EEG 14 year old - any advice to try and keep her anxiety down

[Momof3boys2girls]

Hi all

my daughter has her eeg on Tuesday and she’s anxious about what’s going to happened and where they’re going to put the electrodes on her head.
ive tried to tell her to stay off of google as she’ll just freak herself out.
she’s possibly autistic as well so she has to look into anything and everything. And she’s a very anxious child.
she’s worried that they’ll be put all in the back of her head/hair.

also her hair is quite thick shall I plait it or just leave it down as I’m unsure what to do.

I had one when I was about 12 (many, many years ago). I was nervous but I found the actual test quite boring if I'm honest. Now they may well have changed over the years but I can remember they put the electrodes on my head and it was just a case of lying there with periods of having to shut my eyes and periods of having them open and that was it really. I would leave her hair down as they might have to put the electrodes under the plaits if she has her hair in plaits.

I hope all goes well for your daughter.

Have they sent you a leaflet about what will happen? There should be one in the letter if she got one. It may be printed on the back.

I work as a physiologist doing EEGs. Hope I can alleviate some worry 🥰

They’ll stick on the electrodes to her scalp using a paste that all washes off with water. No glue. Doesn’t damage her hair in any way. They’ll prep the skin beforehand using a cotton bud and a body scrub/exfoliator. When they pop the electrode on, they’ll put a bit of her hair over the top to hold it down. She won’t feel anything going through the wires. They are there purely to record her brain activity. They don’t hurt when they come off, they just pop off. A few might be held on with tape on her forehead. I’d leave her hair down so the physiologist can move her hair about as needed.

If it’s a routine EEG they’ll get her to lie down for 20-30 minutes. Mainly with her eyes closed relaxing. Part way through they may get her to do some deep breathing or show her a flashing light. They’ll explain these bits in more detail at the time.

There are no side effects after the EEG, she’ll just need a hair wash to get rid of any sticky residue. Hope this is helpful 🙂

my moms had them before but she doesn’t really say anything I’ve tried talking to her about it but she literally just pulls a blank face and doesn’t talk about it so I’m at a loss really as to how to explain to my daughter what happens when she goes for hers.

I’ll tell her to keep her hair down.

thanks for replying x