Guys, I'm a wimp.

[Minibear453]

I'm going to be having my wisdom teeth taken out next friday, and I'm terrified of the IV. I don't care about the surgery, just the IV. I know it's a little pinch, and doesn't even amount to the littlest knife cut I have had, but I'm just really scared of being poked. Any way to get over it? :o

[tonydahose]

Have them numb where they are going to stick you with a topical cream. They did it for my son, he is 6, and he didnt feel a thing. They have it, they just don't like to use it because they have to wait 5minutes for it to take effect. Tell the doc that you want it before you go in for the procedure. Enjoy the nitrous if they use it. I was in recovery for the same thing and I was alone when I woke up a bit early. I turned on the nitrous again and started self medicating :) .

[Evil D]

Just don't watch. I mean don't watch anything. Don't watch the doctor prepare the needle, don't even watch them take it out or go get the equipment. It's simply mind over matter. I do this with my kids, who like all kids are afraid of shots. I just don't let them watch and it seems to ease their fears, since as you said the pain itself isn't near as bad as some of the scrapes and such that they've endured. My daughter is 4 so she's getting her booster shots and such, so recently she's had quite a few shots. The last time i took her she had to get 4 of them. When we got on the table she started freaking out...i just put my hand over her eyes. She didn't exactly calm down, but it was over so fast that she got over the pain part of it pretty quickly.

I have plenty of tattoos and i've had 22 body piercings, so needles don't bother me at all. I don't really know what it is about a needle that freaks people out. There's only the tiniest of holes made, which to be technical isn't actually a "hole" at all, it's an extremely small cut that the tip of the needle makes. Basically, you're getting a very very tiny cut that just goes a little deeper than a paper cut does. I've also had 3 surgeries where i was put under, and i've had so many IV's that i've lost count. I've also had 4 spinal taps which is the largest needle that i'm aware of that is ever used on people, and an IV needle isn't anywhere near as big as that monster. An IV needle doesn't even go as deep into you as a vaccine shot does, it just goes barely beneath the skin and into a vein...not far at all.

Look on the bright side...you can't be paralyzed by an IV, but every time i got a spinal tap i had to face the fact that one twitch from the doctor could puncture my spinal cord and paralyze me from the waste down. Try dealing with that kind of fear lol. You lay there on your side and have to endure some pretty serious pain and discomfort, all the while knowing that if you move while he's back there poking around, you'll be in a wheel chair for the rest of your life. On top of that, the last one i had didn't heal properly which lead to spinal fluid leakage. What this means is, the puncture from the spinal tap didn't close, which literally let spinal fluid leak out of the hole. That fluid is the same fluid that goes all the way up your spinal cord and into your skull where your brain is, and that fluid literally supports your brain inside your skull and acts as a sort of liquid cushion. When that fluid leaks out, your brain literally lays on the side of your skull. This creates a headache the likes of which you simply can not imagine unless you've felt it. It is worse than any migraine, any hangover, any concussion, you name it. The only thing they can do to fix it is draw a bunch of blood from you and give you another shot back there at the site of the spinal tap and inject that blood into the site, which then creates an artificial bruise under your skin, which creates pressure on the hole in your spinal cord which helps to close it up and stop the leakage.


So....long story short, harden up and don't be a pansy. LOL. :D

[Blerv]

Don't look. To this day I'm not sure I can identify a surgical needle,

"Ok, cut out the smart talk and lemme know when to look at the wall."

[Bladekeeper]

I recently due to an accident had 10 teeth including two wisdom teeth out due to the large amount I was given general anaesthetic is this an option if so go for it .
Still painful afterwards but no having to endure the procedure I'm not sure if its standard or just some practices but the majority of wisdom extractions require cutting of the gums to get the teeth out .
I really don't want or mean to worry you but ask first especially if they have not fully levelled with your other teeth eg the same line or slightly shorter as this is why they have to make the incisions, saying this I could be wrong but talking through with your dentist will save any nasty surprises good luck hope it goes as well as it can.

[Donut]

They are going to prick you in your mouth. I had some dental work done a month or two ago and it didn't even feel like a pinch, it felt like someone was pressing their finger against my gums.

I wouldn't worry about it at all.

*edit* Oh, there's an IV? I would be worried about the dehydration afterwards more. :p

[Bladekeeper]

Evil D I had that when I had meningitis I recovered but was warned not to stand for days untill the fluid had replaced itself **** scary as your awake and the needle is Huge.
After a day I felt fine went for a walk and wow like somebody was inside my head with a hammer trying to get out I crawled vomiting on my hands and knees back to the hospital bed where I lay without getting up for a good few days :D .

