I feel like an idiot asking this....

[bio-chik]

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....but, has anyone experienced anxiety, nausea, sweating, fainting...etc...from watching a surgical procedure, needles, or large quantities of blood? The reason I'm asking this...is because I really want to get past my "phobia"...or whatever it is- "a fear"...of watching surgical procedures. I went into a surgery a few years back and after watching a tonsillectomy...I started to get really dizzy and light-headed and started profusely sweating...and all this in combination of the blood and the smell from the burning of the tissue, and had to leave the OR. I think I know where it came from, a bad experience with needles and a nurse...not being able to get my vein in my arm...and after that I have a hard time watching needles go into patients, mainly in painful areas....like a liver biopsy and a needle in the spine. I feel like a complete idiot even admitting this...cause I really want to go to medical school and become a family practice physician...but, I just wondered if there is anyone out there that has experienced this and knows of some technique to desensitize myself from this. 😕

Any advice is appreciated!

 

[andi_cvr]

Don't be a doctor.




Just Kidding.

Try Systematic Desensitization. This is probably the most effective treatment for phobias and other anxiety disorders.
Good Luck!

 

[Senor Fish]

Not sure what to say about the needles or general phobia part of it, but as an EMT we can deal with lots of blood and no-so-nice smells. We've certainly had some fainters in our group. Take deep breaths through your mouth seems to help some people- smells can be particularly nausiating.

Good luck!

Fish

 

[nev]

Hey...same here,
I'm also having the same problem. I guess its just getting used to it. Do some volunteer service at a hospital and that should help. I had a cousin who fainted when seeing a bleeding forehead ....and this person had just got accepted to nursing school! Now she's pretty much got the grip of it.....

 

[Pewl]

You're crazy!!!!

heh, kidding.

I think it's just a matter of getting desensitized to it. I watched a brachytherapy prostate seed implant recently. Imagine a catheter up the urethra, an ultrasound probe up the anus, and about 40 or so 12" needles going in and out of the perineum (the area of skin between the scrotum and anus). As a guy, I felt sympathy pains. But, once you're accustomed to it it's no biggie.

 

[Redneck]

I had a fear to a lesser degree then yours with just needles. I simply jumped into the deep end and let some phlebotomists use me as a pin cushion. Worked for me.

 

[Caboose]

Drawing my own blood is very difficult... plus I look like a drug addict to the untrained eye. So someone very cool on SDN introduced me to this site: www.or-live.com

I would get close to vomiting, pause it to put my head between my knees and then continue when I felt better. I haven't had to pause it for a long time. Try it out.
Caboose.

 

[wook]

....but, has anyone experienced anxiety, nausea, sweating, fainting...etc...from watching a surgical procedure, needles, or large quantities of blood? The reason I'm asking this...is because I really want to get past my "phobia"...or whatever it is- "a fear"...of watching surgical procedures. I went into a surgery a few years back and after watching a tonsillectomy...I started to get really dizzy and light-headed and started profusely sweating...and all this in combination of the blood and the smell from the burning of the tissue, and had to leave the OR. I think I know where it came from, a bad experience with needles and a nurse...not being able to get my vein in my arm...and after that I have a hard time watching needles go into patients, mainly in painful areas....like a liver biopsy and a needle in the spine. I feel like a complete idiot even admitting this...cause I really want to go to medical school and become a family practice physician...but, I just wondered if there is anyone out there that has experienced this and knows of some technique to desensitize myself from this. 😕

Any advice is appreciated!

Don't worry, you are not alone. I remember seeing a post by someone in the last 6 months about this. See below links, as other folks discuss similar concerns/experiences.


http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=197775&highlight=blood+faint

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=180756&highlight=blood+faint

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=140546&highlight=blood+faint


Wook

 

[DropkickMurphy]

If you can find a funeral home that will allow it, go watch an embalming. You'll never see that level of "bleeding" in anything else except maybe AAA repairs.

As everyone said, desensitization works wonders.

 

[nev]

Drawing my own blood is very difficult... plus I look like a drug addict to the untrained eye. So someone very cool on SDN introduced me to this site: www.or-live.com

I would get close to vomiting, pause it to put my head between my knees and then continue when I felt better. I haven't had to pause it for a long time. Try it out.
Caboose.

Great website Caboose! 👍
Only one prob....I cant seem to view the videos in full screen. Any ideas?

 

[nev]

ok....I figured out the full screen thing.....

 

[Caboose]

ok....I figured out the full screen thing.....

Hey, sorry Nev - I'm on SDN sporadically. I'm glad you figured out the full screen thing. I never attempted to, as I... am lazy. I mostly just sit very close to the computer. Want to enlighten me?
Um... can you PM that to me, if you get this?
Caboose.

 

[bio-chik]

Thanks for all the links and advice! I'm glad I'm not alone here. 🙂

 

[mofuturedoc]

I had an experience close to yours. I was holding retractors durring a masectomy and the surgeon was cartarizing vessels as he was going along. He hit a vessel and it erupted like old faithful and shot blood directly into his eye. You are supose to wear protective eye wear, but the docs have the option not to. When I saw the blood hit his eye I felt like I was going to pass right out. He reacted very comly, but I had to scrub out. After a coke and a few minutes I scrubed back in. Dont worry about your feelings, just work through them and you will be fine.

 

[bio-chik]

I had an experience close to yours. I was holding retractors durring a masectomy and the surgeon was cartarizing vessels as he was going along. He hit a vessel and it erupted like old faithful and shot blood directly into his eye. You are supose to wear protective eye wear, but the docs have the option not to. When I saw the blood hit his eye I felt like I was going to pass right out. He reacted very comly, but I had to scrub out. After a coke and a few minutes I scrubed back in. Dont worry about your feelings, just work through them and you will be fine.

Wow! That's a pretty intense situation...I don't know if I'd be that calm with blood shooting into my eye! I'm glad that it gets better after seeing a lot of procedures. I've been watching a lot of shows on discovery channel...it's helped some, but nothing gives you the real life experience like being in there with the hot scrubs on..and the mask, re-breathing your own air and smelling burning flesh. It's interesting. But breathing out your mouth is a good tip!

Thanks!

 

[nev]

I like the thing about wearing tight socks and flexing calf muscles......

 

[ah1120]

It is extremely common for pre-meds / med students to get sick in the OR. I'm an OR tech right now, and we always tell the students to stand near the wall if they start to feel faint so they can slide down it and sit down, rather than have them pass out on the field. They always think we're joking with them until they start seeing the procedure. Watching video is fine, but the smell, the heat, the "live" quality, still gets to a lot of people. For folks just starting out, breathing through your mouth is a must in a really bloody surgery where the cautery is going a lot or in one where there is a lot of dead / dying tissue. The OR walls are usually very cool if you aren't scrubbed in, and leaning on them helps cool you down and regain your balance.
The only other thing is to try to get some "live" exposure, even if it is only to needle sticks (shadow an allergist and you'll see plenty of needle sticks!).

Above all, don't feel like you can't be a physician because of it. You will get used to it. If people didn't get used to it, we'd lose half our medical students every year! 🙂

--ah1120

 

[nev]

Thanx for the words of wisdom!