Can closing your eyes during injections really relieve the pain?

Whether it is vaccination or blood draw, everyone's childhood has been more or less dominated by the fear of "injection".

Some netizens ridiculed that injections are the lifelong enemies of human beings, and the most defensive thing is not the moment when the needle goes down, but the moment of waiting for the needle.

When a group of children team up to prick needles, this fear is multiplied and hit people's hearts.

There are also children who can self-attack and comfort themselves from a young age, which can be called the highest state of vaccination.

Experts interviewed

Kong Lingyu, deputy chief nurse of the Department of Medical Oncology, Emergency General Hospital

National second-level psychological counselor Zhang Minting

It hurts more if you don't look at it when you get an injection

Does closing your eyes or turning your head away from looking at the injection really reduce the pain?

A study in the journal Psychological Science said that closing your eyes or turning your head away when injecting or drawing blood not only does not reduce pain, but also increases the psychological burden.

When you close your eyes and don't overdo it, people think about when they will be "suddenly" pricked with needles.

This will bring unknown fear, resulting in high nervous tension, increased secretion of stress hormones, acting on a variety of organs, causing the body to sweat, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and other phenomena, subjectively adding weight to pain assessment.

On the contrary, staring at the body, which can "confirm" the time of the arrival of the injury, has a certain analgesic effect.

Therefore, the study authors believe that it is best to look at the needle with the eyes, so that the pain will be less; If the needle is visually enlarged, the effect may be better.

Two things trigger needle phobia

For the above research, there must be people who want to refute it, arguing that "it is more afraid when I look at it".

This may belong to "needle fear", also known as "needle phobia", which refers to the mentality of being particularly afraid of needles, not only needles, but also pencil tips, compasses, etc., and unwilling to see the needle tip piercing themselves.

Fear of needles is mainly caused by two reasons:

1. Needles evoke fearful associations, such as trauma from being stung by a sharp object as a child.

2. People who are particularly sensitive to pain are more likely to be afraid of needles, and the sensitivity of pain is related to genetics.

Some people have a serious fear of needles and will have "needle sickness".

This refers to the patient's fear and nervousness that excite or even hyperprogress the vagus nerve during intramuscular injection or blood draw, and the blood vessels of internal organs dilate, causing myocardial contraction and weakness, causing temporary insufficient blood supply to the brain, dizziness, palpitation, nausea, paleness, sweating all over the body and even syncope.

When giving an injection, where the injection is more painful

In the basic nursing operation, according to the drug injection site from shallow to deep, it can be divided into: intradermal injection, intravenous injection, subcutaneous injection, and intramuscular injection.

In clinical practice, according to the nature and action requirements of different drugs, different injection methods need to be selected.

Intradermal injection

It is mostly selected on the inside of the forearm and is often used for various drug allergy tests (i.e., "skin tests") to observe for allergic reactions. The nerve endings in this area are abundant, and the pain is strong when injected.

subcutaneous injection

It is mainly used to inject small doses of drugs, which cannot or should not be administered orally, but drugs that need to exert their efficacy within a certain period of time, such as insulin and epinephrine, can be taken in this way.

Subcutaneous injection is also more often used for vaccination, mostly at the lower edge of the deltoid muscle of the upper arm, abdomen, and outer thigh.

Intramuscular injection

It is not suitable or can not be injected intravenously, but it is required to exert its efficacy faster than subcutaneous injection, or inject drugs with strong irritation and larger dosages, and intramuscular injection can be chosen.

Choose parts of thicker muscles and farther away from large nerves and large blood vessels, with the gluteus maximus being the most commonly used.

intravenous injection

If the drug concentration is high, irritating, the amount is large, or oral, subcutaneous, or intramuscular injection is not suitable, but it needs to exert its effect quickly, intravenous injection will be selected clinically.

It is mostly used for infusion or blood transfusion, intravenous nutrition therapy and first aid.

How to relieve the fear of injections

Most people hate needles, but vaccinations, injection treatment, blood tests... We have to experience many pinprick moments, how can we reduce fear and pain?

If you do not have needle sickness, it is recommended to look directly at the needle and the needle insertion process to reduce the panic caused by the "unknown".

If you are really afraid of needles, try pinning your face and chatting with the person you are accompanying to distract you.

For people with needle sickness, it is recommended to inform the medical staff of their situation before injection or blood drawing to prevent accidents and serious needs to help a psychologist for desensitization treatment. ▲

Editor of this issue: Xu Menglian