AFRAID OF NEEDLES...WELL SORT OF

There are certain situations in medicine that make me stand back and go “hmmm.” One of those situations is men and women with multiple piercings all over their bodies and several large tattoos that are afraid of getting their blood drawn. I have seen many of them while in the E.R. and I saw a young female recently while in family practice.

This 19-year-old female who I will call Kim worked as a body piercing technician. I do not know if they are called technicians but for a lack of a better word I will use it. She was very nice and pleasant with a bubbly personality. She had purple hair which I thought was actually kind of cool. I am partial to purple. I did not count the exact amount of piercings but I estimated her to have 15 or more in each ear which included the inner cartilage and earlobes. She had one in her tongue, two in her nose, one just below her lower lip, a couple in her eyebrows, two in her belly button, and one in her clitoris.  She also had a tattoo that took up the entire upper right arm, a large one on her lower back, and several smaller ones on her ankles and upper back. I wondered if she set off the metal detectors at the airport.

She was there for an STD (sexually transmitted disease) check. Part of the STD check is drawing blood for HIV and syphilis. The rest are taken during the pelvic exam.  Kim was very comfortable with her body and did not have a problem with the pelvic examination or walking around with no clothes on in front of her girlfriend or myself. Most women keep the paper cover over them until I walked out of the room. She knew she would need blood drawn and was very apprehensive about the “needle.” Unless she was in a drunken or drugged stupor while getting her body piercings and tattoos I would think the blood draw would not be a big deal. Well it was and she thought she would pass out. Okay then. She would lie down on the exam table while her blood was being drawn by the medical assistant.

Afterwards she continued being her bubbly self and walked out of the office with her girlfriend. I have seen many young people while in the E.R. get terrified of getting their blood drawn, getting a shot, or an IV. Even then I stood back and said “hmmm” just like I did the other day. I guess it will always be one of those things I will never fully comprehend. Maybe there was a difference between a voluntary body image needle stick versus a medical purpose needle stick. I guess I will never know.