We’ve all been there. You sit on the wax paper-covered table and glare wide-eyed at the nurse preparing your vaccine or blood test. Your heart begins to thump, and a trail of sweat trickles down your brow. And just like that, it’s over.
Yet for some children and adults, the process is much more unbearable.
Ellen Fay-Itzkowitz, a clinical social worker and diabetes educator at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, says about 40 percent of people have significant anxiety related to needles.
She works with children who often need four to six finger pokes per day, four to six insulin injections each day or insulin pump site changes every three days. “We’ll see kids who quite simply run and hide,” she explains. “As they get older, there might be more screaming, crying and stalling.”
As they mature, some patients develop rituals to manage their anxiety, such as finger pokes in the same finger or insulin injections at the same area of the body each time, Fay-Itzkowitz says. But there may be a few easier ways to cope.
The health technology industry has taken a shot at minimizing pain and failed pricks by offering needle-free options for the queasiest patients. Here are four options to consider:
PharmaJet
In August 2014, the Food and Drug Administration approved the PharmaJet Stratis — a needle-free syringe that delivers the Afluria flu vaccine through a quick, fluid stream that penetrates the skin.
“[It’s] for people who don’t like needles or are uncomfortable around them,” says PharmaJet CEO Ron Lowy.
Although it’s not necessarily pain-free, Lowy says the injection is given within one-tenth of a second. “For some people, that’s quicker than their response,” he says.
Lowy says some patients compare the feeling to a snap of a rubber band, while others report barely feeling anything. At the end of the day, most patients prefer it to a traditional shot, he says.
The device is currently intended for patients ages 18 to 64. Lowy says it’s not available in pharmacies yet, and patients can request it if it’s not already available at their doctor’s office. PharmaJet is working with the FDA to expand use to more patients and other types of vaccines, Lowy adds.
FluMist
FluMist is another needle-free option for receiving the flu vaccine. FDA-approved since 2003, the spray can be used in children and adults ages 2 to 49.
The spray is puffed into each nostril, says Kathy Coelingh, senior director of medical affairs at AstraZeneca, the manufacturer of FluMist. However, it’s important to note that the device is not inhaled like a nasal spray. Instead, patients are asked to breathe normally and allow the spray to enter their nostrils.
Coelingh says the concept comes from the notion that the flu virus often enters the body through the nose.
“How it works in your body is very natural and effective because the FluMist is a live attenuated vaccine,” she says.
Approximately 90 percent of pediatricians stock it in their office, and almost all insurance companies cover it, she says. It’s also available at pharmacies and adult doctor offices.
Side effects may include a runny or stuffy nose, or sore throat after the spray is given.
VeinViewer
If you can’t avoid the needle, you may feel slightly more relaxed knowing your doctor or nurse can track your veins and the direction of blood flow on an imaging device.
The handheld device projects near-infrared light on the surface of the skin. Users then have a real-time digital image of the patient’s blood pattern to track especially difficult veins needed for medical procedures and injections.
Patricia Gesualdo is a registered nurse and clinical coordinator of The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young study, known as TEDDY — an ongoing, global clinical study looking at the cause of Type 1 diabetes — at the Barbara Davis Center. She’s been using VeinViewer for about five years on children who are voluntarily enrolled in clinical trials and require multiple glucose tests and insulin injections throughout treatment. Gesualdo says the device helps locate deeper veins in children and adults with diabetes.
“We actually have a rule within our research that we wouldn’t try to obtain IV access or blood draw more than two times in a given visit,” she says. “You want to be able to do what you need to do on the first try.”
Buzzy
What if you could trick your brain into thinking a needle prick doesn’t hurt? Dr. Amy Baxter, CEO of MMJ Labs and director of emergency research at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, had that question and her children in mind when she created Buzzy, a device aimed at reducing the pain associated with needles and other ailments.
“I got frustrated and felt like there had to be a faster way to address needle pain,” Baxter says.
That’s when she tipped her research hat from pain to fear. The National Institutes of Health funded multiple studies addressing the use of high-frequency vibration and cold applied to the skin to lessen the pain of needles. The studies found that Buzzy significantly decreased pain during routine blood testing and improved IV insertion in children and adults. Further research is now looking into its use for patients with joint pain.
One handheld version looks like a bee and comes with “wings” that hook onto the back of the device. The slightly larger device has a strap that can be used as a tourniquet for blood draws, knee pain or carpel tunnel syndrome.
Buzzy launched in 2009, and it’s not sold by a pharmaceutical company. Anybody can purchase the device for $40, Baxter says, thouugh she estimates about 5,000 hospital labs and clinics use it.
“Kids today are so terrified of needles … it’s been much more of a tool to get over the needle fear than become a crutch to make them not able to [get a shot] without it,” Baxter says.
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4 Options for Patients Afraid of Needles originally appeared on usnews.com