Edit: just to explain in this old procedure spinal fluid is extracted using a beast of a needle to test for meningitis it wasn't a leakage but the effects are the same.
Nowadays a blood test like a blood sugar level test can do the same job.

[DRKBC]

I agree with the whole don't watch theory. My dentist wants me to watch the whole procedure on the monitor. They kind of look sad and when I don't want to. It's like really ... it hurts, it's not enjoyable and I am not interested. I just want to get it over with and move on to happier times.

Anyway, take your mind to another place. Re-live a ski run or something else that your interested in to take your focus some where far a way from that little room. Head phones also help.

[Sithus1966]

I had 3 out including an impacted one. They put the IV in and told me to count back from 100. I remember getting to 98 and then noticed the ceiling tiles had footprints impressed into them and then nothing else.

[Sequimite]

I've had ten operations, a dozen MRI's and a few other procedures that use an IV. I can deal with blood without a problem but I still look away when they insert the IV or even just give me a shot. I just don't like it.

[razorsharp]

suggestions:
: mallet to KO self
: take leather belt, BITE
: SCREAM IN TERROR while they put it in , that will sidetrack you from the needle
: giggly-Gas
:curse
:have it numbed
: or just dont look

[Jeremy_A_Neel]

Funny story involving an iv. I was about to be put under anesthesia. I had the iv in my arm, and the mask on my face. the anesthesiologist was telling me to take a deep breath when all of a sudden, someone said "Wait!" and I realized the nurse was incompetent and didn't connect the iv with a vein, so all the saline solution was going under my skin and making my arm painfully swollen and pop-eye esque. The same nurse had to redo the iv.
The worst part about getting my wisdom teeth removed was the first week after the surgery. Super painful. They should provide you with horse pills to take the edge off though.

I've had a cancer as a child, so I've seen more than my fair share of needles. Once you've had your 30th blood draw or so, needles aren't as scary, but I'll never get used to catheters.

[BAL]

Like Tony and others haev said, don't look, think of what Spyderco knife
that you are going to get next. Tell yourself that if you are a good boy you
can get a new knife when you get out.

It only takes a quick second and then it is over. Don;t worry about now,
that doesn't proove anything. Don't worry about something that won't
happen for a while.
Just take it ONE STEP AT A TIME. Step one - pick out which knife you
are going to get. Step 2, keep thinking about that knife and look away
when they are getting ready to do it. It will be over quickly.

I have to get a root canalthis afternoon and I will get a mouth shot that
hurts worse than the IV. I am not going to let that ruin my day. It will only
last a few seconds and then it's over. and I am not even gettign a new knife.
Hey.... What's up with that anyway... Mommmm.

[jeep45238]

Join the military. You'll take shots like a champ!

[Evil D]

Evil D I had that when I had meningitis I recovered but was warned not to stand for days untill the fluid had replaced itself **** scary as your awake and the needle is Huge.
After a day I felt fine went for a walk and wow like somebody was inside my head with a hammer trying to get out I crawled vomiting on my hands and knees back to the hospital bed where I lay without getting up for a good few days :D .

Edit: just to explain in this old procedure spinal fluid is extracted using a beast of a needle to test for meningitis it wasn't a leakage but the effects are the same.
Nowadays a blood test like a blood sugar level test can do the same job.

Yep, when my spinal headache came on, i had to have a friend drive me back to the hospital, and i had to sit reclined in the passenger seat so i could get as close to laying down as i could get. It was really crazy how laying down took the pain away but the instant you stood up it would knock you back down. Luckily it wasn't long after they did the blood bruise procedure that mine eased up enough that it was tolerable.

[Jeremy_A_Neel]

Wow, I don't know much about Meningitis, but removing spinal fluid sounds like scary stuff. Thankfully, I only lad leg cancer.

[BAL]

Wow, I don't know much about Meningitis, but removing spinal fluid sounds like scary stuff. Thankfully, I only lad leg cancer.

Dude, "only had leg cancer". Wow, that is an understatement. You have had a battle
with that stuff, I wish you the very best. Cancer is a tough go, no matter where it is.

Yeah, and the catheter thing is a hole different story. That's the one that I don't like.

[phillipsted]

I recommend drinking heavily before the operation. It certainly makes the entire process more entertaining.

TedP

[BAL]

I recommend drinking heavily before the operation. It certainly makes the entire process more entertaining.

TedP

To be followed by drinking heavily AFTER the operation.

[Donut]

I had 3 out including an impacted one. They put the IV in and told me to count back from 100. I remember getting to 98 and then noticed the ceiling tiles had footprints impressed into them and then nothing else.

Yeah, I remember talking to the anesthetician before my last surgery before, he said that they normally have you count to 10 or backwards from 10, but they usually only get to 2 or 3 before they go out.