Braving The Needles

WEST POINT, Miss. (WCBI) – Flu season is here and more people are lining up to get their flu shots.

But not everyone likes being stuck. Studies show nearly 10 percent of the worlds population suffers from a fear of needles, making a routine visit to the doctor a nightmare.

Many people are living with Trypanophobia or the excessive fear of needles, pins or injections.

Keeping a close eye on your health is a necessity, but so is overcoming an obstacle that gets in the way.

Usually, doctor visits are routine in the early stages of a person’s life.

Pediatrician Dr. Keith Watson says that’s also where fear can begin.

“Starting around 15 to 18 months of age up to about maybe three to four children in general are afraid of anything new or strange, unfortunately we doctors fall into that category.More of the fear of them thinking what might happen rather than what’s actually going on because as you said earlier the fear is I’m getting a shot and some body is going to poke me with a needle and there’s that inherit fear that something going to hurt,” said Watson.

Watson says the best biggest tool parents have in stopping Trypanophobia is honesty.

“Tell you’re child if they will be going to get shots. Don’t lie to them and tell them they aren’t and then have us give them because that creates that sense of fear. At least then they’ve got time in their own minds to deal with it,” said Watson.

Angelia Williams says she wishes she’d done that.

“My daughter! She’s 24 and she still can not stand taking a needle, in fact I have to go with her sometime and she’ll try and run and everything. I will take her hand and hold it and be like. Ok you’re going to have to get this you need you’re blood work done. She would say no momma! I can’t do it! I can’t do it,” said Williams.

Nurse Practitioner Amanda Fonderan says although a fear of needles can be a crippling one, there are several methods a patient can use to stay calm.

“Keep breathing don’t hold your breath. Take a deep breath in, through your nose and out through your mouth so all of you’re nerves will relax. You can hold something cold in one hand and something warm in the other, that can help you be more relaxed in your nervous system to be calm, sometimes laying back to relax instead of watching,” said Fonderan.

Healthcare providers also work to provide the patient with the best possible experience.

“We try and use the smallest needle that we can use for the function that we’re doing whether it’s giving a shot with medicine in it or drawing some blood the smaller the needle the less it hurts,” said Fonderan.

For more information on Trypanophobia and ways of overcoming it, visit www.urgentteam.com.

Categories: Local News

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