably terrified of having a sore arm afterwards, so she says, but it’s really part of some significant anxiety problems. No amount of cajolery or rational discussion helps, we’ve tried many many times.

Problem is she’s going on a German exchange trip in a month and they’ve said she needs a tetanus booster. What help is available and how can we get it? Maybe I can score some valium and sneak it into her lunch? (This is a joke)

I don’t think rational discussion has a high success rate for irrational fears.

Have you approached a GP about some medication?
Sooner or later she’s going to need it anyway and it’s probably less traumatic than if its accompanying a nasty cut or other injuries at the time.

Does it have to go in the arm?

A lot of the fear is the closeness of the needle to the face, even if looking away and not being allowed to see the needle beforehand.

Thigh or buttock could be easier.

It’s worth seeing if there is s medical centre nearby that can do things to help.   I’m not a great fan of needles myself but there is a huge difference between someone who is good at it and someone who isn’t.  Having the needle and liquid at body temp seems to also make a huge difference (if possible)

Why is valium a joke? Taking one valium to deal with a stressful medical situation sounds perfectly reasonable, obviously don’t sneak into her lunch!

Although longer term solution, if you need one, might be an appointment with a hypnotherapist who can teach her how to relax herself during periods of anxiety.

Acupuncture? 😁

If her concern is having a sore arm, that’s not an irrational concern, she might well have. But it’s going to be like a light bruise rather than debilitating pain. I expect, as I’m sure you do too, that that’s an excuse.

Who are “they” in this context? Is a mandatory tetanus booster actually a thing? I’ve never heard of that before. Tell them she’s had it.

I used to hate injections*.  There is a topical cream that you can use on the site – prior to injection.

Anecdotally, I know that hypnotherapy has a good success rate in this.  A former colleague – now a hypnotherapist reports that this is a common phobia that he treats often with success.

*Bizarrely riding a mountain bike cured my phobia as several injuries requiring sutures and local anaesthetic – left me no choice.  Luckily, as I have needed to have more injections, blood tests and drips over the last few years.

Actually,

When did she have her first one? She’s 14, the tetanus jab lasts ten years IIRC.

Is it available intranasally?

It’s a weird phobia!

My daughter works as a groom on an eventing yard and deals with all the sorts of yucky fluids, blood and injuries that come with the job. Jump a big fence with a huge drop into water – yeah fine with that!!

Go near her with a tiny needle though and she freaks out! She has got better since Covid though when she had to have the jabs to keep working.

Can’t say I’m a fan of having blood tests done either. 😀

It’s a weird phobia!

My partner’s daughter has a needle phobia.

She’s covered in tattoos.

🤷‍♂️

I don’t mind needles unless… They are in my mouth then I am basically planking in the dentist chair trying really hard not to punch them (had a very traumatic tooth extraction where the dentist had to take a breather)*. The trick (for me) and I can’t remember where I learned this but I am glad I did. Is to very light like as lightly as possible draw tiny little circles with my thumb on my middle finger tip of the same hand. It’s just the tiniest touch but it’s a superb sensation for focussing on. It doesn’t stop me being stressed about it but when I realise I have got tense again I can relax my body almost instantly.

Won’t help getting her in the chair though. But giving her a tool to learn might help in confidence. I taught it to a young girl who had gone green and was about to run out of the COVID queue and she managed to get it done with some very very supportive nurses.

*Weirdly I don’t actually carry the stresss anxiety to the actual dentistry it’s just the injection bit I have even just told the dentist to carry on when I was still feeling stuff after a second dose.

The finger-thumb light touch exercise is a recognised relaxation technique.

Here is a more convoluted form of the exercise:

https://hr.unl.edu/five-finger-relaxation-technique/

It is also the reason why, although you don’t move the digits, that the finger-thumb connection is made in eastern meditation.

Presumably she’s had the other jabs teenage girls have?

Nothing to say useful, other than phobias need proper help. Surprised its the sore arm that gets to her.

