Shots Are Scary. But They Don't Have To Be.

Short Wave

NPR

Daily News, Nature, Life Sciences, Astronomy, Science, News

4.7 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2024

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

According to the CDC, about one in four adults has a fear of needles. Many of those people say the phobia started when they were kids. For some people, the fear of needles is strong enough that they avoid getting important treatments, vaccines or tests. That poses a serious problem for public health. Researchers have helped develop a five step plan to help prevent what they call "needless pain" for kids getting injections or their blood drawn. Guest host Tom Dreisbach talks with Dr. Stefan Friedrichsdorf of UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals, who works with a team to implement the plan at his own hospital. Friedrichsdorf told us some of the most important research on eliminating pain has come from researchers in Canada. Learn more about their work here.

This episode was inspired by the reporting of our colleague April Dembosky, a journalist at member station KQED and KFF Health News. Read her digital story here.

Got another question for a doctor? Email us at [email protected].

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hi, I'm Jen White from 1A. I host a news show for those who need to know what's happening and why it matters, but we get it.
0:07.4	The news can weigh you down. It's why we also make time for stories, guests, and surprises that'll lift you up.
0:14.0	Listen to the 1A podcast from W. AMU and NPR.
0:18.0	You're listening to Shortwave from NPR. NPR.
0:23.0	Hey Short Wavers, I'm Tom Driesbach.
0:26.2	Now, normally I'm an investigative reporter here at NPR News digging into secrets and things
0:31.4	no one knows about.
0:33.0	But today I'm here to talk about something
0:34.7	almost all of us have gone through at one point in our lives.
0:38.6	Going to the doctor's office and getting your shots.
0:41.7	Now for a lot of folks, it's not a big problem. You know what the nurses sometimes say.
0:45.3	It's like a little pinch and you're done and for little kids do they even remember the pain anyway?
0:50.7	Well Stefan Friedrich Stowaf says, uh, yeah, he remembers.
0:55.0	Stefan grew up in Germany and he remembers this one time when he was nine years old.
0:59.6	He had to go to the doctor for an infected nail.
1:02.4	Two surgeons were holding me down and I was screaming at the top of my head when the one surgeon sat to the other.
1:09.0	Do you think he can feel any pain?
1:11.0	And the guy said no. and may they burn in hell.
1:15.0	That happened more than 40 years ago but that traumatic doctor's visit has really stuck with him. Now Stefan Friedrichstorf is a doctor himself
1:26.0	and he's a professor of pediatrics. He also leads a palliative care team with a
1:30.1	nurse manager and child life specialist at UCSF
1:33.0	Bennyoff Children's Hospitals where they are trying to prevent
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.