I am seriously needle phobic--many men are (and ladies as well).
Some people do not get vital medical attention, lab tests etc because of the needle sticks.
I get so angry when some medical professional says to me OR especially to a child- "IT'S JUST A LITTLE STICK"....No...it's not....maybe for some people....but
When you are phobic, people don't understand how the anticipation, anxiety and personal demons team up to make that simple needle stick a huge deal---and when there is a simple solution that takes away the needle stick I think it is CRIMINAL that doctors don't write many more RX's for the solution.
Lucky for me I had a brilliant doctor named Christine Szeto who totally understood and did the things I needed to get me past the phobia so I can get the medical tests etc I need.
EMLA is the trade name
Lidocaine 2,5% and Prilocaine 2.5% Cream is the generic
It comes in a 30 gram tube and is Rx only-there are a couple formulas -ONLY the Lidocaine/Prilocaine compound really works
You only need the cream NOT the surgery kit: what you will need is some really large bandaids (I use 2 x 3 inch adhesive or a roll of plastic wrap will also work and actually works really well.
Its a white cream-you apply it liberally to the area where you will have the stick then it must be covered so it stay against your skin for one to 2 hours.
I had pneumonia in 2003 and had to go into hospital-I went from Dr Szetos office with about 7 huge band aids covering the stick zones (on my arms inside the elbows where they do blood draws, on my forearm where they put in IVs and one the back of my hands where there can also do butterfly and IV sticks.
I felt NOTHING----I also had a chart instruction from my doctor that clearly said NO needle sticks without the preventive cream.
I became quite a celebrity in the hospital over the week I was there and did a lot of advertising for the merits of EMLA cream.
Apparently they use it on babies a lot not-that's a good thing so why not just make it standard for all patients?
I don't understand why anyone should endure discomfort is they don't need to????
The numbing cream works so well they can actually do minor surgeries-imagine how painful it is to have a boil lanced-why not cream it up and reduce that pain way down?
I accidentally found out about the plastic wrap one day when I panicked when I discovered I was out of large band aids-I calmed myself down and thought of a quick solution-I remembered that I had once been given the surgery kit-it come with a large, impossible to self apply, piece of plastic wrap with an adhesive edge-so I slapped my cream inside my arm and laid on the plastic wrap then wrapped it around my arm a couple times.
It worked better than the band aids-the nurse said it was because the cream was in much better contact with the skin and the oxygen was blocked from the outside so the cream didn't oxidize-whatever it was really dead and she had to stick me a couple times to find the vein and I DIDN'T CARE!!!!
When I had my Gall Bladder out I went to the hospital with my collection of band aids including all the just in case locations and several were needed-again-NO PAIN, NO STICKS.
When my MOM was in hospital I watched while 2 nurses tried to find a vein in her hand and finally I put a stop to it-informed them there were to be no needle sticks without the EMLA cream and told the doctor to make it official and the did-several nurses thanked me privately and shared that THEY didn't understand why its not used more often.
Obviously it won't help in an emergency-it acts fairly quickly so if you slap it on as you leave for the emergency room it will help.
TRUST ME on this once you use it the phobia will diminish because you wont have the fear and anxious anticipation that acerbates the "little stick" (you know it really isn't so bad especially if the person doing the stick is adept at their job).
My insurance covers the cream-usually one tube lasts me a year of blood draws and my doctor writes lots of refills so that gives me peace of mind.
WARNING: I hesitate to write this part because I don't want this product pulled from sale-a few years back this topical anesthetic was almost banned because young people got ahold of it and were using it for piercing various parts of their bodies (nipples, genitals etc).
Its not a toy and not a way to can get a larger tattoo in o0ne sitting-its a medical tool-it also isn't a gaff so you can numb up your body and stick needles through it to amaze your friends.
Yes people did those things and more-keep it away from kids and fools that think its their personal path to stardom at the local bar.
If you use the cream-there will be no stick, no pain-be sure it is applied liberally and in a large patch-you never know where the stick will actually happen.
ALSO a caveat-some injections hurt because the serum hurts-I have found that this stuff is best for IV sticks-since most injections in the hospital go IV its "2 birds with one rock"-if you have a no stick without the cream order at least the needle part is taken care of and the needle is usually the phobic part.
I would assume there is a similar product available in Europe and elsewhere so if you read this from a foreign country (outside the USA) I urge you to leave a comment-if I get any comments and am able to substantiate them I will add the info to the body of this post.
I am writing this today because JUSTIN SCARRED the YouTube Celeb of Randomland and Allie his fiancé visited a sick child in Florida and there was a short exchange about shots and needle sticks-I wished I could climb through the screen to give the little girls MOM this information-sadly I could find a message option on Justin's YouTube page...
PLEASE share this information or link to this post and save another person-maybe your husband or child, one more painful, anxiety ridden blood test.
NDC50383-667-30
High-Tech Pharmical
Lidocaine 2.5%/Prilocaine 2.5% Cream
by prescription ONLY
ASK YOUR DOCTOR
On my insurance its a couple dollars-it can be as much as 40.00usd and if the hospital provides it is can be over 100.00 per application so travel with your own TUBE
ASK YOUR doctor to write a Rx today-if they are unaware of this product refer them to this blog post-many phlebotomists have never heard of it-and INSIST on it-especially for your kids-we have enough to be afraid of when it comes to medical stuff a needle stick should be the least of them especially when the pain can be avoided.
Would you rather be proactive? or help pick you boyfriend off the floor the next time he faints from the sight of a needle?
Don't get stuck without it!!!!
(EMLA people if you steal that for a slogan you owe me money)
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