Posts Tagged ‘Blood test’
There might be a situation when your child requires a blood test due to diagnosis of juvenile arthritis or any other inflammatory disease. In case a medication for long term is advised like methotrexate then a regular monitoring would be essential on monthly basis. It is certainly never a pleasant experience and you have to take a lot of care.
There are some tips which would help your child during blood tests. It would prove useful for reducing anxiety and make the procedure look simple. These tips are -
1. Make your child aware that you are going for a blood test in health testing centers.
2. Apply the EMLA ‘magic’ cream. This is certainly optional, but it really helps for children who are eight or less years old. This local anaesthetic cream is applied on the portion of test for about 40 minutes. It would numb the skin for more than half an hour following its removal. Therefore, children get the feeling of no or very less pain during a test.
3. Always remain with your child while the test is performed. Be calm and don’t give them a choice of not having it.
4. The doctor would explain your child about what would happen. He would put a tourniquet or tight band over the arm, or he may ask any team person to hold tightly the arm. This would help in a blood test and not meant for holding a child still.
5. The cold spray could be used like an alternative or additional local anaesthetic for this point. It would briefly freeze the skin and numb it just prior to the putting of needle. It really works for older children as they have grown over the age to wait for the magic cream to do this task, but still require some help.
6. Try to distract the child during a test by counting, reading, chatting or singing.
7. Do not forget to congratulate your kid after the blood tests is over.