Well they use a needle ten feet long about as wide as your wrist and the pain - oh my god.....
No, no, seriously it’s just a pin prick of "pain" nothing major serious in the pain department. A paper cut hurts a lot worse than a blood draw.
Most people who have issues with the blood draw do so because of the blood not the needle. There is a little discomfort while the needle is in, you feel the needle in there and since we are not accustomed to having a needle in our bodies it is an odd sensation.
Yes they do have skin applied numbing agents – I don’t ask for one because I’m immune to the needle pain. I have on numerous times requested to draw my own blood – for some odd reason they like to throw the Vampire in Training at me which nearly always results in a hemotoma (bruise/blood trapped beneath the skin) or they through the one who has had a particularly bad day. But then the Lab knows that I have played with needles – actually it’s obvious when you look at my arms.
This is what usually happens. You sit in a chair at a table – in some places they are individual cubbies divided by dividers. The phlebotomist sits on the other side. Now days they have arm supports that you set your arm in to get the right angle and to allow to you rest your arm. There will be a tiny rack with a few bottles – in some places they have you read the information on a sticker (your name, possibly patient number) in others they write it out asking you those and double checking.
They will put a tourniquet around your bicep to hold the blood in your arm to cause your vein to “pop” or engorge with blood – it makes it easier to hit the vein. They will most likely put a tube in your hand and tell you to squeeze it a few times – go ahead apply as much pressure as you want – although its glass you can’t break it that way. One the needle is inserted they will pull of the tourniquet to allow the blood to flow.
Its only one needle, however there will be a number of vials (depending on the number of tests the doctor ordered) you may note that the vials come with different colored rubber tops and variations in sizes – again depending on the tests. Once one vial is filled, they pull that out of the IV dispenser thingy and insert another vial.
When finished they will put a cotton ball over the needle, pull the needle out and ask you to hold ball for a second. They may ask you to bend your arm, or they may ask you to put your arm up over your head. Some days you may bleed a little more than others a little spotting is not uncommon. Usually they will wrap a bit of tape over the cotton ball and around your elbow to hold the ball in place with he suggestion to wait about 30 minutes to an hour before taking it off. A serious problem is if the cotton ball gets soaked with blood, or after an hour your still leaking blood – both needs the attention of a medical professional.
Tell the phlebotomist (the person who draws blood) that this is your first blood draw and you are nervous. S/he will most likely be conscious of your needs. If you speak up when you sign in they will make certain that you get a senior staff member, somebody who has drawn blood so many times they could find a vein in the dark.Not the trainee or a vampire with personality disorders.
Before getting pricked in the arm look away.