I don’t like needles, but Covid got me over it and i gad my first tattoo earlier this year (at 54). I’m still terrified of dental injections, but managed to have a tooth out recently just by deep breathing and knowing it would soon be over.

Ms Beej had a severe needle phobia. It took half a day, lots of tears and multiple walks round the block before she could have a blood test after a hospital stay – in hospital was fine as she had a canula and a tunnel catheter for blood access. Those were put in under sedation.

After one session of hypnotherapy she could just about cope with a tiny needle.

After four she was pretty much OK with anything.

My partner’s daughter has a needle phobia.

She’s covered in tattoos.

I was a volunteer vaccinator during the Covid vaccination program.  The number of big, burly blokes covered in tattoos who had a paralysing fear of needles was surprising!  TBF I can see how it’s a bit different, tattoo needles only just going subdermal whilst an intramuscular injection needle goes a lot deeper.  Strategies I saw/participated in for this included: distraction, talking about their day or whatever; allowing a partner/friend/relative to hold their hand; asking if they were OK with you not announcing when you were about to do it to dull the anticipation; allowing them to lie down on a gurney; giving injection in thigh.

These were all for fairly mild cases and wouldn’t work for a serious phobia.  I had a few people repeatedly bottle out over successive days, before eventually being jabbed.  I found it to be fairly common with young adults, who often hadn’t had any injections since early childhood, with residual, perhaps exaggerated childlike memories of how scary it was. These people were often a) surprised that they didn’t feel it, or only barely b) massively relieved that they’d gone through with it.  A few said they wouldn’t have the same fears going forward.  Always a rewarding volunteer stint when that happened.

I really hope your daughter is able to overcome this and enjoy her trip,

Presumably she’s had the other jabs teenage girls have?

that’s what I was thinking but phobias can develop over time, what was hard one month becomes impossible the next so it’s not unsurprising.

But, as mentioned above, can your GP help?

I was the same as one of the posters above, to the point of having minor dental work (small fillings, etc.) without anaesthetic. Which used to still ****ing hurt, so it was even to my mind irrational. Still refused the jabs though.

Then one day i needed to impress a really pretty girl; she was rounding up volunteers at work to go to the blood donor clinic, and there was no way i was letting on that brave me was shitting myself, when 5’2 and 7 stone wet through of gorgeous had a pin badge to show how many donations she’d done.

Having done that, with what looked like a wide bore knitting needle, although I wouldn’t say I’m a fan I have largely cured myself, and donated several times since before travel to exotic places put a stop to it. I’m well past the quarantine now though, really should make the effort again. I’ll look up sessions in a minute.

[Although the needle was / is now fine, because it was my first time I got lots of care (no, not that sort, I never did get any further after all that) and was fine. Second time, thinking it was easy I headed to the tea and biscuits a bit quick and ended up having a whitey….. Now I take it easy and before going in drink litres of fluid so much so that I’m practically pissing myself on the couch. That makes me extra brave, right?]

After having anesthetic injections put directly into large open wounds, i rarely flinch when they want to stick one in my arm. The local anesthetic stuff hurts like a barstard normally. couple that with a hole and they tell me they need to do the injection deep inside something thats already bloody painful 😆

No longer will you feel a small prick just a slight scratch. I’m ok with the needle but if I dare to look at the now red vial I risk having to lie down or head between the knees for 10 mins, fxxxing embarrassing

Phobias by their very nature are not rational and thus cannot really be argued against in a rational manner

1) get her to be brave and face it so she can go on the trip – validate her feelings ie ” I know you hate injections but without this one you cannot go on the trip. We will be there to help you”

2) Hypnotherapy for the specific issue

3) counseling to get to the root of it

My son was in hospital with sepsis earlier this year. This required AV antibiotics and we found out quite early on he has a needle phobia. They went for a cannula instead but due to veins collapsing he must have had 7 or 8 put in over his 3 week stay. The only thing that stopped him screaming the entire ward down was entonox for a good 5 minutes before the nurse even entered the room.

