needle phobic 6 yr old - emla cream?

[suzi2]

DS needs his flu jab this month. He reacted (behaviour wise) very badly to having a series of jabs last year and by the time his last one came he freaked out in a HUGE way.

Since then we can't even mention needles without him going clammy, crying and almost passing out. It's not the pain as such, he's quite brave, but I think if we could guarantee him to reduce the pain the fear would be reduced a bit. I asked the nurse at the surgery whether something like emla cream to numb the area would help. She said she wouldn't use it as it was intramuscular and would still hurt and it would be unfair to tell him it's making it hurt less.

I'm not sure I buy this answer... I think if he thinks it's going to be less painful he'll be less scared and we'll hopefully prevent him squirming while pinned down, attacking the nurse or passing out. So was wondering about getting/using emla for it.

It might be worth speaking to someone about some play therapy for him. All the Emla cream in the world didn't help my needle phobic DS, one glimpse of that needle and he was scaling the walls.

Thanks. Can't see the GP taking me on about play therapy... I can't even convince the surgery to make him a separate appointment. They want him to line up with all the other 'at risk' people (me and his 4 yr old sister included) and wait our turn at 8pm at night!

Can I ask for him to be referred to hospital for his vaccination? Or is that overkill...

Probably overkill, I'm not even sure the hospital would offer routine jabs. Is he asthmatic?

Yeah, he's asthmatic (we all are). I've put an email into the practice manager regarding ths crappy appointment system, but she's on leave for the next week or so. Might make an appointment with GP to talk it over. Just don't know what else I could do as the chances of getting DS itno the appointment without him throwing up or passing out are slim I think. Could just skip it... but then I think "what if he got flu". He gets very bad viral induced asthma. I'm less concerned about DD tbh, don't think she needs it as much.

Im not sure that emla would help. We used to put it on Ds.when he was having regular blood tests - it isn't instant - takes about an hour to work Iirc and that was an hour for DS to work himself up as he knew what was coming!

hellhasnofury is right about emla being pointless (excuse pun) in needle phobia. If his asthma is bad then I really would second asking your GP if a referral for play therapy would be an option in case he ever runs into trouble with his asthma. Even if it's mild asthma he's still going to need further vaccinations throughout his life at the very least.

I have tried the 'surprise' thing and not letting him know it's coming up, and that gave me the total freak out as opposed to the partial one. Wonder if they'd just run into the reception and jab him if he passes out? Would save a lot of anxiety lol.

I might have a chat with GP. DS has been in A&E plenty for his asthma, but only had one admission where thankfully there wasn't any bloodwork necessary. So I'm hoping he's not going to be too bad with it. He's VERY viral induced though, hence me wanting to get the flu jab.

We went through that with needle anxiety and dentist panic - I doubt there is a quick fix. Good luck!

I went to the GP for Emla cream for my daughter's vaccinations when she was 4. She isn't normally scared but had just had an operation and refused to have the needle.

If you do get it remember to see the nurse who can tell you where to put it or draw a circle. I put it on myself about an hour before the appointment. The nurse is right, he will still feel pain but the initial sting will not be there. My daughter was fine and has since never needed to use Emla.

Sorry I asked about him being asthmatic then fell asleep didn't come back. Does he see an asthma nurse at the Practise? If he does maybe she'd be prepared to jab him. We found when DS was needle phobic he could cope better in a more relaxed situation than he could in the cattle market that us the Flu clinic.

Just make an appointment for your ds with the GP - don't tell son or GP why you want to appointment. Buy a vaccine from Boots or somewhere and then when you are in the GPs just say "can you administer this please?" (buying it means the Dr can't say they have no stock)

Promise DS something nice after - a trip to the cinema, a new toy ehat ever he likes.

Get him to turn away from the Dr and cough - keep him fake coughing until the jab is done. Coughing when you have an IM jab reduces the pain.

Just thought I'd update this one in case anyone is searching. I got emla cream, finally, off one nurse who said it was important to reduce his stress. Other nurse (who was doing it) said it was pointless as it wouldn't take away the pain. Anyway, I left the decision up to him. He's a bright boy and he read the leaflets etc and decided that the best thing to do was to get it. He hit major panic when he came home from school and wouldn't even get the emla cream on. He came near to passing out then. But he got it on, we got him in there, held him tight and he says he didn't even feel it. So HUGE hit He said he promises to try and not have so much nonsense next year. We still can't say 'injection' though without the blood draining from his face!

Used rest of emla cream for DD 2 days later, she was expecting it to be relatively painless, and it really hurt her and really bruised her. She's due her 2nd jab in a few weeks and is a bit worried, but I know she'll cope.

Glad it all went well