Do injections hurt more if you are thin?

Question

Am having a petty argument.

The person that agrees with me most will get best answer :-)

Answer 1

Only if you get a nurse that needle happy and it bounces off your bone...

Answer 2

I had 6 done in one go, three in my gums, one between my lower and upper jaw in the soft part, one down the centre of my tongue into the back of it right through the tip towards my throat and I think I may have had more when I was having a wisdom tooth out. Injections in the gum do not hurt if done slowly and properly, if they are hurting, they are not being done correctly and that is what both my dentist and my surgeon told me. Did I feel pain? Not at all, it felt funny, not even uncomfortable just weird and then it didn't hurt at all especially when it goes numb, they will take a tiny pick axe thing and shove it down into your gum, pull it out and ask did you feel it? You will say no! Don't fear the injections, they are worse for some than others but for me personally they didn't hurt and I had them in horrible places in my mouth not just regular gums, have a poke around and imagine it, it sounds much worse than it is. Also a good dentist/surgeon will keep things light and funny, my surgeon kept talking really brightly, a nurse held my hand because I was frightened and they were laughing and joking to me and telling me how well I was doing. Surprisingly enough after having a heart rate of almost 130 beats per minute, I had a brilliant time!

Answer 3

The factors which affect the perception of pain are individual and based more on the ability of the nerve fibers to carry the impulse and the irritability of the nerve fibers. Additionally, the psychological readiness for injections makes a significant amount of difference. A child is scared at the time of their injections and tenses their muscles making the introduction of the needle more painful. This is also true of needle phobic adults. You will probably notice that people who have had significant amounts of medical studies and treatments often do not even seem to perceive the introduction of a needle, while a needle naive person would be tense and complain about it. The amount of fat would have no effect on the perception of the introduction of a needle.

And as a response to the first responder, the injections are given in infants and toddlers vastus lateralis muscle in the thigh because it is the most developed or largest muscle available at that time. If you were looking for a fat disposition in a young child the abdomen would be the best place to look.

Answer 4

I was quite large (fat really) and had to have lot's of injections in my bum during a long hospital stay.
And they didn't hurt too bad.

However.
I have lost a LOT of weight and have muscle and not a great deal of fat.
Recently I had another hospital stay and I can tell you now the injections hurt a lot more.

I have not go anywhere as much padding in that area anyomore and find it feels as if they are going to hit bone.

I find that some extra padding makes injections less painful. Than they really are.

It also depends on who's giving them.
My mum is the best injection giver ever as she has done injections for me. And fat or thin she hardly hurts.
Thanks mum.

Answer 5

I can see why people would think this. I'm used to blood tests taken in my arm. It doesn't hurt as much, but once, the nurse was unable to find a vein. So... she went to the back of my HAND.Considerably less fat than on my arm, and it hurt MUCH more. I do think there is some truth to this, but I do think pain threshold has something to do with it. Though, think of this: getting your ear pierced. It's pretty much opposite. If you have fatter lobes, it hurts MORE. If you have thinner lobes, it hurts less.

Because of the pain threshold issue, you can survey 100 people who last got their shots, because there are many different factors. Were they scared, and therefore anticipated a lot of pain? Even if they're not scared of the actual shot, maybe they heard something about shots hurting more when you're thinner, and are nervous. You're going to get different answers for this, but I do agree that I think how much fat you have can determine the pain.

Answer 6

Yes, the fat stores are supposed to make it 'slightly' less painful - which is why they inject babies in their leg as it is the fattest place on the body.

I had the MMR vaccine when i was 19 as i was rubella non immune and they said if i had it in my leg it would be less painful then my arm...

A note to all these answers stating that mine is not true. I have been told this by 3 health visitors, 2 midwives and a nurse!! Maybe you should all ask your doctor next time you visit. It is relative to an injection being more painful to a babies as there is less flesh and fat so it will hurt more

Answer 7

injections hurt thin

Answer 8

no, infections do not hurt more if you are thin. the problem lies with nurses not using appropriate size needles. with a big person we may use a 2 1/2 inch needle and with smaller people a 1 inch. there are certain angles that we are supposed to use as well for different size people. depending you who you nurse is there should not be difference in pain.

Answer 9

I'm very thin and I was at the doctors a couple days ago for a injection. I'm pretty sure they do hurt more because you have less skin if you are smaller.

Answer 10

No my friend is skinny and she didn't even feel the Tetanus jab. Its all to do with how much pain you can take. My arms aren't skinny but it didn't hurt. Its over in minutes so don't worry about it!

Answer 11

It depends on how much pain you can stand its not about how thin you are