No longer will you feel a small prick

Are you new here? 😁

I’m a consultant anaesthetist. I have no problem sticking a 12F Swan introducer in other people.

When it’s flu vaccination season I’m a gibbering wreck. Wife took the piss extensively about how pale I went when we were having our COVID boosters.

All I can advise is to go, do breathing exercises with closed eyes and ask the person wielding the syringe not to say anything until it’s over (and actually there’s decent evidence that warning people makes it hurt more).

Presumably she’s had the other jabs teenage girls have?

No. We went four times to get COVID jabs willingly, but in the room she lost it. I’d have had to sit on her to get her to stay still.

She really wants to get them but just can’t overcome the reflex actions.

I’ll talk to the GP. Well, I’ll try. Can’t get appointments round here.

I have a phobia for which I’ve had a few rounds of treatment. TJ’s advice is good. Given the pressing nature of time here, I’d make contact with your GP but also initiate private therapy with someone specialising in phobias. It’s a very different thing to just being scared, so while your GP will probably be able to offer some kind of gentle process (maybe a visit before the actual injection day) they’re unlikely to have a magic solution in the short term.

I had needle phobia. Jags were just! about tolerable, but intravenous / bloods would have me feint without fail.

What cured it for me, was last year my wife went though IVF and as a result had to give her well over 50 injections of various forms. To be blunt, I just had to get over myself really and step up.

Giving the first injection was near on the worst experience of my life; quite literally sweat dripping off my palms and palpitations level of fear. By the Nth time it was totally fine and quite blasé about them.

My wee laddie is 6mo tomorrow, so been well worth it!

I hadn’t thought of private phobia treatment.  Good idea, I’ll check it out.

For the people talking about necessary medical treatment curing their phobias – this was largely started when she went into hospital for an operation. Apparently her veins are impossible to find, no-one could do it and a succession of people came to dig around.  When she finally got a cannula in she wouldn’t move any part of her body because she could feel the needle.  When they removed it she was instantly back to normal.

I’m completely onside with your daughter. Seeing a needle freaks me out. If you can, have a word with the doctor/nurse beforehand and ask them to keep everything hidden when she enters the room. Distraction works really well, so she might like to listen to some favourite music, watch a YouTube/TikTok video or play a game on her phone during the process. The more involving, the better

You have my sympathy. My 18 yo daughter didn’t have any of her covid injections because of this, even though she’s not remotely anti-vax.

Her phobia started when she nearly passed out at school when they tried to give her the cervical cancer jab. The school nurse was very impatient with her. Eventually we had it done privately but she went in 3 times before we found a very patient lady who managed to do it.

If you ask her, she’s not scared of the pain. She knows it only lasts a few seconds. Apparently it’s just the whole process is too overwhelming for her. We are hoping that at some point she will have to have an injection for travel or the like, where the reward will be sufficient to get her head around the phobia.

Needles PAH! ‘Intraosseous Cannulation’ They use a cordless drill to put that in.

I had a mate who was so needle phobic he had a tooth removed without anaesthetic😳 Phobias are definitely not rational.

Molgrips, for me the difference is intramuscular injections (absolutely fine) and intravenous injection/blood samples (often pass out). That thing about being able to feel the needle in there – oh yes.

But the tetanus jab will be intramuscular, so emphasise the difference, it might help?

Hypnotherapy works for many, especially if she buys into it – ie it is her choice.

Good luck to both of you.

I have really bad needle phobia, or at least I did.

Stemmed like many I guess from cack handed dentistry in my youth.

I’m kinda over it now, due to what I can only call invoulentary exposure therapy, namely….

A) I found a good dentist who would pre numb my gums and then use an injection system called ‘the wand’. It’s computer controlled to warm up the anesthetic to body temperature and control the flow rate of delivery.

