# Lifestyles & Discussion > Personal Health & Well-Being >  I read that a butterfly needle hurts less than a regular one

## Meatwasp

I have a terrible time when I have to draw blood. The nurses are so incompetent. I heard a butterfly needle is less painful. Has anyone tried it?

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## dannno

Haven't had blood drawn in forever, but I feel like ya, that might be what they used based on the whole switch bottle out thing..


Some more info:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_needle

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## MelissaWV

> I have a terrible time when I have to draw blood. The nurses are so incompetent. I heard a butterfly needle is less painful. Has anyone tried it?


In my opinion, it isn't.  If you have to have blood drawn on a regular basis, a "normal" needle is almost painless in the hands of an expert.  What I tend to do is find a lab whose nurse I prefer, and go whenever she's on staff.  I get my blood drawn super early Monday mornings  

It's not the needle itself that bothers me anymore, but the speed of the nurse is crucial.  Once the area is swabbed and exposed, I want someone who is quick to put the needle in, and even quicker to gather the tubes of blood needed, then efficient in removing the needle and applying pressure.  

I did try the butterfly once, and it was not any better, and it seemed to slow down the nurse because she was unused to that kind of needle/process.

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## angelatc

> I have a terrible time when I have to draw blood. The nurses are so incompetent. I heard a butterfly needle is less painful. Has anyone tried it?


Nothing beats a skilled lab tech, but I have found that having the lab techs use a butterfly needle seems to improve the odds of meeting a skilled lab tech.

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## Meatwasp

Thank you all . Every time I go see the doctor he sends me to get a blood sample. I am anemic. Now I won't go at all. Some of the nurses are so young.

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## MelissaWV

> Thank you all . Every time I go see the doctor he sends me to get a blood sample. I am anemic. Now I won't go at all. Some of the nurses are so young.


Some of the best ones at drawing blood are young   They're quick at the vial replacement, which I talked about.  Take heart and tell them you have difficult veins.  If the youngling proposing to take your blood looks uncomfortable at that, tell her you're willing to wait for someone else to do the draw.

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## Meatwasp

> Some of the best ones at drawing blood are young   They're quick at the vial replacement, which I talked about.  Take heart and tell them you have difficult veins.  If the youngling proposing to take your blood looks uncomfortable at that, tell her you're willing to wait for someone else to do the draw.


I didn't think I had a choice. I got what I got. An older woman nurse came over when she saw that one of my veins after a young nurse worked on me had burst and she went in and got the blood real fast. I was almost crying by the time she came. I sure will look for her IF i go back again.

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## furface

If you're on warfarin (blood thinner), they'll use a butterfly needle to check your INR because of bleeding problems.  

I used to be squeamish about getting my blood drawn until I had a few incidents like you had.  One time they asked me if I minded if a trainee took my blood.  After about 5 minutes of poking and prodding my veins, her trainer finally took over.  After that I figured out it was important to look away and distract yourself when you're having it done.  

I was ready for the next time when a nurse took a good 10 minutes to start an IV in which I spent the entire time laughing about it.  I think I might have freaked the nurse out though.  A more experienced nurse finally took over again and started the thing in about 20 seconds.  

If you have to have your blood drawn regularly or you have IVs inserted regularly, you just need to get used to it.  Try meditation exercises and good ways of distracting yourself.  Try not to think about Obamacare while you're having these things done.

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## BuddyRey

It's a shame they don't have some kind of laser reader that can analyze your blood through the skin by now.  I'm a total needlephobe and haven't had any immunizations or blood tests in well over a decade and a half for just this reason.

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## MelissaWV

> It's a shame they don't have some kind of laser reader that can analyze your blood through the skin by now.  I'm a total needlephobe and haven't had any immunizations or blood tests in well over a decade and a half for just this reason.


No thanks.  I'd rather they take the blood out than aim anymore lasers or radiation or whatnot at me

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## furface

> It's a shame they don't have some kind of laser reader that can analyze your blood through the skin by now.  I'm a total needlephobe and haven't had any immunizations or blood tests in well over a decade and a half for just this reason.


It's definitely something you can get used to.  I used to be like you, and now I'm able to poke my own finger to do simple tests like cholesterol and glucose.  It's actually kind of important to monitor blood IMO.  

LDL,HDL, and glucose levels are things you want to track.  I used to have big problems with fatigue until I figured out that it was related to my fasting glucose level.  So I got an inexpensive testing kit and I can use it for bio-feedback to keep my glucose level down by changing my diet.  

Similarly for HDL and LDL cholesterol.  The common MD advice is to prescribe a statin, but I really don't like taking those things.  I'd rather change my diet, exercise, and take over the counter supplements.  I argue with my doc all the time about it, but pretty much everything he's prescribed so far has made me sick.  All he can do is push his set of pills and he doesn't recognize anything else.

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## Meatwasp

I have no problem on checking my blood sugar with the little needle every morning, its those big sucker to draw blood out.

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## KenInMontiMN

Leeches are under-rated.

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## furface

> I have no problem on checking my blood sugar with the little needle every morning, its those big sucker to draw blood out.


Does the pain bother you or is it the idea of it?

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