Our doctors will tell you the treatment options for children’s fear of injections in this article. Before offering solutions, it is important to know that most parents themselves make children afraid of injections
When you, as the child’s parents, are restless in the face of the slightest symptoms of illness or disease, or when you show your anxiety in the face of your child’s illness and boredom with crying and impatience, you should also expect the child to be afraid of injections.
If your child is unwell, instead of crying and being restless, tell him or her, “You will get well soon. I was a child, I got sick too.” Empathy is very effective in reducing children’s fears.
In the following, you will read the strategies of our medical group to treat the fear of ampoules in children
what you will read next :
Child needle phobia treatment
- Do not tell your child “it does not hurt” when you take your child to a doctor or clinic for an injection:
If you notice your child feeling pain, or if you introduce injecting by a doctor or nurse as a means of threatening and punishing that child, you should expect your child to have a needle phobia.
In addition, if your child feels a little pain while injecting, the honesty of the parents who said “it does not hurt” will be lost.
- Know the child’s fear of the ampule as real and do not ignore it:
If your child has a needle phobia, do not make fun of him / her, do not compare him / her with other children, and be sure to be with him / her in the injection room and when injecting the ampoule and support him / her.
The fear about medical procedures (such as injections) is called TryPanophobia
This fear is more common in children as needle phobia. Most people will no longer be afraid of injections after adolescence
- As a parent, speak honestly with your child and tell the truth:
You should not tell the child that the injection is painless, tell him that it hurts, but only for a few short seconds, but instead the injection will protect them from getting sick. You must explain to them that these injections are necessary for them to stay healthy.
- When going to the doctor, do not reveal too much about the doctor:
Tell your child that you may need to get vaccinated today, but I’m not sure. ambiguity will always work. Do not talk too much about injections and vaccinations before seeing a doctor, as these increase the child’s fears and anxieties.
- Hold your children during the injection:
Sing your child’s favorite song, make your child’s favorite fun emoticons, joke, or tell a story to distract your child.
- If the child is hysterical, do not get too close to him:
Some children have excessive reactions that sometimes occur only in the presence of their parents. If your child is in this category, let the doctor and nurse do the work. Stand in a corner of the room and just keep eye contact with the child or leave the room.
- Provide rewards for your child before vaccinating:
For example, say you will buy him ice cream or fruit juice or a small toy after the vaccine, or say you will take him to the amusement park.
- Support the baby after the injection:
Sit and cuddle your baby, kiss him and make sure he is well, you can make the injection site painless by applying an ice pack.
Important points in the treatment of needle phobia
As a parent of a child with a needle phobia, it is best to do the following:
- Learn relaxation techniques and pain relief techniques appropriate for your child’s age
- For example, physical contact with babies is the key. Be calm and put your baby in the right position
- If possible, breastfeed your baby before, during, and after the vaccination. For older children, you can give some sweet syrup to drink.
- Ask your child’s doctor about the name of the appropriate anesthetic cream for the child, prepare the cream and anesthetize the area by rubbing it half an hour to an hour before the injection.
- Teach older children to breathe while injecting, for example, to inflate their lungs like a balloon.
- Before, during and after the injection, entertain your child with his favorite song or his favorite toys or storytelling. When visiting a doctor’s office or clinic, it is better to take some of your child’s favorite play equipment out of the house and Take yourself.
- For older, school-age children, distraction and deep breathing may be appropriate techniques for needle phobia.
- You should not persuade your child to inject by arguing and shouting
- Try to be with the child to calm him down, but if you do not succeed, stay away from him and keep your support in a corner of the room with only eye contact and let the doctor and nurses do their job.
- As children get older, they become calmer and find that injections are useful and necessary
- If the parents are also afraid of the needle, another close person who knows the child should be with him in the injection room.
- Tell the child it hurts, but it is for short time and soon everything will be fine. Do not forget to emphasize.
Severe phobias
There are severe fears of needles that are accompanied by screaming, fighting, and severe resistance to needle injections. These can usually be relieved in a short period of time.
Try playing doctor with your child at home and encouraging him to inject his doll
If your child is afraid of the doctor’s white clothes, the doctor will notice and will calm the child by changing the color of his clothes.
Treatment of needle phobia in adolescents and adults
In older people, dealing with the fear factor can be the best way to treat fear
For example, looking at photos and videos of injections reduces the fear of teenagers and older children
Post-injection caregivers
Most pediatricians do not recommend taking oral painkillers before vaccination, but after the injection, if prescribed by your doctor, you can give the child merino !!! syrup (ibuprofen) or acetaminophen (tylenol).
The final words
In the end, keeping calm by the parents themselves and talking honestly with the child about the transient pain of the vaccine and the need for it to stay healthy will be very helpful in treating the child’s needle phobia.
All of this will speed up the work of the treatment staff and reduce the duration of the child’s painful experience