AND

B) After surgery for appendicitis and resulting mild sepsis I had to have loads of blood tests and injections of antibiotics so I kind of got used to it.

I still get the heeby jeebies with anything to do with a hypodermic needle but I can actualy tolerate it now without freaking out, as long as I don’t look!

Also some people who administer injections etc. Seem to be a lot better than others, it seems like there’s a definite skill to it, along side a bit of destraction tactics for people with a phobia.

My son needed gas and air one year as his phobia got bad (this was at a regular check up – more on that in a minute).

My son developed Type 1 at age 14, so was used to sticking himself with needles multiple times a day and stabbing his finger, but come time for the annual blood checks, no, whouldn’t let them near him  he’s be at the Hospital, on the bed, but as they were going to get some blood, nope, he couldn’t do it. You can imagine it was a big issue, especially when the various boosters were due. Fortunately he’s now ‘over it’ and it no longer bothers him, but it’s not uncommon to have a phobia – no-one likes them. I can’t care less now, since I spend over 6 weeks in hospital with a broken spine – poked everywhere as I ended up with very low blood oxygen saturation.

See if the GP would use gas and air or something else.

I don’t know if it’s possible to find someone good at giving injections or whether it can be luck of the draw as to where it exactly ends up going in your arm/leg/gum etc. I’m not great with needles but I didn’t even feel my last covid jab it was that well administered.

Good point…

My first covid jab was what I can best describe as very uncomfortable, mainly due to my anxiety if I’m being fair.

The second one however, by a different person at a different place… the needle was in and and out like a ninja.

It was done before I even realised it really.

I think vaccination jabs and boosters are the easiest ones to cope with personaly, as there’s not a huge amount of ‘fluid’ they inject and so it’s faster and they tend to be smaller/finer needless compared to something like an old skool dentist injection.

I might be talking rubbish but that’s my experience.

Nobody likes injections, and a fear of pointy/sharp things penetrating our skin is pretty rational and something we’re conditioned towards from an early age.

I have a scar on the front of my ankle from when I went through a glass table aged 3. As my Mum tells it, the Doctor concluded that the emotional trauma of them doing a couple of stitches wasn’t worth it and that a small scar might serve as a useful reminder.

It’s the knowing that it’s coming that’s half the problem.

So as a big Nancy boy my coping strategy when I need a jab is simply to tell the nurse not to warn me, and I’ll look the other way and concentrate on breathing, is that sort of meditative? Dunno, but the jab when it comes seldom lives up to the anticipation…

Basically yes, the anxiety and thinking about it is a thousand times worse than the actual event.

In my own experience anyway.

I say this as someone who has avoided dental work for years and I’ve had to pay a fortune to get it sorted out.

I have this to the point I can’t read the replies in this thread, mine started as a 4/5yr old, of 3 children I was the eldest and the only one to freak out about this. Ive not had a tetanus for about 30yrs due to this and I’m extremely careful around old bits of wood and rusty nails!! Did have to have a round of hep B jabs for work once, I nearly left! And never went back for the check to see if it’d worked as they told me it was optional

For me it’s the notion of a foreign object breaking the skin, really freaks me out, COVID did make it easier with the repetition I got a lot more used to it, but now I’m a lot better with something going on than it coming out, I just tell the nurse in a jokey way I’m terrible with needles, I may feint and to just keep talking while I look away – I did see one early reply above and the ones who are good at it you barely notice, there’s a huge difference between a trained experienced person and someone just jabbing it in, my first covid nearly went through my bloody arm

Speak to the nurse, let them know the situation and in every instance they’ve done an amazingly accommodating job leaving me feeling embarrassed of making a fuss after, I’d probably not do anything more than that as it could just build up to ‘the thing’s in a bigger way and make it more of a big deal maybe? I’m usually alright till 10 mins before then it’s cold sweat time.

Goid luck with it, I’ve managed to avoid hospitals in the whole but edging mid 40s they’ll probably be in my life a bit more in the future