Does A Tetanus Shot Hurt?

Answer 1

Because the tetanus serum/medicine is thicker than most administered medications, a slightly larger-in-diameter needle is required. That is why a tetanus shot, as a general rule, does hurt more and longer than most other shots. Relaxing the arm (the normal point of entry) will help immensely, but since relaxing during a shot is usually the last thing a person will be able to do, most people are going to have a sore arm for at least 24 hours. Note: The reason people tense up during a shot is due to our ability to transfer pain to another part of the body by pinching a hand, biting a lip, gouging into a leg, or other method of transference.

Answer 2

If you loosen your deltoid muscle before the needle sticks in, it s just a pinch in the muscle, and afterwards a bit of a tight muscly ache at the shot site. If your muscle is tight you really feel the tetanus needle sticking in, and the tetanus makes your muscle REALLY sore and tight. I agree that you should get tetanus in the arm you use most, even tho for a little while it ll hurt when you move the arm. I wear a racer back tank when I get a tetanus, and ask the nurse to stick the needle in the muscle way up high by my shoulder--the needle and the shot seem to go in easier up high, there s more muscle. If you wear sleeves, you ll just have to roll up your sleeve, and the doc or the nurse won t be able to get at the big muscle way up high--so my advice is a tank top. In a tank, the person giving the tetanus can size up your deltoid muscle and decide what size needle to use, too. I like to get the tetanus deep in the deltoid, less stingy pain receptors in deep muscle, so all I feel is a muscle ache when the tetanus goes in.

Answer 3

Any shot can hurt, but in my opinion, the degree of pain is related to the skill of the person giving the shot.

I'm a nurse, and I've seen lots of mistakes with injections. Best methods for reducing pain include:
1. Warm up the vaccine first (it is stored in the refrigerator)
2. Ensure the patient relaxes the arm. Keep the arm flaccid and hanging by the side.
3. Use a good sharp needle.
4. Pinch the arm around the injection site. A good pinch really distracts from the feel of the needle going in.

Also, it helps if you take Tylenol either right before or right after the shot. Not that it will help the pain of injection, but it will help alleviate the overall soreness you get from any vaccination.

Answer 4

It doesn't really hurt at the time of the shot, but as the day wears on your arm will be VERY sore. I had to have one when in high school and about an hour later I was not able to move my arm up over my head. It only lasts for a day or two.

Answer 5

More than a flu shot, however a entire lot not up to a measles shot! You've gotten pictures earlier than, correct? Thinking approximately it and dreading it's a lot worse than the shot itself. And Tetanus can kill you!

Answer 6

the shot hurts a little, and you may have some achiness in that arm for the next day or so. Take an anti-inflammatory before and after the shot, and get it in the arm you use the most- that way, even though it may hurt more at first, it will go away quicker.
And, the more of these you have had, the less they hurt...in fact at my age they don't hurt at all anymore. Hmmmm

Answer 7

I had a tetanus shot and I could barely feel anything.

The above answer is very true I'm sure.

Answer 8

Not the shot itself. My arm hurt for 3 or 4 days. My daughter was determined not to let that happen to her tetanus shot, so she massaged it in and stretched her arm and exercised it and massaged the shot site. She wasn't sore the next day. So try that!

Answer 9

No. I'm 14, and I don't think it really hurt at all- just a little pinch. Your arm may be sore after wards, but really it's not bad at all. I think that getting an IV started hurts worse or getting blood drawn.

Answer 10

It does, a little. Just like any shot.