Question about injections

jenac · Oct 15, 2002

I think the "pain factor" depends on a few things..like the type of med...weither it's subcu or IM...how relaxed you are...etc. Some meds are more painful to inject, like Rocefin. I would also think it's relative to the amount of med injected. Like a 0.5cc insulin injection probably hurts more than a 0.10 injection. I'm sure a deeper injection into the muscle is more painful than one into the skin. If your tense-you'll feel it more, regardless. I think there's several factors to consider.....just my thoughts.

traumarns · Oct 15, 2002

lmao, i just got my flu shot and boy oh boy, i am really debating which hurts worse, tetorifice or flu. lol

caroladybelle, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2002

Rocephin and almost any injection containing an antiemetic will be painful IM. Also the interferons can be uncomfortable. Ativan, Valium(should be Iv, but still painful) and Libruim are painful (ativan d/t viscosity). Size of the injection needle and amount being injected generally affect how it feels. I also recommend the use of the ventrogluteal site for IMs as injections are always less painful there (and safer).

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Oct 15, 2002

Howdy yall

from deep in the heart of texas

Giving injections, starting IVs etc are a skill. And I have seen some nurses who were lousy at both. There a few nurses that if I saw them coming at me with a needle, I would just as curl up and die. You know the ones Im talking about, it seems like they just slowly push that needle through the skin. too much hesitation.. Yes some meds cause pain, we all know that. But a nurse good with needle minimizes that.

doo wah ditty

indynurse · Oct 15, 2002

I was taught in Nursing school to push the needle through the skin quickly and then push the plunger slowly to give the med time to start disipating into the surrounding tissue. I rarely have anyone complain and the ones that do are the ones who jump when I am swabbing the site before the injection.

Of course, the best pts to give injections to are the ones still numb from their epidural. :-)

CATHYW · Oct 17, 2002

originally posted by traumarns
lmao, i just got my flu shot and boy oh boy, i am really debating which hurts worse, tetorifice or flu. lol

:roll lmao too! i will never forget the time i thought i'd be smart and get my tetorifice shot and flu shot both on the same day-one in each arm. no prob, hey? :eek: :rolleyes: weellllll, we then traveled 12 hours by car to get up here. when we got here i could not abduct my arms! i could barely move them away from my body! plus, i am in the lucky 10% who has a localized reaction to the dt vax. except, this time it was so bad i nearly developed cellulitis! wound up feverish, and felling crappy, for the whole weekend! it was almost a week before i could raise my arms again! lesson learned: never have 2 vaccines again, at the same time! i feel for poor little babies. and, people wonder why they get so irritable after their shots!

Youda · Oct 17, 2002

Agree with all of the above. Just a couple things to add. Z-tracking keeps medication from seeping back into the sub-q tissue where it is more irritating. As far as just the needlestick, pain has more to do with hitting a little nerve ending. Often, they are more plentiful over a blood vessel, but not always. As a IDDM, I have learned where all the nerve endings are NOT. Also, try inserting with the bevel up, even with a sub-q or IM (not just for IV sticks).

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Oct 17, 2002

One of the simplest (and most often overlooked) details is waiting for the alcohol to dry on the skin before injecting the medication. Trust me, it works!

martitarubita · Oct 17, 2002

How painful the injections are depends on the conservatives the medication has. Few medications have lidocaine, so they don´t hurt as much as normal saline, which is very very painful.

But, of course, it also depends on the nurse ability and the size of the needle.

Sorry for my english:zzzzz

Overland1, RN · Oct 17, 2002

A nurse (Lynn R.) with whom I worked a couple of years ago (she was a Peds nurse for years, but transferred to Interventional Radiology) suggested the following:

Prep the site as you would normally, but then press the alcogol wipe onto the site with moderate pressure for about a minute while you explain to the patient the need to not move the site and to just let the site relax. Remove the alcohol pad (the site will dry within a few seconds) and "do the stick" (bevel up, always); this markedly reduces the pain at the site. She said it worked great on most every kid she had to poke, and even on some adults.

I began doing this with patients in the ER and the ICU, as well as on some Peds patients when I get floated there, and it really does work. I teach this to my Advanced EMT students as well.

By the way, most of us have probably noticed that IV and injection needles are generally sharper than they were several years ago. One of the manufacturer's reps explained that somebody with a bit of mechanical knowledge finally realized that, if the bevel is "flatter", then the needle point is sharper, and therefore causes less pain. Makes sense to me - I just wish I had been the one to come up with that idea first.

Again, sincere and profuse thanks to a most excellent nurse for her suggestion.

Jerry