Medical Assisting Tips: Methods for Minimizing Injection Pain

For allied health professionals working in the field of Medical Assisting, an important part of the job is working around the fact that most people don’t typically enjoy receiving shots. It is not uncommon for patients, both young and old, to be uncomfortable around needles, leading to a fear of receiving medications via injections or having blood drawn for testing. When giving an injection, Medical Assistants can follow a few simple steps to minimize a patient’s pain and discomfort during the injection process.

• Talk to the patient to help them relax. If the patient is tense, their muscles will be difficult to penetrate and will cause the injection to hurt more than it would if the patient’s muscles were relaxed.

• Always avoid injections in areas that are sensitive or have hardened tissues, as this is likely to cause the patient pain.

• In the case that a medication is irritating to a patient’s skin, be sure to replace the needle after you use it to withdraw medication from its vial. This will prevent the medication from coming into unnecessary contact with the skin.

• To prevent the antiseptic from sticking to the needle during the injection, make sure to give the antiseptic enough time to dry and take effect before the injection.

• When performing the injection, slowly inject the medicine into the skin. Once the wheal has formed, hold the needle straight and pull it out quickly.

While needle-induced anxiety is not at all uncommon, Medical Assistants can do a few things to help put their patients at ease and minimize discomfort during the injection. If you are interested in learning more about Medical Assisting as a career, contact Arizona College today for more information.

Information in this blog post is accurate as of April 10, 2013.

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